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Question about Wine Onboard

isl1985

Hello everyone,

I am taking a trip to Oktoberfest this September with Tauck, and had a question regarding the wine on board the ship.

My wife and and I are wine professionals and we wondered if the wines offered on the ship reflect the areas we are traveling through (Alsace and Germany for example... our absolute favorite regions for wine.) Or do they have a standard wine offering that is the same from ship to ship. Either way we are very excited, but were just curious. Thanks in advance!

Comments

kfnknfzk

The river boats do have regional wines. I’m far from being a connoisseur but have always enjoyed the selections, especially the wine pairings during the special dinners. Befriend the sommelier; she/he will take good care of you. Enjoy!

isl1985

Thanks!

kfnknfzk

My pleasure.

Claudia Sails

Yes they do use regional wines. On a previous cruise I had a chance to talk with the sommelier about how much latitude he has in picking wines. Quite a bit and he worked with the chef on matching it to the menu for that day. On the last few cruises we've had the sommelier would come up to the lounge at happy hour and talked about the wines that night. If you buy something off ship you like they'll serve it to you. No issues.

mjhandle

I’ve also heard about a special wine cellar that the river boats have. Is there a separate wine list for this? Is it general knowledge or something that is kept secret? (Until now, I guess!)

British

I can’t imagine wine professionals would be impressed by anything that is onboard. Maybe the French owned small ship cruises would have better choices. We have dined with the Captains on several of those ships and the wine they chose for the table is pretty good.
Please tell us if you think the wines are good and any recommendations!

kfnknfzk

mjhandle - I am unaware of a “special” wine cellar. There is a wine list available for varietals beyond the normally stocked items. On a few occasions I have asked if a certain regional wine was available and it was. If something is not available, I am sure the sommelier will offer an alternative.

British - Which river boat wine(s) were you not impressed with? I have only been on one Ponant tour and I thought the wine offerings on the river boats were far superior.

British

I was referring to the Small ship cruises when we had the good fortune to dine with the Captains. They chose the wines for the table for each course and being French, they seem to know their wines. We have only taken one river cruise with Tauck, we prefer land tours. We tend to like French and New Zealand wines best. We have not found a Californian Chardonnay we like. Think it’s because we always had more access to European wines in England. We have enjoyed un-oaked Chardonnay when we can find it. So unsure as if we know a lot about wines, but we don’t, we just know what we seem to like and definitely more into white wines than reds these days.
Isl1995 hasn’t been back to the forum yet anyway.

kfnknfzk

I rarely drink Chardonnay, but my husband likes Clos du Bois from Sonoma. I don’t know if you have tried that.

Sealord

On one of our last trips, “Savoring France”, it was basically a wine tour and we learned a lot about French wines. One of the things we learned was that the French freely admit, is that French wines are made with American grapes. A blight was wiping out the French vineyards, and the only way they could save the industry was to cross their vines with those from the US, because the US grapes were immune to the blight that was wiping out their industry. Without the US vines, there would. be no French wine industry.

British

Yes, but the soil and the blending methods will be different and no sulfites

Sealord

Indeed. And IHOP makes better pancakes than Bisquick. And we have better wines here in California than you can easily get in Philly. As in many wine growing regions the best wines never make it across the border. My brother in law was one of the founders of Ravenswood when it was a small company. The vintner, Joel, made the first wine, but he did not have enough money to buy the bottles. My brother in law bought the bottles. Ravenswood got bought out from under them, but Joel and his son both have their own wine labels now. I don't know anything about sulfites in wine, but I think most California wines bottles contain ‘wine’. I flew to Chile in the past and really liked their wines, but their best wines never leave Chile.

P.S. Small amount of researh. All wines contain sulfites.

British

You’ve got me researching now too. I found this

European Union regulations are stricter on sulfite use than US regulations, contributing to lower sulfite levels ——meaning restricting the addition of extra sulfites to supplement those that occur naturally in the fermentation process

OurTravels34

This goes without saying that, for example, French cosmetics made in France are better than U.S. cosmetics with all the preservatives that are currently banned in Europe and still allowed here! Recently returning from Italy, I learned the same about Italian Olive Oil. It’s all very interesting.

British

So sorry to go off subject…I’ve been on several olive oil tastings with Tauck in different areas of the world and I learned that most countries but not the US…specifically California and also New Zealand have strict rules and their oils cannot but adulterated with anything, where as say Italy and Spain can have things added. As a consequence, I always buy olive oil from California.

mfrancis

Kfnknfzk…I like Clos du Bois also. Tell your husband to try Mer Soleil and Chateau Saint Michelle “Mimi” (not their other vineyards); they’re my faves. He should love them.

Claudia Sails

I've heard claims of off menu wine offerings but have never personally known anyone who used it nor, after 6 Tauck river cruises, heard any ship personnel say that it's an option. On one forum thread quite awhile ago someone said they'd asked for a particular cocktail which the bar didn't have the ingredients for that day but by the next they had bought what was needed.

kfnknfzk

Yes, the Saint Michelle is a pantry staple. I’ll look for your other suggestion. Thanks, mfrancis. This is what makes the forum so valuable. Like-minded individuals helping one another.

isl1985

Thanks for the info everyone. Looking forward to seeing what the options onboard are. Also happy to be stopping Strasbourg where I can nab some bottles if the onboard offering isn't what I'm looking for.

Also, I have strong opinions on sulfites lol

gladysorlando984

I had an instance where I liked the wine served at the bar but it wasn't served at dinner, however I asked for it and they brought it from the bar.

British

We are on a Tauck Small ship cruise right now, and additional wines can be purchased with some bottles costing just over a $1000

gladysorlando984

British WOW!!! over $1000? I'm surprised the ship would carry such expensive wines.

Kathrine_Wnek

British, can you give us a few details about red wines and their prices on that list? I would like to determine if they double or triple the price, also is it mostly California or European red wines. Thank you.

British

I have no idea, we are on a small ship right now, the Sommelier is great, We have enjoyed the red and white for dinner tonight, the white was a New Zealand sauvignon blanc. The red was a Carmenere from Argentina. And yes, I did say the most expensive wine they have that you can pay extra for was over $1000. The tour directors said if anyone had them, they would like to join them! I have no need to upgrade. I had duck this evening and it was the best cooked I have ever had.

isl1985

Prices like that lead me to believe it's some vintage Bordeaux or Burgundy. A few California wines can hit that price as well.

British

I would have thought focus might be on German wines?

gladysorlando984

British I'm with you, no need to upgrade, the wines they serve have always been enjoyable.

RickS

We are not wine professionals, but live about 1.5 hour’s drive from the Napa Valley, closer to Zinfandel regions near Lodi, and often frequent California foothill wine regions. Our tastes in wine ( particularly my wife) are American, what many Europeans would call “fruit bombs”. I enjoyed the wines when we visited St. Emilion, my wife not so much.

With that as background, our take on the four river cruises we have taken with Tauck: the ship’s wine steward plays a big role—some spend a few minutes before dinner discussing the two regional wines selected for that evening, while others don’t. The wines tend to be mostly European in origin and in flavor profile, though there is usually a Chardonnay available that tastes as if it came from California. The wines for the chef’s signature dinner tend to be better/ more expensive. If you are a curious wine drinker, there will be a lot to taste during your cruise. If you are expecting TRULY GREAT WINES, you might want to do a bit of shopping in Strasbourg. Personally, I’ve enjoyed exposure to the variety of regional European wines offered, only remember one or two that were really disappointing, never felt the need to supplement. I hope this helps.

British

That’s helpful Rick. Having grown up in England, I much prefer non California wines. We find we don’t like Chardonnay. Some un-oaked are better on our palate. Thankfully ,for us there have been no California wines offers to us on our tour.

RickS

A little more detail for first-timers: each evening there are usually two featured wines with dinner, a red and a white. (Very few rosés.) generally all the featured wines from throughout the cruise are available any time upon request, unless a very popular wine gets depleted. On occasion, we have seen a more extensive list of the wines on board the river cruise boat. Our Budapest to Amsterdam cruise offered several German whites that we really liked. This was something of a revelation for us, since we don’t see too many German whites here in California, even at the big box wine stores.