Any Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon?

[NMTraveller]

I am not sure what to think of Celebrity.  They have wine by the glass that would be on the AppleBees wine list.  And then they have other wines on the list by the glass that would be at a 3 star or 4 star restaurant.  Which one am I dining at?

 

To me it seems like there is a big hole in the red wine list by the glass at the top of the premium package pricing.  Perhaps that is by design.

Edited August 8 by NMTraveller

[1Virgo]

11 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I am not sure what to think of Celebrity.  They have wine by the glass that would be on the AppleBees wine list.  And then they have other wines on the list by the glass that would be at a 3 star or 4 star restaurant.  Which one am I dining at?

 

To me it seems like there is a big hole in the red wine list by the glass at the top of the premium package pricing.  Perhaps that is by design.

agree. Celebrity has done some “creative” work on the wine packages, for both red and white. A year ago, many popular red wines were  moved from premium to premium plus aka more 💰. Then a few magically reappeared. Some now have been moved back out of premium package n So. Unfortunately I cannot answer your question tis a shell game. 

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, 1Virgo said:

on our Ascent, I ordered champagne. Sommelier asked if I was willing to try something. Well the something was champagne in a wine glass - not a typical champagne glass. The taste difference amazing. in fluted, you get the bubbles/fizz. in wine glass, you get the taste of the wine. He had just come off a course and said new trend coming.    Now our wine budget has gone up. 😁

I will pick a larger Riedel glass when we have a good red wine like your average $50 bottle at home.  But for every day wine I’ll just grab whatever.

 

I sometimes drink Veuve Clicquot out of those same Riedel glasses but I prefer flutes.  

[zitsky]

57 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I am not sure what to think of Celebrity.  They have wine by the glass that would be on the AppleBees wine list.  And then they have other wines on the list by the glass that would be at a 3 star or 4 star restaurant.  Which one am I dining at?

 

To me it seems like there is a big hole in the red wine list by the glass at the top of the premium package pricing.  Perhaps that is by design.

I don’t cruise as much as you but I still haven’t seen wine on Celebrity that I expect to see in a 3 or 4 star restaurant.  I mean we’re talking about Decoy not Duckhorn.  I do think Grgich is decent, but isn’t that gone?  What else is good?

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

I don’t cruise as much as you but I still haven’t seen wine on Celebrity that I expect to see in a 3 or 4 star restaurant.  I mean we’re talking about Decoy not Duckhorn.  I do think Grgich is decent, but isn’t that gone?  What else is good?

Hmmm.  It does look like Grgich is no longer on the menu.  Caymus is good,  but they keep on raising the price to where it is not worth it.  In January we had Caymus at a reasonable price,  Grgrich Hills,  and one more that I forget the name.  How things change in 6 months ...

[markeb]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I am not sure what to think of Celebrity.  They have wine by the glass that would be on the AppleBees wine list.  And then they have other wines on the list by the glass that would be at a 3 star or 4 star restaurant.  Which one am I dining at?

 

To me it seems like there is a big hole in the red wine list by the glass at the top of the premium package pricing.  Perhaps that is by design.

 

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

I don’t cruise as much as you but I still haven’t seen wine on Celebrity that I expect to see in a 3 or 4 star restaurant.  I mean we’re talking about Decoy not Duckhorn.  I do think Grgich is decent, but isn’t that gone?  What else is good?

 

I'm also curious what wines by the glass you'd expect to see at that quality of restaurant. I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with them, but they vary from "really?" to "kind of OK". There are SOME elevated selections (Grgich Hills, but that seems to be going away) that are pretty good. Maybe that's become more consistent. If you have the Premium Package and just look at the incremental cost, the Emmolo merlot, Penner Ash Pinot Noir, Freemark Abbey Cab, and Harford Court Zinfandels are pretty nice wines. And there are a couple of what should be much better than average whites (I mean Mike Grgich (RIP) made the chardonnay that won the Judgement of Paris in 1976!). But beyond those, it's bottle time if you're really into wine!

 

What's really weird it the "elevated" wines aren't even listed for Luminae, where you'd expect them to be the best fit (bottles are probably a better fit for the specialties). I actually just noticed that tonight, and even though I told our sommelier on our last cruise that I was willing to go up for a better wine, he never offered one. On Equinox last year, he did. Very strange...

 

And I agree the "Premium" package tops out well below premium. There's a business school graduate thesis to be written trying to describe and assess the business strategy of Celebrity. Even accounting for the skyrocketing prices and decreased availability of good beef and lamb, the F&B execution doesn't match the purported strategy of modern luxury. But that's a different 15 page Cruise Critic thread...

[Ommadawn]

What does F&B mean here?

[LeeK1]

5 hours ago, Ommadawn said:

What does F&B mean here?

Food and Beverage

[zitsky]

8 hours ago, markeb said:

 

 

I'm also curious what wines by the glass you'd expect to see at that quality of restaurant. I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with them, but they vary from "really?" to "kind of OK". There are SOME elevated selections (Grgich Hills, but that seems to be going away) that are pretty good. Maybe that's become more consistent. If you have the Premium Package and just look at the incremental cost, the Emmolo merlot, Penner Ash Pinot Noir, Freemark Abbey Cab, and Harford Court Zinfandels are pretty nice wines. And there are a couple of what should be much better than average whites (I mean Mike Grgich (RIP) made the chardonnay that won the Judgement of Paris in 1976!). But beyond those, it's bottle time if you're really into wine!

 

What's really weird it the "elevated" wines aren't even listed for Luminae, where you'd expect them to be the best fit (bottles are probably a better fit for the specialties). I actually just noticed that tonight, and even though I told our sommelier on our last cruise that I was willing to go up for a better wine, he never offered one. On Equinox last year, he did. Very strange...

 

And I agree the "Premium" package tops out well below premium. There's a business school graduate thesis to be written trying to describe and assess the business strategy of Celebrity. Even accounting for the skyrocketing prices and decreased availability of good beef and lamb, the F&B execution doesn't match the purported strategy of modern luxury. But that's a different 15 page Cruise Critic thread...

I have only bought a bottle once and that was on our last Eclipse cruise in Tuscan.  It was Decoy and that was my third choice.

 

When you live close to both Napa and Central Coast, CA and the “sommelier” in Luminae on Beyond offers you a white wine from Lodi, I just want to shake my head.  Even Ferrari Carano Fumé Blanc would be perfectly fine.

 

The average restaurant might offer wine from $20 to $100 a bottle, giving you a variety of choices.  I hope these Elevated wines really are an improvement.

Edited August 8 by zitsky

[DaKahuna]

12 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

It does look like Grgich is no longer on the menu.

Opulence Carbornet Sauvignon is still showing on the Luminae menu.

 

[canderson]

3 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Opulence Carbornet Sauvignon is still showing on the Luminae menu.

 

It's showing in your spelling, too! 😄

[DaKahuna]

47 minutes ago, canderson said:

It's showing in your spelling, too! 😄

 

I am just a poor boy from Alabama so don't expect too much okay.

 

[canderson]

27 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

I am just a poor boy from Alabama so don't expect too much okay.

 

It did seem a bit early (even in the Eastern time zone) to be knocking one back, but hey ... 🤪

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

I am just a poor boy from Alabama so don't expect too much okay.

 

 

If they can make wine in Arkansas, being from Alabama is no excuse to not know wine.  Y'all have plenty of wineries in your state. 🙂

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

 

If they can make wine in Arkansas, being from Alabama is no excuse to not know wine.  Y'all have plenty of wineries in your state. 🙂

 

It was about my spelling not my knowing wine 🙂

 But I am definitely not an expert at either. 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, canderson said:

It did seem a bit early (even in the Eastern time zone) to be knocking one back, but hey ... 🤪

 

It's never too early for an adult beverage.  
I will admit to two cups of Bailey's and Coffee with my breakfast.

 

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

It was about my spelling not my knowing wine 🙂

 But I am definitely not an expert at either. 

 

 

I grew up in a trailer park.  I still know how to spell.  🙂

 

Q: Why don’t people in Alabama ever call the police?

 

A: Because they always dial nine one one.

[George C]

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

It's never too early for an adult beverage.  
I will admit to two cups of Bailey's and Coffee with my breakfast.

 

Sounds like the breakfast for champions, on vacation wife likes champagne with breakfast many times they offer mimosas and she will say hold the orange juice. I prefer a good Bloody Mary. 

[canderson]

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

It's never too early for an adult beverage.  
I will admit to two cups of Bailey's and Coffee with my breakfast.

 

How much coffee is it correct to add to the two cups of Bailey's?

 

[markeb]

11 hours ago, zitsky said:

I have only bought a bottle once and that was on our last Eclipse cruise in Tuscan.  It was Decoy and that was my third choice.

 

When you live close to both Napa and Central Coast, CA and the “sommelier” in Luminae on Beyond offers you a white wine from Lodi, I just want to shake my head.  Even Ferrari Carano Fumé Blanc would be perfectly fine.

 

The average restaurant might offer wine from $20 to $100 a bottle, giving you a variety of choices.  I hope these Elevated wines really are an improvement.

 

We've bought bottles a few times on cruise ships. On HAL, they had some really nice Washington wines, mostly merlot. That was close to 20 years ago and we weren't as into wine. On Royal, Chops always had some nice wines. When we first met 30 years ago in while stationed in Korea, my now wife and I would go to the Dragon Hill Lodge (military hotel) in Seoul and their go to wine was Clos du Val, which has a special place to this day. Royal had Clos du Val cab sauv in Chops, which paired wonderfully with their steaks. And we'd buy a bottle most times we dined there. As much for memory as anything else, although Clos du Val is a great winemaker.

 

When we first started on Celebrity, the by-the-glass offerings were frankly more interesting. And by then we'd started going to a (crazy expensive but amazing) Michelin 3-star restaurant in Manhattan with an incredible by the glass menu and real sommeliers. So we had gotten used to having a couple of very nice glasses of wine paired to our individual course. Fast forward, and that's not a strength of Celebrity today. It's not a strength of many places (other than tasting menus). Last fall we found the by-the-glass wines to be "challenging" and ended up with a couple of nice Antinori wines (I think Sangiovese, but I'm not sure) by the bottle. Normally, if we do a bottle, it'll be a Pinot Noir or a GSM or a Sangiovese or something similar that will go with most dishes. She may do fish when I'm having beef (not so much on a cruise these days). So the heavy cab or Bordeaux gets saved for a steak at  home.

 

I do find that Celebrity (maybe all cruise lines?) don't do well at pairing wines to course outside of a tasting menu. And that's really hard to do by the bottle. Unless it's a party of 5-6.

 

More first world problems...

[NMTraveller]

6 hours ago, canderson said:

How much coffee is it correct to add to the two cups of Bailey's?

 

An expresso in each cup.

[DaKahuna]

6 hours ago, George C said:

Sounds like the breakfast for champions, on vacation wife likes champagne with breakfast many times they offer mimosas and she will say hold the orange juice. I prefer a good Bloody Mary. 

 

 I hope she gets her champagne.  Most mimosa's I've seen made on cruise ships use Prosecco vs champagne. 

 

6 hours ago, canderson said:

How much coffee is it correct to add to the two cups of Bailey's?

 

 

Just enough to change the color to what you like, or until you risk overflowing the cup.  Which ever taste better to you. 

 

3 hours ago, markeb said:

I do find that Celebrity (maybe all cruise lines?) don't do well at pairing wines to course outside of a tasting menu. And that's really hard to do by the bottle.

 I agree 100%.  My biggest problem is my daughter turned my DW onto Moscato and sweet white wines and I love my reds.  So bottles are pretty much out of the question these days, although that may change on our TP in April.  I figure between lunch and dinner I could take care of a bottle on my own.  It's worth trying if I come across something.  

 

3 hours ago, markeb said:

if we do a bottle, it'll be a Pinot Noir or a GSM or a Sangiovese or something similar

 

 I have not found a GSM on a Celebrity Cruise.  I am not familiar with Sangiovese -- I'll have to make note of it and ask the sommelier if he has something like that.  Pinot Noir is usually my ''go to" except with lamb or steak.  

 

Edited August 9 by DaKahuna

[markeb]

13 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 I have not found a GSM on a Celebrity Cruise.  I am not familiar with Sangiovese -- I'll have to make note of it and ask the sommelier if he has something like that.  Pinot Noir is usually my ''go to" except with lamb or steak.  

 

 

Sangiovese is the grape of Tuscany. And other parts of the world. It's the primary grape of Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino among others. It's a chameleon; the specific appellation and subappellation as well as the winemaker can have an amazing impact on the actual wine. I don't know about now, but there have been some decent Sangiovese wines in Virginia (Doukenie used to make them but not from Loudon County fruit). It can be a very light and fruity "pizza wine" to a much heavier red meat wine. Unfortunately, the basket bottle Chianti really ruined the market for an amazing wine...

 

California makes a number of them, and Washington makes some excellent versions. Hard to find if you're not a member (we are) but Long Shadows in Walla Wall makes an outstanding Sangiovese. If you only know the basket Chianti, you really should discover Sangiovese!

[chemmo]

10 hours ago, George C said:

Sounds like the breakfast for champions, on vacation wife likes champagne with breakfast many times they offer mimosas and she will say hold the orange juice. I prefer a good Bloody Mary. 

Bellini for me! 

[buchhalm]

Seriously, and out of interest: does anyone,  apart from Americans drink Zinfandel????