Our first time participating in a Vintage Room was on the Crystal Symphony in November of 2010. As part of the 20th Anniversary of Crystal Cruises one time on each ship there was a special 20th Anniversary Team Trivia game and the winning team received as their prize a complimentary Vintage Room Dinner and each winner could bring one guest with them of their choosing. Keith was on the winning team and naturally Anne Marie attended the dinner with him. Coincidentally, Bart Dufor was on board Symphony as the Head Sommelier and we learned so much from him that evening about not only the wines we were tasting but also about wine in general.
We enjoyed the experience so much that the rest is history. Since that time we have participated in eight other Vintage Room Dinners excluding last night's dinner. A little about the dinners.
You can sign up for a Vintage Room Dinner and you will be grouped with other people who sign up. You can do that on your own or even get others to sign up too.
Another option is what is known as an Exclusive Vintage Room Dinner where up to 14 people can attend. We have actually hosted eight of these. If you have less people attend then even nicer wines are served since consumption of wines comes into play. For example with 14 people two bottles of each wine need to be opened but with say 6 to 8 people only one bottle would have to be opened.
When we have hosted the Exclusive Vintage Room Dinners we met ahead of time with the Head Sommelier (either Bart or when Bart is not on Mario the Sommelier from Prego assumes his responsibilities) and we decided on each course to be served. There are three menus to choose from and you can mix and match from multiple menus. We look to Bart for a lot of the input in making the final decisions on each course and we defer to Bart and Mario for all of the decisions about wine.
On top of this a couple of times per year on each ship there is what is called the Ultimate Vintage Room Dinner. Sometimes it includes a well known artist who is on board the ship as part of either the Entertainment or the Enrichment program or other times it involves say a special Chef who was brought on board for the Cruise. In last night's case, it was the latter and our Ultimate Vintage Room Dinner featured Executive Chef from Lave, Blue Lagoon, Iceland, Thrainn Freyr Viglusson who oversaw the preparation of last night's dinner. In total, fourteen guests participated.
The Executive Chef is Captain of the Icelandic Culinary Team. In 2007, he won the Icelandic Chef of the Year competition and in 2009 he won the Silver in the Scandinavian Chef of the year. Most recently in 2011 he won seventh place in the world's most prestigious cooking competition. He is getting ready to open up a new restaurant within the next year.
We had an absolutely wonderful time and enjoyed some of the finest wines we have ever had. The meal was outstanding as were the wines. We are so very happy that we participated in this ultimate vintage room dinner. We also met many nice fellow guests.
Executive Chef who prepared the entire meal for us, Thrainn Freyr Vigfusson from Iceland who was assisted by three chefs from Crystal Cruises. As each course was being served and before we tasted it, the Chef came out to explain the ingredients and how it was prepared. He also answered questions.
The same for the Wine when Head Sommelier Bart took the time to explain the vineyard the wine came from, why he selected the wine, the characteristics of the wine and he answered lots of questions.
When we first arrived we were each handed a flute of Krug, Vintage Burt, Reims 2000 Champagne.
Before we sat down as is the case with all Vintage Rooms one of the ships photographers arrives and takes a photo of the group. Copies are printed and you are given one before you leave. An additional photos is put in a scrap book that is kept in the Vintage Room.
The wines were presented by Head Sommelier Bart Dufour who does an exceptional job explaining each and every wine and coordinates all of the details. He is supported by four members of the Crystal Team who served each course and also cleared the table along with Bart.
Bart has had a very extensive career in both food and wine. He worked on land in Belgium and has been Head Sommelier on all three Crystal ships over the years. He has also opened and managed several restaurants at a Hotel in Colorado. His knowledge of wine is amazing and he is able to discuss wine in a manner that is easy to understand. Also, no matter how elementary a question might be, Bart answers it in a professional manner. He also has a great sense of humor. We have learned so much from Bart sailing on both the Symphony and Serenity while he has been on-board.
These are some of the red wines we we enjoyed. One wine was decanted around 9 hours before we first sat down.
This was Torched Arctic had which was Char Roe, Cucumber and Dill which was paired with Silex Didier Daguenau, Saint Andelin, Loire Valley, France 2009 which is a Sauvignon Blanc.
This course was Lamb Tartar which was Tarragon, Cress, and Black Quinoa which was paired with Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru Bonneau de Martray, Burgundy, France 2011 which was a Chardonnay. The chef likes to create items that are tasty and also have lots of texture and this one was quite crunchy as well and he does that intentionally.
Next course was Langoustine which was Salsify, Pear Onion, Sol Icelandic Seaweed and was paired with Clos des Pambrays, Burgundy 2011 which was a Pinot Noir. The aroma actually was better than the actual taste of the wine.
This one was the Reindeer which was served with Sun Chokes, Onions, Juneberries and paired with one of the best wines we have ever had which was Amuse Bouche, Diane Peterson, Merlot, Nappa Valley 2011. Only 300 cases are produced each year and the bottles run $350.00. The wine was wonderful. Keith ate it all but Anne Marie had a portion of it. The entree was not gamey at all but is served fairly rare.
While the vast majority of us say from North America are not used to having Reindeer (we had never had it until last evening) people in Norway eat it often so we are reminded that many foods are regional in nature.
The Cheeses were paired with Chateau Leoville Las Cases, Second Growth, Saint Julien, Bordeaux, 1990 which was also an excellent full bodied wine.
The dessert was amazing and was Skyr Mousse and Licorice Ice Cream with Chocolate Toffee, Chervil Sponge, and Raspberries. It was paired with the finest dessert wine we have ever had which was Chateau D'Yquem, Saurternes, Bordeaux, France, 1996 and the price of the wine is around $550.00 per bottle.
All in all we had an absolutely wonderful time. We learned about some specific wines and also as is the case at all Vintage Rooms we learned some items about wine that we didn't know before.
Last night was also the Crystal Society Party. Once you complete your first sailing with Crystal Cruises you become a Crystal Society Member and one of the many benefits includes being invited to these parties with one held per cruise. Sometimes they are held as a stand-alone party while other times they are held concurrent with the Captain's Farewell Party. In last night's case it was the former. Midway through the reception the Captain welcomes everyone and then hands the microphone over to the Crystal Society Hostess to recognize not only everyone in attendance but then to make two to three individual presentations to recognize some of the Crystal Society Members who have completed a high number of cruises.
Last evening, we were one of the Crystal Society Members to be recognized so we took a short break from our Vintage Room Dinner to attend the Crystal Society Reception. Crystal Society Hostess, Alissa Gustaffson, shared a short biography about us including what we find special about Crystal Cruises (there are so many things to highlight but for us number one on the list is the wonderful Crystal Cruises Crew). We were then escorted up by Cruise Director Rick Spath and Anne Marie received a bouquet of beautiful flowers and Keith received a flower for his lapel and we posed for photos with Captain Giske, Alissa and Rick. We thank Crystal Society and Crystal Cruises for recognizing us.
This is the first time we have sailed with Crystal Society Hostess Alissa Gustafsson and we feel as if we have sailed with her for years. We spoke with her a couple of times early in the cruise and we had dinner with both her and with Cruise Sales Consultant Nikki Andrew at Tastes. She was born in Nairobi, Kenya and spent her early years in Tanzania before moving to Sweden. One of her positions was spending four years on the Pier and one of her assignments included Crystal Cruises where she first had the opportunity to get to know both Crystal Cruises Crew and even guests. She started her career with Crystal in 2011 as a Junior Activities Hostess and then eventually was hired as one of the three Crystal Hostesses who swing between Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity.
When we left the Vintage Room it was in the middle of one of the courses and we were away for only about ten minutes which allowed us to finish their course and to enjoy the wine and conversation.
The good news is that when we returned to the room we set the clocks back one hour as we are now sailing into a new time zone. Overall the seas were good with a jolt now or then from a wave as we slept Keith was up early and back at the Fitness Center and as he was working out felt that occasional jolt. The morning routine was the same as it always is thru Breakfast.
Today is the second of four consecutive sea days. There was lots on the program. including three lectures. One lecture was about ten changes to our lives that may occur in the near future. The second lecture was about the Middle East In Crisis and the key word that followed this was "again". In the afternoon, there was a lecture about Leonardo da Vinci.
We attended some lectures and also enjoyed speaking with some fellow guests and crew members.
Surprisingly the morning lectures were well attended given the rough seas.
In the first talk Dr. Jack McManus spoke about continued changes in our lives that are happening. An example is the elimination of text books in schools and placing them on tablets. He touched on a wide range of changes in the way we communicate, including how we obtain and share data.
On selected cruises that are of a certain length and have at least four sea days either a Grand Gala Buffet is offered at lunch time or if it is held on a Sunday as was the case today a Sunday Brunch was offered starting at 11:30 AM and running until 1:30 PM. We will post several photos that we took of the brunch when we post tomorrow afternoon.
During the talk from the bridge, the Captain said that by tomorrow morning the sea swells will go down. The forecast for Halifax looks promising.
We are dining later for dinner than normal as we are dining with three other couples so we decided to have lunch in our room and have it later in the afternoon so we are not so hungry by the time we dine.
After lunch, Anne Marie walked for an hour. Keith joined her for a good portion of the walk. It did have its moments with the rocking of the ship and at times felt as if we had a little too much to drink.
A spin class was offered later in the day at 3:15 PM and Keith took that one as well. All bikes were in use and it was a great workout.
All in all it has been a terrific day and as mentioned we will be dining later this evening at Tastes. We will post about that tomorrow.
Keith & Anne Marie
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