Wine: What to Order

Why does this deserve a special section? Because I spent a lot of time thinking about it. :-)

Key recommendation: Do not order cheap wine ... unless it's your third bottle of the evening. You will get much better value from a carefully-researched mid-range. Based on my research, I recommend...

• For red, the Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon is a good deal at $66 a bottle. Very nice with steak, lamb, steak, steak or steak. Can you tell I like steak?
• For white, the Caymus Conundrum (a blend) is delightful if you like slightly sweeter, bigger whites. Especially lovely with Asian food, foie gras, vegetarian dishes, or just because. $64 a bottle.
• If you like White Zinfandel -- and in all candor I do! -- that's the one area where I think it works to go cheap and cheerful. The $36 Berringer white zin is fun and drinkable and great for warm weather. I didn't try the $25 Woodbridge, but it's available by the glass and might be worth a shot.

HAL's wine list has an extensive range of options, but personally I found it a little hard to get my head around. It is organized by color, sub-divided by varietal, then sub-sub divided by country of origin. There is also a separate section for the higher-end "Cellar' Master's Selection". The varietals each have a description, but the particular wines do not (maybe that would be too much text, I'm not sure).

Each night the main dining room menu has two recommended wines, but no recommendations for particular dishes. There is also a distinct Pinnacle Grill wine list, which features some of the higher-end items from the main list plus a large number of Washington State wines, most of which were unfamiliar to me. That said, the PG list was helpfully organized from light to full-bodied.

Also, the ship had a very knowledgeable and fun Cellar Master, Jacques.

If you're curious, here's a little more from my research...

(Caveats: Know your recommender! We live near Napa Valley and are mid-range wine snobs who like big California wines. Also, although I have tried a fair number of the wines on the wine list, I certainly have not tried them all. So my research is based partly on my palate and partly on what I've read. My recommendations come only from those I've tried. Vintages may vary. You and I may have different tastes.)

Low-End (<$50): The usual restaurant rule of a 5x mark-up over the store price applies. At the lowest end is a $26 Chilean Cab, Vina Santa Carolina. This is a $6 wine in the store and is best left there. We had it once. Never again. At the $40+ mark there is Cline's basic Zin ($44) and Rosemount Estates Shiraz ($49), which are $10 in our California grocery stores. Those are okay, but if you go just a little higher and things get much tastier!

Incidentally, a wine potentially worth experimenting with is the Marquee Shiraz at $50. It's just a $9 wine in the store, but apparently the 2004 got 87 points from Wine Spectator. I'm not sure I'd experiment on a ship, but I may try it at home. If I do, I promise to report back -- it would be nice to have a $50 red to recommend.

Mid-Range ($51-$100): Here the 5x rule softens to more of a 2x or better rule, and I think you get the best value. For example, the French Syrah from Les Closiers Chateauneuf Du Pape retails at $27, the 2004 got 90 points from Wine Spectator, and it's available for $51.

I personally don't favor French reds, though, so our pick was the Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon for $66 (the 2004 is $40 in the store, and really yummy if you like big, juicy California Cabs). If you want variety, we also like the Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon ($94) and the Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon ($82).

Among the whites, we really like the Conundrum, a blended white from Caymus, which is pretty well priced at $64 a bottle vs. $20 retail. I'm sure there are other fine whites out there, but since we enjoy big whites and are very familiar with the Conundrum we didn't stray. (If only there were Rombauer Chardonnay!)

High-End ($100+): My palate is not very familiar with these wines. My wallet is happy about that. That said, I've had Caymus Special Select Cabernet Sauvignon, and it was excellent ($191 onboard, $140 in the store), as was the Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Rosé (tusen takk!!). Holland America Line caters well for those who like serious wine. Among the famous options are Opus One ($225), Penfold's Grange 1999 ($380), and Chateau d'Yquem 1998 ($296).