Calling All Wine Buffs? Do you know your Asti from your Pinot?

Like many of you out there I have been known to partake in the odd tipple or 2 when I’m on my holidays & I do love a good glass of wine. I don’t profess to be an expert, although I did attend a 5 day tasting experience on my very first cruise (you have to find something to do when you’re at sea for 5 days on the trot), as well as visiting a couple of vineyards abroad whilst on my travels. By far the best experience was in Spain at the Torres vineyard where we had an educational tasting session for just the 2 of us in a private room belonging to the Torres family. It was a beautiful room full of antiques and artefacts that the family had collected over the years. The vineyard itself was set in stunning countryside just outside a sleepy Spanish town called Vilafranca. The whole experience was fantastic.

Although I learned a fair bit about cultivating the grapes, legs on the glass, food pairings and what gives wine it’s colour etc I still came away with my tried and tested theory on wine …if it tastes nice then that makes it a good wine.

So when I heard that Norwegian Cruise Lines had introduced some ‘Meet The winemaker’ cruises my ears pricked up. The selected cruises aboard 2 of their ships, the Norwegian Escape and the Norwegian Dawn will give guests the opportunity to mingle with some of the leaders and legends in the wine-making industry. Events on the cruises include private dinners, wine tastings, meet and greets, and Q&A sessions. The Meet the Winemaker Cruise is a partnership with the Michael Mondavi family to celebrate the best in wine. You can read more about these cruises here.

My sister and I booked a wine tasting experience whilst on Harmony of the Seas last year and can you believe that on a ship that holds nearly 6000 passengers there were not enough people who signed up. There had to be a minimum of 12 people. Unbelievable!

So NCL’s wine themed cruises are definitely something I would be interested in. How about you?