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Seabourn's "house wines"


glenr

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The problem is I doubt there are another 1800 people willing to pay an extra 25 pc every week.:D

 

I suspect you are right. The beancounters will continue to rule the waves, so the future remains bleak. Deteriorating standards will become the norm.:(

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Just off the legend.

 

The house 'Stags Leap' chard served was fabulous. If that's a few dollars a bottle, I wanna know where I can find a truck load of it?

 

As for the rest of the house wines, not a one was bad and on balance, they were as good or better than what most upscale restaurants offer as 'house wines.'

 

SB house wines were no less than I expected for SB's all inclusive service.

 

For those who want vintage bottles, a few hundred bucks up-charge over the course of a cruise would seem a pittance considering SB and other premium daily cruise rates.

 

That's our opinion on this issue and worth every cent ya paid for it!

 

___‹~›__‹(•¿•)›__‹~›___

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This discussion can go on forever. The wine is the wine is the wine. Fine wines. House wines. Good wines. Bad wines. They have the choice to serve what the want and what is in their budget. We have the choice to sail with them or not. Or to buy better wines and bring them aboard. For those who are willing to pay 25% more that can buy a lot of good wine.

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We have just finished a 17 day cruise with Silversea on the Silver Wind. While the food was way below the standard we last experienced on Seabourn in May, the free wine was certainly better. They obviously focus on Italian wines and they serve quite acceptable wines in all categories (no J.P. Chenet rose!). There were more choices on the free list than on Seabourn, you still have the same problem in getting a list of wines that they actually have on your cruise.

There was a good Chilean carmenere reserve 2009 and a very good Argentinian red blend.

I go back to the premise that if Seabourn spent a mere 2 euros extra a bottle they could serve wines that would almost meet their brochure statement of "fine wines".

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We have just finished a 17 day cruise with Silversea on the Silver Wind. While the food was way below the standard we last experienced on Seabourn in May, the free wine was certainly better. They obviously focus on Italian wines and they serve quite acceptable wines in all categories (no J.P. Chenet rose!). There were more choices on the free list than on Seabourn, you still have the same problem in getting a list of wines that they actually have on your cruise.

There was a good Chilean carmenere reserve 2009 and a very good Argentinian red blend.

I go back to the premise that if Seabourn spent a mere 2 euros extra a bottle they could serve wines that would almost meet their brochure statement of "fine wines".

 

I agree. Having cruised on Silversea in both 2010 and 2011 I found their 'house' wines acceptable. Also there was more flexibility, and if you were nice to the sommelier then he produced some surprisingly good wine 'on the house'.

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I did the Odyssey last summer in the Med, and now going on the Sojourn mid March Amazonas->Fort Lauderdale.

I DO agree with the rest of the posters in this thread that the house wines are of subpar quality, once in a while a relative gem might come along, but they are few and far between.

Beig quite a winebuff, I have therefore on this cruise booked a "Gold package" in hope of getting better quality and diversity/choice. Any experience with the packages?

As I do come from av country known for its high wine and liquor prices (Norway, and the NOK vs USD is particularly in our favour these days), the á la carte pricing of wines does not seem exorbiant.

 

Dom Perignon at <USD200 is not bad, is it? It retails for the same price in Norway. La Grande Dame is USD 150 at home, approx the same as onboard.

 

Any other great buys or great wines on the Sojourn?

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So if the wines are better that means you are willing to accept food that is not. Imo that's not a fair trade. I can always buy better wines. I can't buy better food on a cruise.

 

No, certainly not. Silversea food 2010 and 2011 (Silver Spirit - transatlantic) was considerably better than Seabourn Sojourn November 2012. January 2013 on Silver Whisper (Los Angeles - Sydney) will be a good test of the current position.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Beig quite a winebuff, I have therefore on this cruise booked a "Gold package" in hope of getting better quality and diversity/choice. Any experience with the packages?

As I do come from av country known for its high wine and liquor prices (Norway, and the NOK vs USD is particularly in our favour these days), the á la carte pricing of wines does not seem exorbiant.

 

Dom Perignon at <USD200 is not bad, is it? It retails for the same price in Norway. La Grande Dame is USD 150 at home, approx the same as onboard.

 

Any other great buys or great wines on the Sojourn?

 

The Gold package includes Chateau Talbot.If you choose to have six bottles of Talbot then you are getting excellent value for your $450.

 

The Dom Perignon that I was drinking on the Quest over Christmas and New Year was $194 a bottle less my 20% club discount.

Again excellent value.

 

Nothing new to report about the house wines,only to say that the Cote du Rhone was the only drinkable red and the Gavi,the only drinkable white.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just back from Quest over Christmas. Last year after the same Christmas cruise, I posted an extensive review of my opinions on the complimentary wines. Almost all unimpressive then and little has changed, so I won't make the mistake of expending too much energy posting again. This time around, I tried almost every wine available (even if only small sips ;)) and I found the Cote du Rhone to be the best of the reds on offer. As for whites, there is a complimentary Barton & Gestier Chablis (note, not the Petit Chablis that has been mentioned in a few earlier posts) which was the best on offer, although you'd probably need to ask a sommelier specifically for it as it tends not to be offered as a matter of course. The Cote du Rhone is not offered as frequently as many other reds either. Once my preferences were known though, it was almost always offered to me right away. I am well aware that these are just my personal preferences of course and you may choose to differ!

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I sent a request for an updated fine wine list, and was forwarded this reply from Guest Services:

"We apologize, but we cannot send out wine lists. The lists will not be accurate or reflect the same bottles that will be available on his cruise, as we do our best to vary the selection and include local wines. Please let Pingus know that we apologize for the inconvenience. "

:(

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