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Pol Acker

SALAD MUNCHER

By SALAD MUNCHER,
in Cunard Line

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3rdGenCunarder "Live from...." Rare

3rdGenCunarder

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, david,Mississauga said:

On the Alaska cruise of the QE in June we had a bottle of Contessa, a decent Italian sparkling wine. This was in PG. Our friend had the same in his cabin. I suppose it was too much to hope for the end of Pol Acker.

 

Yes, I was in PG and had Contessa, too. A second bottle appeared mid-cruise with a note saying it was in lieu of a senior officers party. 

 

Next cruise, I'm back in steerage, so I may have to put up with Pol Acker. 😱

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navybankerteacher

navybankerteacher

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Posted

I think it is interesting to read the disdainful comments so many people post about Pol Acker.   Sure, it is not Dom Perignon or even Veuve Clicot - but it is a decent (though unremarkable) sparkling wine and it is given as a welcome aboard token.


It is sort of like someone denigrating a tuna fish sandwich simply because it is not smoked Nova Scotia salmon.

 

If it assaults your palate just set it aside. 

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exlondoner

exlondoner

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

I think it is interesting to read the disdainful comments so many people post about Pol Acker.   Sure, it is not Dom Perignon or even Veuve Clicot - but it is a decent (though unremarkable) sparkling wine and it is given as a welcome aboard token.


It is sort of like someone denigrating a tuna fish sandwich simply because it is not smoked Nova Scotia salmon.

 

If it assaults your palate just set it aside. 


i just don’t like it very much, so do indeed set it aside. But it’s not because it is cheap, it is because to me, it has a not very nice taste. This is not disdain or snobbery, it is because I don’t much like it. The same applies to some champagnes.

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Victoria2 Great Review Rare

Victoria2

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Posted

A culture of let's see how derogatory we can be about P. A. has been around for quite some time now...the nail varnish remover quip being just an example.

 

It truly isn't that bad and I've drunk it many times when we're invited to friends for drinks, but unless we have guests in for drinks or we haven't 'gifted it on', we set it aside because as exlondoner said, it's not snobbery or disdain,  we just happen to be lucky enough to have other cabin supplied  bottles to have a go at.

Hic

 

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babs135 Great Review Rare

babs135

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Posted

We add some orange juice to our glass of PA which makes it quite drinkable.  Funny/rude comments about Pol Aker seem to be a requirement of every Cunarder, but being honest here..isn't it lovely to be welcomed on board with a bottle of wine waiting to greet you.  Doesn't happen on every line.

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carlmm

carlmm

Posted
Posted
47 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

A culture of let's see how derogatory we can be about P. A. has been around for quite some time now...

 

I was rather happy to finally see a thread about Pol Acker again - maybe it means we are a bit more back to normal pre-covid 😉 

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3rdGenCunarder "Live from...." Rare

3rdGenCunarder

Posted
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20 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

I think it is interesting to read the disdainful comments so many people post about Pol Acker.   Sure, it is not Dom Perignon or even Veuve Clicot - but it is a decent (though unremarkable) sparkling wine and it is given as a welcome aboard token.


It is sort of like someone denigrating a tuna fish sandwich simply because it is not smoked Nova Scotia salmon.

 

If it assaults your palate just set it aside. 

 

Sometimes it's decent, and sometimes it's awful. I don't know if it's production issues or careless storage, but I have had some truly bad Pol Acker. 

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navybankerteacher

navybankerteacher

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3 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Sometimes it's decent, and sometimes it's awful. I don't know if it's production issues or careless storage, but I have had some truly bad Pol Acker. 

Of course any wine- ordered in great bulk and given away freely to many people who may not  interested in it can suffer from careless treatment.  A wine permitted to be warmed for a long time, or frequently, can seriously suffer. By chance, a particular bottle can be placed in many cabins for people who leave it behind - each time being possibly warmed, before being cooled again and “added to the rotation”.   It is possible that one bottle of Pol Acker could be so recycled dozens of times in a given year.  

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D&N "Live from...." Rare

D&N

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We didn't travel on QM2 to drink in our cabin, except water to avoid dehydration.  We took 3 bottles of Pol Acker that bred in the fridge home.  One was used in our version of Spritz and was very nice.

The 2nd was drunk as intended. It was heavily chilled in fridge, as were the glasses. It was then placed in a bucket of ice and water for about 30 minutes, with salt added to lower the melting temperature.

It was a very hot evening and we may have got it colder serving when the ambient temperature was not 32C. I poured it at an angle to avoid it fizzing up to keep as much fizz in drink as possible.

It tasted quite pleasant. Lightly creamy and fruity if not with depth of a decent champagne.

 

It doesn't claim to be champagne. It states "Blanc de Blancs", which is made from 100% white grapes, very often all Chardonnay. Pol Acker doesn't say that, I assume it is a blend. Most champagne uses the white flesh of red grapes in the blend to achieve a depth of flavour and aftertaste.

 

Compared to the many Blanc de Blancs sparkling wines we have tried in France it scored favourably with us.  The label states to serve at 5-8C. That is incredibly cold.

 

If you can't wait to drink it when you find it in your cabin, don't blame the wine for your inability to serve it as intended! 🍸

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Bell Boy

Bell Boy

Posted
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2 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

Thank you,  always left it ,  but will give it a go , following your advice. 

Me too ! No wonder my Gardener Lad keeps asking me ,when am I going on another cruise. I've never bothered with it and have been taking this stuff home for years for his wife .   

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3rdGenCunarder "Live from...." Rare

3rdGenCunarder

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6 hours ago, TheOldBear said:

Is that recommended serving temp in Fahrenheit, Celsius or Kelvin?

 

 

Well, if it's Kelvin, it would be solid, thus literally undrinkable. If it's Fahrenheit, it would probably be slushy, as the water in it would be frozen. That leaves us with Celsius. Anyway, it has to be Celsius because the French use the metric system. 

 

I guess I never bothered to read the back label of a bottle of Pol Acker, because I didn't know the correct temperature. 

 

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