A Digital Wine Tasting On the Excessive Seas

Princess Cruises unveiled its largest and most luxurious ship so far with the Solar Princess. The 177,882-ton, 4,300-guest ship, which launched within the Mediterranean this previous February, has an elevated emphasis on distinctive and high-end food and beverage experiences.

One among these is a digital “Artwork de Vivre” wine tasting with Gérard Bertrand, a famend winemaker from the Languedoc region within the South of France. Cheers bought to expertise the tasting first-hand in the course of the Solar’s inaugural season.

The tasting was arrange within the ship’s Good Spirits at Sea Lounge, with 4 wine glasses on a labeled mat at every place, in addition to water, cheeses, fruit and nuts. A “reside” host from the Solar’s meals and beverage crew walked us by the tasting whereas Bertrand appeared by way of visible media all through the occasion.

Together with members of his winemaking crew, Bertrand showcased the flavors of his bio-diverse wines, the panorama and tales of the area. The corporate operates eight wineries, and this previous yr achieved recognition because the largest licensed biodynamic winery on the planet.

We began off with the Ballerina Brut Etoile, a glowing cremant rosé, adopted by the Coté Des Rosé. The nonetheless rosé is well-liked within the U.S. and is available in a bottle that’s carved to appear like a rose.

Subsequent we moved to the Change sauvignon from a variety of wines from a winery transformed to natural farming. The Naturae Chardonnay that adopted is from Bertrand’s Naturae wines, that are made with out added sulfur or every other components.

The Orange Gold, a white wine made within the fashion of purple — giving it an orange hue from the pores and skin contact — served as a bridge between the whites and reds. The Grand Vin from the Chateau de L’Hospitalet vineyard, located about 325 toes above the Mediterranean Sea, was a mix of syrah, grenache and mouvedre. The ultimate wine was a Naturae 100% cabernet sauvignon.

Bertrand’s video segments interspersed with the reside commentary within the lounge saved issues fascinating, and we appreciated the phonetic spellings of a few of the French phrases within the notes booklet offered. It wasn’t fairly the identical as being in a vineyard within the South of France, however while you’re on board a cruise ship, who cares?