Expensive wine by the glass?

[LB_NJ]

I was looking at the sample wine list on Cunard's website and I noticed that they had a few expensive wines by the glass.

E.g., Château d’Yquem, and some expensive Bordeaux.

 

I might try one or 2 of these by the glass however, once wine is opened there is a very short shelf life.

Full bottles are too expensive for us.

Anyone have experience trying these onboard?

 

 

 

[Rothko1]

I don't recall seeing how they kept their wines by the glass bottles.  We always ordered by the bottle on QM2.

 

My hope is that they have a coravin, and use that.  I would inquire.  If they do, then go for it.  If they simply open a bottle and then cork it or keep it in the fridge, definitely do not order a glass.

[exlondoner]

I think they use the Coravin system.

Edited March 24, 2023 by exlondoner

[D&N]

 

The bog standard Sauternes will do for us. In fact we often have much cheaper Monbazillac instead.

I would quite like to try a Pétrus some day but I'm not paying $415 for 75ml!

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, LB_NJ said:

I was looking at the sample wine list on Cunard's website and I noticed that they had a few expensive wines by the glass.

E.g., Château d’Yquem, and some expensive Bordeaux.

 

I might try one or 2 of these by the glass however, once wine is opened there is a very short shelf life.

Full bottles are too expensive for us.

Anyone have experience trying these onboard?

 

 

 

You could do what a fellow table mate did, to celebrate a special birthday. He shared a bottle of Chateau d'quem with the rest of us. No need to re-cork!

 

It is served by the glass too, or it was in years past.

 

 

[exlondoner]

14 minutes ago, D&N said:

 

The bog standard Sauternes will do for us. In fact we often have much cheaper Monbazillac instead.

I would quite like to try a Pétrus some day but I'm not paying $415 for 75ml!

Is it as little as that? I think that is quite a good price compared to a UK restaurant, at any rate.

[D&N]

24 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Is it as little as that? I think that is quite a good price compared to a UK restaurant, at any rate.

It was €2,850 for the 2011 vintage in the Monaco branch of our local hypermarket in July 2021.

If it was available in a September wine promotion and I used all the loyalty program discounts I could possibly get about €1,000 off that.

[Rothko1]

53 minutes ago, D&N said:

 

The bog standard Sauternes will do for us. In fact we often have much cheaper Monbazillac instead.

I would quite like to try a Pétrus some day but I'm not paying $415 for 75ml!

 

If I told you what I spent buying a 6 bottle case of 1998 Petrus back in the early 2000's, you'd probably cry at the deal I got.

 

I know I almost did when it was stolen in 2017.

[LittleFish1976]

3 hours ago, LB_NJ said:

I was looking at the sample wine list on Cunard's website and I noticed that they had a few expensive wines by the glass.

E.g., Château d’Yquem, and some expensive Bordeaux.

 

I might try one or 2 of these by the glass however, once wine is opened there is a very short shelf life.

Full bottles are too expensive for us.

Anyone have experience trying these onboard?

 

 

 

 

To answer your question, yes, I have had several individual glasses over the course of a voyage of one of the wines from the 'Legendary Wines of the World' list, specifically the Vega Sicilia 'Unico', 2004, from Spain. Very discreetly, there's not a price on the wine list I've just looked up but from memory it was in the region of US$70 per glass. I can confirm, or reassure, that the wine was in perfect condition. I don't know what storage method they use for an opened bottle. Possibly the sommelier opened it for me and the wine I drank over the course of the voyage was from that bottle (and the next one!).

 

They must have a superior system for storing the opened bottles - they're far too expensive to be allowing them to spoil.

[TV Dad]

We never had a problem with high end wines. I am guessing they use a Corivan. Besides, if you sip the wine and you think it is off, let the sommelier know. He should make it right. He's on commission and he wants you ordering that next glass of wine.

[LB_NJ]

On 4/6/2023 at 5:41 AM, TV Dad said:

We never had a problem with high end wines. I am guessing they use a Corivan. Besides, if you sip the wine and you think it is off, let the sommelier know. He should make it right. He's on commission and he wants you ordering that next glass of wine.

I guess I did not realize they were on commission.  Besides in the shops on-board, are others on the ship on commission?

[TV Dad]

On most cruise ships your bar and wine bill includes a service charge. This charge is split among bar staff. The more you buy, the more tou pay in service charges. 
 

on the bill and in public, it’s referred to as a service charge. 
 

However, I have become friends with several servers and Somms. Below decks and off ship they refer to it as a commission. The more they sell, the more they earn. 

[techteach]

@TV Dad Thanks for the clarification regarding commission.

[canoncruiser]

I had a bottle of Nuits de St George on QV My Wine Waiter used a very odd looking corking device and my wine was fine over several non consecutive  nights. 

[D&N]

1 hour ago, canoncruiser said:

I had a bottle of Nuits de St George on QV My Wine Waiter used a very odd looking corking device and my wine was fine over several non consecutive  nights. 

That's interesting.

It's priced at $94 on the most recent list, which is less than the minimum value reported in a blog I read recently. That suggested they used it on wines at $250 and above. They have the small extra cost of the gas used by the unit.