Seabourn's "house wines"

[auldlassie]

Just back from the carribbean Xmas/new year on Quest and some of the complimentary wines are different already. My opinions humbly given below.

 

White Oak, you may be interested to know that the Laetitia Pinot Noir is not complimentary, but on the "revenue" list at $78 a bottle, and is part of the silver wine package, although it was being served as complimentary on the first night of the cruise in restaurant 2 only. It was good, but not outstanding. Can't recall the vintage, sorry.

 

No Louis Jadot (or Louis Latour) chardonnay available on this cruise in any restaurant as far as I could find, but the Mondavi reserve was not bad if served very cold, and unpleasant otherwise. We had one bottle fizzing slightly on the tongue -not checked by any sommelier before pouring, but it was replaced when we pointed it out.

 

The current chianti is not Placido now. I cannot remember the name of the new one, but definitely not that (I know that label). It was by far the best of the current crop of reds on the comp. list for me. The only one not new world far and not too young, black or jammy. I was given both the 2006 and 2008 vintages and both were good and well rounded, with just the hint of a sweet edge due to some more maturity. Not great, but good. So nice to be able to tilt a glass and see a tawny rim instead of purple.

 

They still have the Castillo Morante -pretty rough -and the Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio (again ok when very cold, but awful when not). The La Poule Blanche, le Coq Red and la Pousson Rose are just vile, bottom row of the supermarket wines. Suggest you avoid unless your stomach lined with lead. If only to stop encouraging the French to do these aggressively marketed export things.

 

If Rhone is your thing, they have a Perrin Reserve (only began to make an appearance half way through the cruise) and a Chapoutier -which I could have sworn was called Bellevue, but online can only find Belleruche, so it must be that instead -unless someone out there knows otherwise? - which only began to appear very late in the cruise in Restaurant 2 - both unsophisticated lower priced blends from good producers. The Chapoutier blend is good -much lighter and smoother than the rougher, denser Perrin.

 

I think I did try almost every new world red on the comp list, but I liked none. Too young, too rough for me. Such a pity because I am well aware that great new world reds do exist!

 

Overall thoughts -

Comp. wines barely adequate and certainly not "fine", as discussed at large elsewhere on these forums. By the end of the cruise, we were quite fed up with them and began to feel the need to buy better from the revenue list -reluctantly!! The junior sommeliers (often the bar staff doubling up in the other dining rooms) know very little, resulting in frequent small mix-ups, e.g. asked for chardonnay, told chardonnay, actually poured an obvious sauvignon blanc, asked for bordeaux, given rhone etc etc. They do offer you a chance to taste beforehand, but only for your first glass, so later, when topped up from further bottles of the same wine, they don't taste beforehand and neither are you offered that, so you can be given the occasional bad glassful, or an underchilled one at that point. The head sommeliers and assistant sommeliers do have more knowledge of what is on offer, as you would expect. They also quietly acknowledge that the comp wines are not great. All sommeliers did try to do their best and were happy to let me try as many of the different wines available as I needed to find my preference.

 

Very surprised that, even with wines purchased from the overpriced revenue list, on serving, vintages or producers were swapped without the sommelier even seeming aware of it until I drew it to their attention. The revenue list is not kept up to date -much is out of stock and replaced in cellar, but not noted on the list. That is the source of these problems.

 

Did these quibbles spoil the cruise for me? No, not at all. But they are niggles that should be addressed by Seabourn if they want to maximise guests enjoyment of their cruises and maximise the odds of re-booking. This -and the smoking issue. Now -where is the thread for that?;)

[themed4me]

Auld, my experience and views echo yours precisely.

 

We're on the Quest later this year and am hoping for some recognition that this is an opportunity area (pretty easy to fix with basic attention), and for some adjustment to the wine program -- the food deserves better.

[julia]

Auldlassie:

 

Thank you SO much for your comprehensive post!

[Flamin_June]

Recently back from Legend Dubai- Mumbai.

The quality of the complimentary wines this time was vastly better than on our previous Legend cruise (Aug 2010). We drink red, so can only comment on those. There was only one dud,served up once, a particularly nasty and undeveloped Chilean Merlot. I wasn't taking notes ( on holiday, don't you know), so apologies for lack of label details. However, having followed this debate for a long time I was paying attention. The offered wine changed every day. There was no problem at all about requesting alternatives, or wines from previous days. There were some jolly nice Cote du Rhones, a couple of ISWC medal winning offerings, and with the exception of the one aforementioned dud, everything was of a quality that I would be happy to serve at home at a semi-formal dinner party. Quality rating 4.5 Stars out of 5 (for complimentary wine) and congratulations to the procurement team. Maybe because it was a Xmas cruise the quality was upped - I don't know; however, if this standard was to be maintained throughout the year I don't think there would be many complaints - unless it were from people with unreasonable expectations of what to they are likely to find from a complimentary wine list.

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

Recently back from Legend Dubai- Mumbai.

The quality of the complimentary wines this time was vastly better than on our previous Legend cruise (Aug 2010). We drink red, so can only comment on those. There was only one dud,served up once, a particularly nasty and undeveloped Chilean Merlot. I wasn't taking notes ( on holiday, don't you know), so apologies for lack of label details. However, having followed this debate for a long time I was paying attention. The offered wine changed every day. There was no problem at all about requesting alternatives, or wines from previous days. There were some jolly nice Cote du Rhones, a couple of ISWC medal winning offerings, and with the exception of the one aforementioned dud, everything was of a quality that I would be happy to serve at home at a semi-formal dinner party. Quality rating 4.5 Stars out of 5 (for complimentary wine) and congratulations to the procurement team. Maybe because it was a Xmas cruise the quality was upped - I don't know; however, if this standard was to be maintained throughout the year I don't think there would be many complaints - unless it were from people with unreasonable expectations of what to they are likely to find from a complimentary wine list.

 

We will be aboard the Legend in April. Thank you for the positive spin on the complimentary wines. We always enjoy a glass or two;)or maybe three of good reds at dinner and by your posting that appears to be something that is quite possible.

Shirley

[1straveler]

Wandering Wino's, I've never seen you turn your nose up at any wine. Wasn't that Three Buck Chuck (formerly Two Buck) that you were hiding in a brown paper bag on St. Bart's.

Mike :rolleyes:

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

Wandering Wino's, I've never seen you turn your nose up at any wine. Wasn't that Three Buck Chuck (formerly Two Buck) that you were hiding in a brown paper bag on St. Bart's.

Mike :rolleyes:

 

:DMike sometimes desperate times call for desperate wine decisions. All kidding aside I can't understand why Seabourn is having trouble providing acceptable complimentary wines. There are so many really nice wines in the mid price range and with their volume discount really almost cheap for them to purchase. Sounds like someone in the purchasing dept. is dropping the ball.

Shirley

[1straveler]

On one of our cruises on the Legend we were having Dinner at the Captain's table and he sent the wine back as unacceptable and selected another choice. I tend to stay with Santa Margherita wines which we drink at home. If I can buy them for $22 to $25 a bottle Seabourn probably pays $10. I continue to be shocked that they can't find better wines with the quantities they must purchase. I also seems that they don't consider the comments of their passengers or even their staff. When a waiter says he can't recommend brand X you know there is a problem. Wish we were on the cruise with you in April.

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

On one of our cruises on the Legend we were having Dinner at the Captain's table and he sent the wine back as unacceptable and selected another choice. I tend to stay with Santa Margherita wines which we drink at home. If I can buy them for $22 to $25 a bottle Seabourn probably pays $10. I continue to be shocked that they can't find better wines with the quantities they must purchase. I also seems that they don't consider the comments of their passengers or even their staff. When a waiter says he can't recommend brand X you know there is a problem. Wish we were on the cruise with you in April.

 

We have a supermarket here in So. California, Ralphs (Kroger) and since before Thanksgiving they have been running a sale of 30% off all wines. The sale is to continue until after the Super Bowl. From speaking to the manager of the wine dept he said that they have sold so much wine with this sale going and he certainly seemed to think there was still plenty of profit going to the store. We have a chardonnay from Washington State, Columbia-Crest Grand Estates that we enjoy before dinner it runs anywhere from $7 to $8 at most stores. We have been paying under $5.00 bottle on sale. Now I understand it might not be to everyones taste, but we prefer a buttery chardonnay for casual drinking with or without food. This is only one example of wines from the new world that can be purchased at a very low price point.

We leave on Saturday for a Chef Holiday in Yosemite at the Ahwahnee Hotel with a couple days at the front for a stop to wine taste in Murphys California the home of some outstanding Zinfandels, Syrah and Petite Sirahs. Probably bring a couple with us on the cruise in April.

I wish you guys were joining us and Bob and Margaret too.

[1straveler]

Shirley, we went to a wine tasting with a sommelier in Paris a couple of years a go who introduced us to seven wines all under 15 Euros that were fabulous. I just don't think Seabourn is putting any effort into the wines they select. The airlines are doing a better job in business class than Seabourn and at a very small cost.

Mike

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

Shirley, we went to a wine tasting with a sommelier in Paris a couple of years a go who introduced us to seven wines all under 15 Euros that were fabulous. I just don't think Seabourn is putting any effort into the wines they select. The airlines are doing a better job in business class than Seabourn and at a very small cost.

Mike

 

 

Hello Seabourn please take notice. So easy to make a difference.

[wripro]

Wanderingwinos,

 

that 30% off sale at Ralphs is only for six bottles or more. Still a good deal if you like what they offer.

[marazul]

Wanderingwinos,

 

that 30% off sale at Ralphs is only for six bottles or more.

 

Is that a problem? ;)

["Wandering Wino's&quo]

Wanderingwinos,

 

that 30% off sale at Ralphs is only for six bottles or more. Still a good deal if you like what they offer.

 

Yes you are correct you need to purchase 6 bottles or more but you can mix or match. Since the sale includes all wines that the supermarket carries we were able to get a nice discount on a bottle of Rubicon Estate 2008 Cask Cabernet along with several other labels that we find enjoyable. I guess the only point I was trying to make with the story about a local merchant was that good and sometime very fine wines can be purchased at reasonable prices by the public so I would think a company as large as Carnival would have so much purchasing power available to them that the complaints that have been shared on cc regarding the quality of the wines both complimentary and for purchased aboard Seabourn really doesn't seem like a great business plan.

Now I must admit I'm no expert on buying large qualities of wine, my experience is more in the drinking side of the grape. So please forgive me if my recent comments are not from my experience but from my desires.;)

[wripro]

It's a very valid point.

[Chairsin]

Having also been on the holiday Quest cruise with Auldlassie I will confirm that as with our August Pride cruise the red wines in particular were disappointing. We purchased a wine package and did run into the problem after we purchased it of finding out one wine we wanted was not available and one of the others was not the vintage we had originally been led to believe was available.Given that Seabourn's prices have remained low for a couple of years I do wish they would up the price a little and work harder to source some better wines. iHowever, this is not a deal breaker for us and we will just continue to supplement their selection with either wines we bring on board or on our upcoming May trip purchase in Bordeaux.Let me also say I do really enjoy the fact that Seabourn has been offering a very nice Sauterne after dinner for the past few years. Don't know which it is but after we ordered it the first couple of nights our wine waiter automatically brought us a glass every evening at the end of our meal for the remiander of the trip.It was a very nice touch.

[Seabourntraveller]

Having also been on the holiday Quest cruise with Auldlassie I will confirm that as with our August Pride cruise the red wines in particular were disappointing. We purchased a wine package and did run into the problem after we purchased it of finding out one wine we wanted was not available and one of the others was not the vintage we had originally been led to believe was available.Given that Seabourn's prices have remained low for a couple of years I do wish they would up the price a little and work harder to source some better wines. iHowever, this is not a deal breaker for us and we will just continue to supplement their selection with either wines we bring on board or on our upcoming May trip purchase in Bordeaux.Let me also say I do really enjoy the fact that Seabourn has been offering a very nice Sauterne after dinner for the past few years. Don't know which it is but after we ordered it the first couple of nights our wine waiter automatically brought us a glass every evening at the end of our meal for the remiander of the trip.It was a very nice touch.

 

After just coming off the Legend less than 2 weeks ago I can confirm that Corporate has upgraded extensively the Complimentary Wine Lists since the first week of December last year. I noticed some very nice Burgundy's and Cabernet's and Chardonay's in the $40-$60 price range which were being offered on the Legend and not only for Xmas or New Year. I was told that this "upgrading" of the Complimentary Wine Lists was going to be rolled out fleet wide over the next couple of month and in tandem with there Logistics Dept.

[Martita B.]

Chairsin

At times I enjoy an ice cold desert wine after dinner.......these are also complimentary ~(not advertised....;)) I simply ask the wine master, in the dining room, if he has one available.

MB

[Chairsin]

Seabourntraveller,

I will look forward to this in May and let you and others here know what we find.Then again, we may pick up some wine in Bordeaux anyway just because:D

[Seabourntraveller]

Seabourntraveller,

I will look forward to this in May and let you and others here know what we find.Then again, we may pick up some wine in Bordeaux anyway just because:D

 

An "emergency" stash is always a prudent thing!:D

[Chairsin]

Ah, were you a boy scout?

[JennAngel9]

I believe this is the most recent thread on Seabourn's complimentary wines. A few posts above it was noted that SB is upgrading its wine selection and rolling out nicer old world wines across the fleet. Could the wine experts who've cruised in Mar/Apr weigh in with their experiences? Ideally on Odyssey. :)

[won2go]

We are currently on the Quest, yes wine standard seems to have improved in the last few months. Two drinkable reds, Sirius from Bordeaux and a Chilean 2006 reserve Shiraz. I am not a Sauvignon Blanc drinker but the Wingspan seems to be well accepted. There is also a reasonable petit chablis.

[JennAngel9]

Thanks for taking time out of your vacation to respond won2go. I'm not much of a red drinker, but petit chablis sounds promising. :)

[MARIANH]

We are currently on the Quest, yes wine standard seems to have improved in the last few months. Two drinkable reds, Sirius from Bordeaux and a Chilean 2006 reserve Shiraz. I am not a Sauvignon Blanc drinker but the Wingspan seems to be well accepted. There is also a reasonable petit chablis.

 

Just arrived home from Quest Venice to Athens.

 

Just to add to above ( my personal opinion) - Bouchard Petit Chablis is good, Louis Latour Ardeche Chardonnay quite pleasant. Try the Robertson (SA) Viogner - a good take on this difficult to grow grape. There is a very good Masi Algheiri - but needs food. Just on board as we left, an Errazuriz Merlot appeared only got one shot at it - robust and again needs food. Ditto on the Sirius and the Chilean shiraz. And finally, there was a very drinkable Sauternes that was never offered but brought if you asked.

 

And the house champagne is still NF - ugh , not to my taste; but plenty others were lapping it up . In fact there is an unopened bottle left in my suite - it was that good:rolleyes:.

 

Caviar is still readily available and the batch that appeared towards the end of the cruise seemed improved in quality.

 

Now for unpacking and some beans on toast - ouch:eek:

 

Missing the delights of the Quest already; but not the sewage pong!