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Cruising and wine tasting in Australia and New Zealand

Mark and I headed off to cruise on Celebrity Cruise Lines for 12 days through Australia and New Zealand. Of course, we knew that sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, and shiraz were in our possible varietals, but we started off at the airport – it was an overnight flight…J

So at Chelsea’s Kitchen (yes, the same one as in Arcadia) at Sky Harbor we were treated to our last – or so we thought buttery chards. Here’s the info on what you can actually get at the airport!

Clos du Val Chardonnay 2012: I honestly believed this was the last oaky chard I would have for two weeks, so we went big. This was slightly buttery with vanilla and a smooth Carneros typical finish. Not sure what this retails for, but we will definitely be checking it out.

Stratton Lummis Cabernet Sauvignon 2010: Why would we try a cabernet sauvignon at the airport? Our bartender was VERY well versed in wine and this was his recommendation to go with my short rib street tacos (which were amazing!). Bold, fruit forward, cherry and currants…a fabulous cab to kick us onto the plane to go ‘down under’.

So the Celebrity Solstice was a great ship to travel on. We made new friends from California, Nebraska, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. The food was wonderful and we even found a ‘few’ bottles of Benzinger chardonnay. We tried several sauvignon blancs and chards from the region including Clifford Bay, Morgan Bay (see a trend here?)…

At one stop – Wellington – we decided to skip the excursions and just wander. We found the town very friendly – like the rest of New Zealand was unbelievably enough – and even stumbled upon a wine tasting store and a fun outdoor café with a robust wine list. Before you stop in ‘Windy Wellington’ consider checking out these places:

Wineseeker on Victoria Street

Our server was pouring a New Zealand sauv blanc and a Spanish Malbec – it was fun to see the varietals they had from different regions and to hear about the wine production in this famously sauv blanc heavy region. He shared with us that pinot grigio is also very popular at NZ wineries so we started trying some of those after this stop.

Plum Café on Cuba Street

Cuba Street is a trendy place to shop and eat and browse in downtown Wellington. Pretty much any type of fare you want is going to be found here. Like typical NZ streets, there are large green trees and a plethora of outdoor cafes to try. Plum was recommended to us and did not disappoint! We had a great lunch and also tried Lowlands Sauvignon Blanc 2013 from Marlborough. We knew at this point that the Marlborough region had the sauvignon blancs we were looking for. Great wine plus flavorful food made for a perfect lunch break on our day of trolling off the boat.

So what were the odds that we would travel 17 hours to find a new Italian white and Napa chardonnay??? Back on the boat, we strolled into the Cellar Masters the last night. We were avoiding it in part because we wanted to challenge ourselves to taste the local varietals only. Our host/server that night was a charming man who not only provided stimulating conversation but thoughtful choices in beverages.

Lamelle Il Borro 2011

A Toscana find that drinks like a Napa oaky chard – I couldn’t believe it was from Italy. We blind tasted it and swore it was from Northern CA. We are going to be looking for this one at Total Wine and The Wine Store when we get back to the States.

Freemark Abbey Chardonnay 2012

I don’t think we have been to this winery on trips to Napa, but we are going to have to go next time. Buttery, bold, oaky, vanilla overrtones – yes, our last night we returned back home on the Napa train with a true CA chardonnay!

#australia #newzealand #plumcafe #wineseeker #freemarkabbey #lamelleilborro #strattonlummis