Food and wine cruise from 4-18-4-25

We took the WinelibraryTV cruise to the caribbean on the MSC Orchestra. The people and the wines fantastic, the ship and line not so good. I do not yet have the whole list as this is to be e-mailed to us next week but my standouts from (over 350 wines): very brief notes as I was writing and drinking and spitting while trying to write Bodegas Poesia 2003 Malbec really sweet tannins and cherry cola and dark chocolate nose Ksan Bonarda Argentine 2006 bright red fruit Chateu Puech-Haut Clod du Pic 2004 Rhone, nose was sweet peas and strawberries Chateau La Negly, La Cote Rhone 2005 great nose Quinta de Cabriz Reserva Dao 2006 dried fruit and cherry cream in nose Quinta das Tecedeira Reserva Douro 2006 more dried fruit and orange peel Conde do Vimioso Reserva Ribatejo 2006 cinnamon stick, bright red fruit, orange peel (one of my favorite wines of the trip) Quinta da Mimosa Palmela 2005 cranberries forever Herdade do Esporo 2007, barnyard, raspberries and dry tannins Vinha da Defesa Red 2007 dried strawberries Esporao Reserva Red 2006 candied red fruits Esporao Private Selection Red 2004, spices and cranberries, long long finish (another find) Chryseia Douro 2005 candied raspberries but real dried fruit in the taste

Portugal won me over and these are mostly value wines Elias Mora Crianza 2005 Spain dried fruit and dusty tannins, long finish Valdelainos Rueda 2008 Spain, lemons and lemongrass crisp good acid

Goose Ridge Vineyards Vireo Red wine 2004 Washington, cherries, tobacco and tart fruit good value in Walla Walla wine

I avoided all of the supermarket wines and there were about 20

Tensley Three Creek Syrah 2006 Los Olivos, nose was milk chocolate covered cherries

Someone I had never heard of Daniel Gehrs Cellers from Central coast CA Chenin Blanc 2005 frizzante, butterscotch in nose and taste, great mouthfeel, this is the best CA chenin I have had Syrah 2005 dill pickle juice in the nose (I love this), cassis and cherry taste

I will post the next 14 tables tomorrow and more when I get the list

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman
Loading thread data ...
Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

Was that the ship that had Israeli Special Forces on it? I heard something about that today on NPR (Diane Rehm show, I think).

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

Yep.

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

An Italian cruise ship with Israeli private security forces did indeed fend off an attack by Somali pirates. Same area where US Navy sharpshooters blew away some pirates and rescued the captain of a ship that had been commandeered. My major concern is for all the hostages that are still being held by the pirates. I hope some of the millions of dollars of ransom money the pirates have received are being used to purchase food for those hostages. Certainly not an area of the world where I would like to cruise - but Larry was in the Caribbean, so he was safe.

Dick

Reply to
Dick R.

Except from the bad service and lame shows. Good thing the people and the wine were great. That makes up for almost everything. Strangely, the cruise line being Italian, they could not cook well. I have been on 8 cruises this being the first with MSC and their food ranks as the worst I have had.

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

What a bummer! Up here in the wilds of Minnesota and Wisconsin, our "cruises" are in 16' fishing boats, with rod and reel and a good supply of minnows. When we catch a Walleyed Pike, we'll fillet it, beer batter it, and then deep fry it. For me, a nice Sauvignon blanc, domestic bubbly, or local beer is always good. BTW: always good company, good food, and entertainment provided by Loons, Eagles and other critters. I'll probably keep my cruises to boats in the 16' range - but that's only my opinion.

Good to know you weren't invaded by the "Pirates Of The Caribbean".

Hope your future cruises turn out better,

Dick

Reply to
Dick R.

So was there much contact with Gary V? I'd guess that his in-person persona would be much calmer than his online one.

Mark Lipton

Reply to
Mark Lipton

I have never had a wine that I thought was good that Gary V was recommending.

In my opinion he is a TV hack for wine.

Reply to
Richard Neidich

Yes, quite a bit. What energy this guy has. Obviously, he is opinionated about wines and not everyone agrees with his palate but he says and my experience dictates that same thing. His goal is to get people to expand their palates and try wines they may have never had. And his motto is QPR.

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

You know a good fried walleye would have been a pleasure. When Italian chefs (and we saw them and all but one was Italian) put cajun Tilapia on the menu, you know it is not going to be good.

Reply to
Lawrence Leichtman

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.