*Updated as of 2/1/19*
Princess has just introduced an expanded wine list including options that are biodynamic, organic and vegan.
Two thirds of the bottles are under £40 and one third under £30, all including traditional favouites such as pinot grigio, sauvignon blank, merlot and shiraz.
At the other end of the scale, there are bottles for £1,250 including the likes of Chateau lafitte Bodeaux.
Doug Frost, the wine expert Princess has collaborated with, stated: “Princess Cruises’ guests have a passion for culinary travel so our goal in creating this new wine menu was to find fascinating wines from some of the memorable destinations Princess visits.
This way guests can return from shore and still experience local tastes with exciting wines at all prices.
Plus, what better way to celebrate any occasion than with a special bottle of wine that can be shared with friends and loved ones on a cruise.”
Guests can expect a 14-day Baltic heritage cruise to be on offer onboard Sapphire Princess, sailing roundtrip from Southampton.
The cruise will depart August 31st 2019 with culinary excursions in:
-St Petersburg (includes hand-making tradiitional ‘pelmini’ meat pies in a city centre restaurant and vodka tasting)
-Copenhagen (includes a traditional smorgasbord lunch in a waterside cafe and local drinks)
Other ports of call are Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn (Estonia), Zeebrugge (Belgium) and Gdansk (Poland).
Princess Cruises has just revealed an enhanced wine list across the entire fleet with bottles chosen by one of the U.S.’s most decorated wine experts.
The main dining room wine list has been over a year in the making and will feature 142 choices for guests to delve into.
The menu has undergone a complete and utter re-design to make it easier for occasional wine drinkers, as well as newbies, to find exactly what they like.
White wines are described as “refreshing,” light & mild,” “crisp & tangy,” “fruity and vibrant” and “rich & textured” to give a real insight before making a decision.
To develop the list, Princess has welcomed wine expert Doug Frost, one of four people in the world to have both a Master of Wine and Master Sommelier certification.
Yesterday’s event saw the release of the wine list onboard Royal Princess in New York City where Frost said the line gave him wide latitude to develop a wine list that would please different types of wine drinkers.
He also stated he wanted the options to reflect all of the ports worldwide where Princess sails: “I wanted to find interesting wines to reflect interesting places.”
The new list will include some elite choices, such as a Chateau Lafitte Bordeaux that sells for $1,600 a bottle but a scan of the list finds most wines at a reasonable price point.
“Sixty-six percent of the wines are $49 and under,” Princess spokeswoman Negin Kamali revealed, with a third of the wines costing less than $39 a bottle.
The focus on wine for Princess moving forward is a continuation of the line’s focus on culinary travel, shown to be one of the major interests of Princess passengers, Kamali said.
When the wine list remake began, the line focused on three different areas (according to Bob Midyette, director of beverage operations):
-Approachability of cost
-Variety of types of wine
-Quality of the producers
“There needs to be very exciting wines at all price levels!” Frost said.
Earlier this year, the line unveiled a series of culinary-focused shore excursions around the world developed in partnership with Bon Appetit.
Sample tours might include a tour in Sorrento, Italy that pairs three pastas with three local wines and a limoncello, or a tour in Buenos Aires where passengers make empanadas.
Princess has also recently announced Enchanted Princess as the name for their fifth Royal-class ship; the naming ceremony will be held in June 2020 in Southampton, making it the first Princess ship to be named in the UK since Royal Princess in 2013.
Click here to pre-register for everything Princess 2020!
What are your thoughts on Princess’ new and extensive wine list? Are you impressed they’ve partnered with a wine expert to offer the best of the best? Are you already thinking about Enchanted Princess? Let us know in the comments below!
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