Vines, Volcanoes and Valencia
- Christina Kerkhof
- Jun 12
- 4 min read
From South Africa to Sonoma, Croatia to Canada, Greece to New Zealand, and lots of places in, between I’ve been lucky to be on many a wine tour. I’m guessing your first thought might be Canada? Yep: ice wine.
It’s always a little funny when the tours are in the morning and your tastings begin before 10am…and always a little funny when it seems that the days I am on the wine tours are the days that the Captain is at the gangway seeing guests off….
This happened the last few weeks onboard. And happened years ago when I was on Saga Rose. Somehow the Captain always saw me heading out on a wine tour.
Then there was the time the Captain and I both escorted the wine tour to Torres winery outside or Barcelona. He explained that when he was a young officer Torres wine was the cheapest wine you could get, but by the time we were on tour in 2006, it was quite fashionable. I haven’t seen Torres winery tours offered in awhile, so not sure what happened there. I wish I had a photo of the Captain and I wine tasting, but I don’t.
I am am not a wine expert by any means - it is still like art to me: you like what you like. But I do appreciate how each tasting is different in style, snacks, presentation and wisdom. In the Med, the climate that is so right for wine seems to be right for olives, so often there is some olive tapenade or oil to taste as well. Sometimes honey, sometimes a form of grappa/rakia or other hard digestif. And usually the guests that self-select for the wine tours are a bit livelier bunch than some other tours, even before the tastings.
Some of the different tricks/reminders/trivia:
Smell the wine before swirling your glass, after swirling, and again after you have (almost) emptied the glass. The last little bit of wine produces different aromas.
Always, always hold by the stem. Only heathens let their hands change the temperature of the wine!
The color is not important - can you see through it? That was a new one to me.
If tasting Grappa - hold it away from your nose so as to prepare your palate and not burn on the way down. That made sense when I first wrote the note. Not so much now. But whatever it was, it worked.
Wine from the Etna area of Sicily is called Etna. Just like Champagne is from Champagne. Unlike asking for a wine that is a varietal of grape.
It’s always a good idea to check on your cruise line’s policy with bringing wine onboard. I have seen this change over the years - HAL’s current policy is that guests on a wine tour through HAL may bring 1 bottle per person onboard that won’t be subject to a corkage fee.
Of course if you are bringing the wine home, cushion that red wine well in your luggage and check on customs allowances.
The last wine tour I did was on Sicily, right below a 1992 lava flow…. About a week later Etna was in the news for eruptions. Timing is everything!
Timing can be everything when it comes to weather as well. Strong winds were predicted for the day of our scheduled call to Villefranche, which meant tendering would be dangerous if not impossible. Our forward-looking captain got an itinerary change approved and we headed to Valencia, Spain instead.
While there were a few wine tours on offer, I did the bike tour. Valencia is a very bikeable city- mostly flat and plenty of bike paths.
Valencia is not one of the super popular ports of call for American-based cruise lines. I’m not sure why - perhaps it is distance to other ports - but it is a lovely city. Some ports seem to go in and out of fashion - e.g. years ago Palma de Mallorca was a regular stop; haven’t been in ages. There very well are economic, political or logistic considerations - I haven’t dug deeply.
Anyway, as a point of difference, if you find a Med cruise that includes Valencia, I encourage you to look at it! Oranges, wine, paella, Silk Exchange, City of Arts & Science, ancient ruins, medieval history, beaches - something for everyone.
Wellness Round Up
Sleep - overall good. We are redoing closets in our bedroom, so sleeping in another bedroom, which almost feels like camping.
Stress - some work stress has ebbed and flowed, but overall pretty good.
Nutrition - always nice to be back in the kitchen with lots of summer veggies. It’s kind like riding a bike, but takes some practice.
For some reason my improv skills are on point, but my reading/following of recipes has been a little off. If you ever try to make the cookie recipe on the back of a Reese’s peanut butter chips, know that the font is very very small. And that while the cookies taste good, they kind of look like you have pooped out chickpeas. Clearly these are signs that I need to make and eat a different sweet treat.
Some of the recent recipes - all keepers:
Ravioli with Vodka Sauce. This is a once-in-awhile treat. I substituted ouzo for the vodka. Ouzo is an acquired taste and we are never going to finish that bottle on its own. It worked well for the sauce.
Movement - I am falling down here. A few walks and minimal trips to the gym. Le sigh.
Hydration - mixed.
That’s it for now as we spend a long weekend in the Netherlands visiting family and friends. Bon Voyage & Bon Appétit!
Comments