Recommended Red Wine

[Cebse]

Hello we have read on quite a few posts of people ordering nice red wines on the premium drinks package.

We generally like a Rioja or Merlot red wine.

What would you recommend we ask for please as we would be so grateful of your advice as we do not know the different brands available to get from the premium package.

Thanks in advance.

[39august]

 Wines vary with ship and cruise, depending on what is available to stock. Tell your somalier what you like and ask for suggestions. 

[emmas gran]

This is difficult to answer, suggest you ask for a small amount to taste, a few people say Decoy Cab Sav is a nice red wine

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Decoy was not available on Silhouette 2 weeks ago.  They were substituting Elegance by Kendall Jackson which I did not like as well.

[ScubaDo]

I am a Conundrum red fan when on Celebrity.

 

[Samantha]

I enjoy the Kiona Merlot. 

[chemmo]

34 minutes ago, 39august said:

 Wines vary with ship and cruise, depending on what is available to stock. Tell your somalier what you like and ask for suggestions. 

Exactly what we do!

 

I remember on our first few cruises looking on CC for recommendations only to get on board and find things I had fancied weren’t there. We find the speciality restaurants particularly good at suggesting wines you may like and pairing them with your meal choices. Best ever sommelier service was on Equinox in Murano….We had wines there we certainly would not have considered ourselves but really complemented the food.

[capsplace]

39 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

This is difficult to answer, suggest you ask for a small amount to taste, a few people say Decoy Cab Sav is a nice red wine

I totally agree!  I was just about to mention Decoy as well.  And it's on the premium package.

[capsplace]

33 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Decoy was not available on Silhouette 2 weeks ago.  They were substituting Elegance by Kendall Jackson which I did not like as well.

OH NO!  Hope same doesn't happen on Reflection in a few weeks.  

[drakes2]

Prefer the Decoy cab but in its absence would choose the Elegance Pinot noir

[hiccups]

33 minutes ago, capsplace said:

OH NO!  Hope same doesn't happen on Reflection in a few weeks.  

Decoy was available on our 2/26 Reflection cruise, but someone posted in a review a couple weeks later it wasn’t.  Maybe by then they’ll have it back in stock.

[brooker]

Decoy cab was not available on Apex last week.   I was very disappointed.  

[George C]

4 minutes ago, brooker said:

Decoy cab was not available on Apex last week.   I was very disappointed.  

We always order decoy Cabernet on our celebrity and rccl cruises it was definitely on summit a few weeks ago, as far as I can remember it’s been on all our celebrity cruises, but definitely supply chain issues all over. 

[brooker]

Just now, George C said:

We always order decoy Cabernet on our celebrity and rccl cruises it was definitely on summit a few weeks ago, as far as I can remember it’s been on all our celebrity cruises, but definitely supply chain issues all over. 

Agree with you about the supply chain.  But they list it on menus as being available and they display a bottle as you enter the restaurants or MDR, but when you ask for it, they say sorry not available.  i am  not a big fan of the Elegance and that is what they encourage you to drink.  i suppose it's not the worse thing that could happen.  

[George C]

3 minutes ago, brooker said:

Agree with you about the supply chain.  But they list it on menus as being available and they display a bottle as you enter the restaurants or MDR, but when you ask for it, they say sorry not available.  i am  not a big fan of the Elegance and that is what they encourage you to drink.  i suppose it's not the worse thing that could happen.  

One time in Luminae they were temporarily out of decoy and sommelier had us taste some other wines which we didn’t care for so he gave us caymus for no extra cost 😁

[jelayne]

6 minutes ago, George C said:

One time in Luminae they were temporarily out of decoy and sommelier had us taste some other wines which we didn’t care for so he gave us caymus for no extra cost 😁

On the Reflection B2B in February for 1st leg the ship received 4 bottles of  Caymus and  2nd they received just 1.  Doubtful they would use that as a substitute.  In fact they would not sell it by the glass.  

[George C]

1 minute ago, jelayne said:

On the Reflection B2B in February for 1st leg the ship received 4 bottles of  Caymus and  2nd they received just 1.  Doubtful they would use that as a substitute.  In fact they would not sell it by the glass.  

Our favorite restaurant in Dallas was out of caymus for last couple of months , they had it for 30 a glass with a good pour . We normally bring on a couple of good bottles.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

20 minutes ago, George C said:

One time in Luminae they were temporarily out of decoy and sommelier had us taste some other wines which we didn’t care for so he gave us caymus for no extra cost 😁

I would have liked that as a substitute but they were out of Caymus on Silhouette too.  They did find us a bottle of Opus 1 and cooked a great fillet in Luminae the night we splurged. Perfectible Pittsburgh rare +1.

[C-Dragons]

3 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Decoy was not available on Silhouette 2 weeks ago.  They were substituting Elegance by Kendall Jackson which I did not like as well.

We had the same situation on Edge a couple of weeks ago.

[ScubesDad]

My preferences tend to be Malbec, Roja, and Beaujolais; however as many of the wines listed are from wineries we are unfamiliar with I will discuss with the sommelier and will defer to their recommendation. I have been introduced to some excellent wines and if I was left to my own decisions I would have not selected. Often the recommendation will be something not on the wine list as it may be an end of bin with few bottles remaining. We generally sail in suites and dine in Luminae, so the experience maybe different elsewhere; however, the approach has worked in the specialty restaurants as well. Worse case scenario you get something you don't  like you can request something different.

[drakes2]

55 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

We had the same situation on Edge a couple of weeks ago.

I was on the Edge last month and Decoy cab was available in fact they gifted me one in my stateroom. 

[hiccups]

2 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

I would have liked that as a substitute but they were out of Caymus on Silhouette too.  They did find us a bottle of Opus 1 and cooked a great fillet in Luminae the night we splurged. Perfectible Pittsburgh rare +1.

Wow, I had no idea they carried Opus!  I don’t drink wine and my husband is good with recommendations from the premium package.   
 

We bought my FIL a bottle of the 2015 vintage for Christmas.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

4 hours ago, hiccups said:

Wow, I had no idea they carried Opus!  I don’t drink wine and my husband is good with recommendations from the premium package.   
 

We bought my FIL a bottle of the 2015 vintage for Christmas.

They had 2 bottles on board that they transferred from Millennium. We reserved one and the other was sold.  Also had only 2 bottles of Caymus, both of which were reserved. The supply shortage seems to be getting worse, or they are reserving the good wines for E class ships.  We had no problems on Edge in October.

[markeb]

21 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

They had 2 bottles on board that they transferred from Millennium. We reserved one and the other was sold.  Also had only 2 bottles of Caymus, both of which were reserved. The supply shortage seems to be getting worse, or they are reserving the good wines for E class ships.  We had no problems on Edge in October.

Just curious. Do you remember the vintage? Most high end reds on cruise ships are babies and would benefit from time. Just not the business model to let them age. 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I think it was 2015 or 2016.