In line with its new destination offerings and the changing guest palettes, Princess Cruises has refreshed its onboard cellars with a range of new Australian wines on its local ships.
From Coal River in Tasmania to Margaret River in Western Australia, the wine list on the cruise line’s three local ships – Sun Princess, Dawn Princess and Sea Princess – is being decanted and refilled with 30 new drops, all but three from Australian vineyards.
Australian wines, including the line’s first verdelho from Hope Estate in the Hunter Valley as well as a top shelf D’Arenberg cabernet sauvignon from McLaren Vale, now represent 75 per cent of the local wine list.
While there is still French Champagne for the many special occasions celebrated onboard, as well as wines from Italy, New Zealand and California, the new blend reflects guest demand.
A team of connoisseurs, including Princess Cruises’ resident expert and Director of Guest Beverage Experience Karl Brenner, spent six months trying more than 120 wines before deciding on the final list.
Mr Brenner said Australians were big on home grown wine.
“The main shift has been towards white wines with a big range of chardonnay and sauvignon blanc on offer as well as two new Australian rieslings and more white blends, which are growing in popularity,” Mr Brenner said.
“In terms of reds, shiraz and cabernet are still favourites among our Australian guests so we’ve added some exciting new drops from South Australia.
“While the Hunter Valley is the most highly represented region with eight wines on the new list, South Australia is the state with the most on offer with 15 different wines from the Barossa, McClaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills.”
Princess Cruises Vice President Australia & New Zealand Stuart Allison said the cruise line regularly updated its wine lists to fit in with new trends and guest demand, ensuring there was a wine to suit every taste, occasion and budget.
“Australians have a refined palette when it comes to wine so our onboard offering needs to be up to date with trends on shore. As part of this latest wine revitalisation, we’ve introduced more local drops and more sought-after varietals such as verdelho, chardonnay and semillon,” Mr Allison said.
The addition of seven new wines from Western Australia, including four from Margaret River, reflects growing passenger demand based on new destinations the cruise line is visiting, he added.
Diamond Princess became the first cruise ship to call at Busselton last year with another nine Princess visits to the Margaret River port scheduled in the next two years.
The new wine lists have been introduced on Sea Princess and Dawn Princess and will soon be onboard Sun Princess.
SOURCE Princess Cruises