Viking River Wine List - looking for 2023

[NorskyGal]

Shortly I'll be joining a Viking River cruise and am trying to decide whether or not to buy the Silver Spirits drink package.  I know I can look at the wine list upon boarding and decide then, but it would be nice to peruse it now.

I'd appreciate it if someone could post the wine list who is on (or has recently been on) a Viking River Cruise.

Thanks!

[Canal archive]

Look out for Pontac’s input he’s an avid Viking aficionado and just a bit of a wine expert. If he should see your question I’m sure you will get a full answer. 

[pontac]

14 hours ago, NorskyGal said:

I'd appreciate it if someone could post the wine list who is on (or has recently been on) a Viking River Cruise.

 

Here you go. This is the wine list from our cruise on the Rhone last month*.

 

Viking have a four page wine list, two pages each for whites and red, one page for 'local' wines, one for wines from other places Viking visits. You do not say which cruise you'll be on. As 'local' wines will differ to match the country cruised through there is not one set list for every Viking cruise. In other words, I'd expect the Mississippi cruise to feature  mostly US wines, and cruises in countries that are not large producers of wine - such as Netherlands - to interpret 'local' differently. Also, a great number of bottles are consumed and wines need to be large production and obtainable.

 

Note also that Champagne, sparkling wines and Port (known as Porto in the USA) do not appear on the wine list - they are on the bar list. On this cruise the Champagne was Jacquart Champagne Brut Mosaïque. We enjoyed a glass before some meals as an aperitif, and to accompany some lunches.

 

Please note 1) that you can bring wines on board for zero corkage and the waitrons will happily open & pour them for you at meal times 2) everyone in the cabin must pay for the Silver Spirits package, 3) that wines marked with an asterisk are not included, 4) we have never paid for the package its been a freebie for early booking, 5) you get unlimited pours of house wines at lunch and dinner and they are quite good.

 

 

 

 

*See here

Edited September 15, 2023 by pontac

[NorskyGal]

We'll be doing the Grand European on the Danube and Rhine, so the local wines will be different from the Rhone.

Thanks for the wine list.

[pontac]

I've done that tour - but some time ago. It's a good trip, you'll see a lot and it's good to have time to get used to being looked after for two weeks

 

Here are the wine-lists from Viking's 'Rhine & Moselle Discovery' 2023 cruise from Basel down the Rhine then  up the Mosel at Koblenz to Trier which will be more like the list you'll get as this cruise is mostly in Germany.

 

 

 

 

Oh, and the Champagne on that cruise was Veuve Cliquot. We had quite a lot 🙂

Edited September 15, 2023 by pontac

[bundtkate]

I don't have the wine list from our recent Viking cruise through Germany this July, but I will add my 2 cents that the silver spirits package is well worth it. My husband and I enjoy wine, but have no idea how to choose one and Stanislava, our wine gal (not sure if she was a sommelier or not), was just fantastic. We told her we had the package and she would show up at our table every evening with something new to try. She'd then ask how we liked it and what was better/worse than previous offerings so she could queue up something else for us. It wasn't too long ago my husband didn't even drink wine and now he frequently laments that we can't call Stanislava for recommendations he enjoyed her selections so much. I will acknowledge that we're probably not that picky given our general lack of wine knowledge, but the experience practically justified the package on its own.

Edited September 16, 2023 by bundtkate

[pontac]

On 9/14/2023 at 8:55 PM, Canal archive said:

Look out for Pontac’s input he’s an avid Viking aficionado

I'm not sure about avid 🙂.

 

Viking was the first line I went on - it was chosen by the friends who cajoled us to join them - and it offered all we needed. Also when we started cruising there were few alternatives. Nowadays there are so many competitors and I'm sure they're good.

 

However wedid take a Scenic cruise - a line many on this forum highly praise - and |we were disappointed.

 

On 9/14/2023 at 8:55 PM, Canal archive said:

and just a bit of a wine expert.

 

If writing 3 wine  books, presenting tastings on three contents and having WSET certificates counts as 'a bit' then I plead guilty.

[Host Jazzbeau]

56 minutes ago, pontac said:

If writing 3 wine  books, presenting tastings on three contents and having WSET certificates counts as 'a bit' then I plead guilty.

Here's a question that [I think and hope] isn't loaded:  does that deep wine knowledge [and kudos! by the way] enhance your personal enjoyment of wine?  I remember attending a classical music concert with my best friend and his wife, both professional musicians, and while DW and I were enraptured in the flow of the music my friends were critiquing every nuance of the performers' technique.  At the end of the evening, DW and I had enjoyed the concert far more than our professional friends.  So with wine:  my knowledge is not nothing, but nothing like yours – but I wonder if I can enjoy a wine that has no flaws [learning wine in the 1960s, most wine I could afford had plenty of flaws!] while you are critiquing it for being only an 85?

[pontac]

This is a great question. I have been pondering it since first reading a couple of hours ago. Apologies for the rambling  answer; if it’s too long or too boring  just read the last paragraph.

 

First I suppose is that I don’t know because I don’t know how I would be if I was un-knowing about wine. I started learning because I knew nothing about wine and didn’t know what to pick when presented with a wine-list when taking a girl out. 

There was a time that  I thought  I knew it all. But I didn’t and I never will because wine encompasses such a wide range of areas. But it is a hobby and an interest. It has taken me to places I wouldn’t otherwise have gone, and I’ve met people I otherwise wouldn’t have met.

 

I drink wine with dinner and enjoy it. I don’t score, just drink and enjoy. But these are wines I have bought, so I’ve bought wines that I – and Mrs P – will enjoy. There are some varieties Mrs P will not drink so I don’t buy them; there are some that don’t give me pleasure so I don’t buy them. But we’ve learned our likes and dislikes over the years. And tastes change. The wines we drink today are not the same as when we started, or ten years ago.

 

I have been in judging teams at wine competitions, and then you have to score wines. In those it’s not a matter of whether you personally like them but whether they are a good example of their type, fault free and have that something extra.

 

At competitions and tastings one is having a taste of wine and spitting it out. But at home you accompany it with a meal, you see the wine develop over the time the bottle is been open. Here I – and I think everyone – makes a subconscious judgement on a three point scale 1 = don’t buy again, 2 = possible, may buy again, 3 = wow, I must get some more of this. Wine is meant to be enjoyed, most wine is meant to be enjoyed with food. I am not critiquing my dinner wine to see whether it rates 85 or 86 points, I am enjoying it. 

 

My wine knowledge means in restaurants I know what to pick that will suit the food and our palates. If a wine is faulty then I have the confidence to reject it – although this is nearly always unpleasant. (You mention that in the 1960’s many wines had flaws – so true. Wine drinkers today are so lucky that bad wines have vanished even at the cheapest prices because supermarket and other buyers will not stock them, grape growers use better methods, and winemakers are better skilled. There’s a risk with any wine with a cork closure, but cork makers have reduced the incidence of that happening from the 5-6% that it was to 1-2%. Still too high, but much better.)

 

I am still learning about wine, and I realise I’ve forgotten a lot of what I once knew, for example one time I could list all the wine regions of Germany. I can’t now, but then  I drink little German wine nowadays.

 

My main interests now are grape varieties, labelling and wine laws.

 

Many years ago I went to Houston, Texas on business. My host took me one evening to the Astrodome to see a baseball match. I had never seen one, I don’t know the rules, I didn’t know the teams or the players. Would I have enjoyed the match more if I knew the rules, if I knew the teams or if I knew the players various skills or would such knowledge spoil the game?

[Canal archive]

Pontac I was attempting to encourage the questioner to search for your input and as I was not then privy to your now obvious expertise but thought that from your previous inputs you had some maybe more than others and about Viking. Hopefully it was helpful at the time so really won’t worry again.

[rcaruso]

Pontac, we will be on the Delling, South of France early November.  I saw the wine list and saw many French wines.  We will have the Silver Spirit Package. When I drink wine I gravitate to Sauvingnon Blanc from New Zealand (Ilove the citrus tasts), however I am always open to new horizons.  What wines do you recommend I try while on the ship?  Any thoughts would be helpful.  Thanks,

[notamermaid]

@pontac I must say I am pleased to read that Viking has chosen Ahr wines as the German reds. Not too may places that do really good red wines along the Rhine and Moselle. The Ahr valley is renowned for quality reds.

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

@pontac Thank you for the very thoughtful answer.  Not too long at all, and gave me much to think about.  I agree that I subconsciously use something like your '3 point scale' in judging wine for my personal use.  And like you I only buy wines that I expect to like, and that has changed and will continue to change over time.

 

I haven't written any books about wine or been a judge at a wine tasting – but I have led wine tastings at our Learning in Retirement community which caused me to read books about wine as the range of wines at my tastings has expanded beyond my personal favorites [especially for this year's focus on South American wines].  And I think that all the knowledge I have gained has enhanced my enjoyment of wine.  But I have acquired that knowledge mainly for the purpose of enjoying wine, rather than being a certified sommelier [which would require learning about types of wine I know I don't and won't like].

 

Similarly to your baseball example.  I think going to a baseball game with zero knowledge would not be very enjoyable.  As a lifelong moderate baseball fan I have acquired enough knowledge to understand what's going on – but not enough to do a box score.  And I think that doing a box score would detract from my enjoyment, because of the necessity to focus on the details that go into that document rather than enjoying a hot dog and a beer and watching the game unfold before me.

[pontac]

19 hours ago, rcaruso said:

When I drink wine I gravitate to Sauvingnon Blanc from New Zealand (Ilove the citrus tasts), however I am always open to new horizons.  What wines do you recommend I try while on the ship?  Any thoughts would be helpful.  Thanks,

 

We too love New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, Mrs P's favourite winery there is Villa Maria and we have a bottle of their Private Bin most weeks. As you can see, Viking have no NZ SB, but  for something similar try Morwald SB from Austria and Chateau Suduirat Blanc Sec from Bordeaux (mostly SB).

 

And don't forget Champagne; we had several lunches accompanied with glasses of Champagne. (In Europe, unlike the USA, the name Champagne legally refers only to the traditionally made sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France.)

 

But you have a great opportunity to try wines new to you. If you don't like it, tell the waiter and ask for something different. We liked Horst Sauer Sylvaner from Germany (Sylvaner is the grape variety which I think is not so commonly found in the USA).

 

For the reds, we enjoyed most the two Croze-Hermitage found 2nd & 3rd from bottom on the local reds, with Maison les Alexandrins being our favourite. They are very local, from the vineyards you'll pass on your cruise.

 

But try whatever takes your fancy. Remember that you like NZ SB now but you didn't know it until you tasted it. There may be a new favourite on the wine list, just waiting to be tasted. 

 

Do come back here after your cruise to tell us what your favourites were.

[pontac]

19 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I have led wine tastings at our Learning in Retirement community

 

That's a great way to taste a great number of wines and learn about them. I'm in a tasting group in a similar community - the University of the Third Age - and the 10 of us take in turns each month to host a tasting. I've discovered some super wines from others choices. One of our group presented an Italian wine made from a variety completely new to me -  Gaglioppo - super!! I've bought several since, it's really beautiful and I'd never had it if it wasn't for the tasting group.

 

I'm hosting the next tasting in October with Austrian wines as the subject.

[rcaruso]

2 hours ago, pontac said:

 

 

But you have a great opportunity to try wines new to you. If you don't like it, tell the waiter and ask for something different. We liked Horst Sauer Sylvaner from Germany (Sylvaner is the grape variety which I think is not so commonly found in the USA).

 

For the reds, we enjoyed most the two Croze-Hermitage found 2nd & 3rd from bottom on the local reds, with Maison les Alexandrins being our favourite. They are very local, from the vineyards you'll pass on your cruise.

 

 

I forgot to add the Silvaner is one of my favorites as we visit Wurzburg quite frequently (Karlstadt am Main too).  I have had it on the ship too.  I copied the info on the french wines.  Since we are in France I really want to try what France has to offer.  I really liked when they had the Veuve Clicquot in the Silver Spirits package.  Now I have to drink the Jacquesart (not sure on the spelling) and it is ok.  Thank you for the recommendations and I will certainly try them and report back.

[grimsbybud]

On 9/15/2023 at 10:54 AM, NorskyGal said:

We'll be doing the Grand European on the Danube and Rhine, so the local wines will be different from the Rhone.

Thanks for the wine . list.

Hi NorskyGal,

Bud and Eva here from Niagara, Ontario: Eva and I will be doing the Viking Grand European (Buda to Amsterdam Ion the Viking Vili May 2024..You?)

 

Let me state at the outset, we are "winos". We live in the grape and wine region of Niagara  which continues to produce Int'l award winning wins and are quite particular about what we consume and enjoy.

 

We have done 5 Viking Rivers and one Viking Ocean (Oslo/Reykjavik). With the ability to bring wine aboard from each port we stopped at, AND had the crew and staffers always have assisted us in   where to find wine shops at each. Recommendations as to which wines at each have been possible (accurate to our tastes, as well).

 

The Silver Package has never made any sense to us with our won wine and wine and beer freely puree at lunch and dinner. We have a fridge (mini) in the stateroom and the bar supplies glasses. We can enjoy our wines everywhere on the ship except in the Ship's bar, itself.

 

What we have seen of the Silver Package ($$$ per person --each in the stateroom, by the way--) folks were not all that happy. One wanted to bring bubbly all day..?) seemed silly when experiences of locally produced fine wines at SMALL prices makes more sense. As an example, in Prague we were shown a market right by the ship where we found a terrific Pinot Grigio for $8.00 US. needles t say, we went back and secure a few more of our journey to Berlin

 

We would be happy to continue this thread off this site (privacy etc)

 

Bud and Eva (budh@vaxxine.com)

[pontac]

Hi Bud & Eva

 

I trust you noted Point 4 in the last paragraph of my first post in this thread.

 

Whether the Silver Package is worth paying for is a fine judgement call. Some spend a large part of the journey at the bar downing cocktails and spirits. For them, it'll be worth it. If - like us - you only drink wine then one has to balance the cost of the package against the fact you get unlimited pours of house wines at lunch and dinner and that there's no corkage on wines you bring with you and buy in wineries and wineshops along the way.

 

The cost of the drinks package varies with the cruise and length of cruise, and a further complication is by pre-buying one pays in one's home currency but the wines on the list are in Euros.

 

I have been in the Ontario wine region several times and was very impressed with Cabernet Franc there and also  enjoyed the best Chardonnay I've ever had. And as for ice wine.........🤩