3 Oceans Wines

[In Libman]

TwoOceans is a South African winery. The name comes from the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, which meet here, at the southern tip of the country. The feeling of sharing is what defines the brand, and so the minds behind Two Oceans have created a range of wonderful wines, ideal for sharing and enjoying.

Viticulture in South Africa dates back to Dutchman Jan van Riebeeck, a ship's doctor for the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, who first grew wine here as it was more durable on sea voyages and he wanted to use it to treat scurvy, a seafaring disease. His successor Simon van der Stel, a wine lover, was the final push to get the ball rolling and bring viticulture to where it is today after a long time: South Africa is one of the largest wine exporters in the world, half of the wine pressed each year goes outside the country.

Two Oceans' vineyards are close to the coast, so it's no surprise that the wine's maritime character is defined by the climatic conditions that characterize the area. Cool sea air brings much-needed cooling to wine in South Africa, with its dry, hot summers, and heavy fog wafting inland brings a fair amount of moisture.

In addition, grapes are selected and purchased from different wine-growing regions in South Africa in order to be able to round off the portfolio with further wines. For instance, grapes from Wellington or Paarl are the basis for some of the Two Oceans wines.

Wines come in all categories from inexpensive to ultra-expensive, with associated levels of quality. But there are exceptions, such as when a wine delivers higher quality than the price point. Have you ever tried wines from South Africa? South Africa has been producing wines longer than some Old World wineries yet is viewed as New World, like Canada, the USA or Australia. I enjoy South African wines as they tend to be more restrained with fruit and oak flavours compared to some New World wines, and they have a touch more structure and texture, similar to Old World wines.

Rating: A bright fresh tart citrus Sauvignon Blanc with touches of stone fruit and tropical fruit, and some bramble on the finish. An easy to enjoy wine that is not overly acidic and should pair with many different seafoods, cheese, or lightly roasted chicken dishes.

Rating: This Shiraz has a meaty cassis nose that leads to an off-dry, full-bodied wine that starts off with floral and red fruit flavours which are followed by plums, black fruits, cassis and sweet spices. A patio sipper to enjoy with grilled sausages.

Might be best to do some wine shopping before embarking if they let people bring their own onboard and drink it. One would think for the cruises ending and for sure departing from Lisbon that they would have some good Portuguese wines and ports. Hope springs eternal. Well usually, but not with Atlas's track record thus far.

Oops. I meant to mention that. Even more the reason to showcase wines on the Lisbon to wherever cruise. They "are working on where to go" given Barbados appears to have a mandatory 7 day quarantine for those coming from - a list of countries, Portugal being one of them. Hmmm. Now I am generally pretty optimistic but I am also a realistic and believe in planning and organization. So personally, I think I would have had some alternate plans formulated months ago given the current environment. But perhaps while they have known of this for several weeks (perhaps due to the numerous posts about it), they too are being optimistic that surely somehow it will resolve itself in the 5 weeks until the ship docks there. Alas, I have digressed from the topic. Well, whatever happens we shall just hope it is something people find drinkable and a notch or two above 2 Buck Chuck.

I'm following this thread and hoping that we hear some good feedback on the inclusive wines. We have a cruise booked for 2022 and the food and wine aspect are a big thing for us. I did see a picture on Instagram that shows champagne being poured - it's called Henri Favre and it was a brut. If you Google it, it doesn't get stellar ratings on the first sites that pop up, but the reviews seem to concur that it's a decent bubbly, just not fantastic, but perhaps a good drink for the value - I have not personally tried it. I'll stay hopeful that Atlas and their staff continue to improve as they gain experience.

jwsfun: We are looking forward to your posts. You will be our new "Joyce" who was so informative. Hopefully the problems that the earlier passengers experienced will have been resolved by the time you board and that you will have a wonderful cruise. Bon Voyage!

I had hoped (many moons ago) when I was being sold on Atlas and they were talking about showcasing Portugal wine and cuisine that we would get some nice Ports. However, given the feedback so far, I am keeping my expectations low.

On another thread someone posted the names of the included wines, 6 Hats being the bulk of the 6 varieties offered as I recall. I looked a couple up and indeed they retail for $8-20/bottle. Not really what I would picture as "Premium" Unlimited Pours. Maybe the unlimited is so that as we drink our taste buds diminish, so one won't notice how good or not it is.

I also asked my TA to ask Atlas about bringing wine onboard. For now it is fine, and they do not charge a corkage fee. They wanted to know how many bottles or cases I would be bringing on board! Maybe they thought I would be touring wineries before boarding which had been part of our original plan but we nixed our pre-cruise land travels. Sad as we would have been there now.

I hope to fit in some time in Lisbon before we board there on 10/4 to purchase a few bottles of wine and a port to have after dinner, enjoying the veranda at the end of the day, talking about what a wonderful day we had. I'm thinking positive here.

I certainly am not a wine aficionado, but I for sure had anticipated they would have a wonderful fun selection to try show casing the wines from where we depart and yes, due to being a Portuguese company. It sort of, but not really, surprises me they missed this simple opportunity to make something like the wine a nice highlight to help differentiate themselves from the masses and seem more special.

Hope your return home went smoothly. Thanks for responding. I did read your very well written recap of the cruise. Wow. I greatly appreciate your honesty and observations. While disappointing, sadly I am not surprised as it as we had begun to suspect when thinking things through. Seemingly "little things" like the laundry, internet, and room service not being as advertised and which have been so swiftly swept aside by Atlas and not dealt with in a professional manner nor consistent with how a true "luxury" line deals with things, often can be good indicators of other and bigger things. I just wish people would read and think before making a booking or getting into the refund penalty period. Unfortunately we ignored initial gut instincts and red flags when booking our upcoming cruise and the realities didn't start really hitting until shortly after we were in the 100% penalty phase. Oh well. We shall make the best of it and learn from this. One and done. Far worse things in life.

well, it will be "interesting" I'm sure. Docs arrived almost 3 days to the hour before we are leaving. Typos, incorrect and outdated information, missing information that is key - like the pre-cruise hotel, airport transfer pick up, basic schedule of "events" such as they may be. We are flying in a day early due to the timing of our flights and coming from the west coast so won't arrive until about 6 pm. The package starts with morning flight arrivals and pick ups so we had to arrive the day before in order to meet up with the group at least for the initial lunch. We kept getting mixed signals as to which hotel would be used and if we also would have an airport pick up and transfer to the hotel. Flights were booked through Atlas. This has been going on for literally weeks and actually initially started months ago when 2 of us were given totally different information. So with nothing in the document packets, my husband called and was told something different than the last we had been told. I called my other passenger contact and she was told - by the same person no less! different information within an hour of my husband calling! I shake my head. Off to pack for our somewhere whatever cruise. I have a 6 bottle wine carrier set out for wine shopping in Portugal. Reds and a nice port or two!

Here is the current included wine list. The Ribiero red was our favorite, the Urze was close behind. The wine flows freely in the dining room and you can get your favorite at the bars as well! We were very pleased ??!

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