Tobin James Grand Tasting and Galley Tour

I have to thank my mom for taking these pictures for my blog. THANK YOU!!

We barely made it back in time for the Grand Tasting but I'm glad we did. Toby and Lance gave a nice presentation on the wine.

Some quality Tobin James quotes of the day were:

"What goes in Cabernet comes out Chardonnay."

"Score Whores"

"I'm just here to shake hands and kiss babies."

I'm sure Toby and Lance could fill a book of great sayings. They could sell it at the winery. I think I'm onto something here.

Below is a picture of Toby, Lance, Claire and the staff at the winery. Everyone who works at the winery is very friendly and fun loving.

Below is a picture of Ermi, Claire and Lance.

For dinner the group had a BBQ on the outside decks of the ship. It was a nice night and the food was once again awesome. There was lobster and more lamb chops!!

Below are some pictures from the Galley tour. I didn't make it on this, but my mom did. She took a couple good pictures of Chef Eric and Cindy Pawlcyn.

At Sea Day

Below are some pictures from our day on the ship. I spent most of the day lounging at the back of the ship by the pool/hot tubs and watching all the gorgeous scenery. I started the day by drinking Tobytinis. (Blend of the sparkling wine and liquid love)

The wines being poured on Friday (At Sea) included:

Zinfandel, Blue Moon Reserve (SO GOOD)

Syrah, James Gang Reserve

Syrah, Silver Reserve

Refosco, James Gang Reserve

Pinot Noir, Pinot Envy

Zinfandel, French Camp (another of my favs)

Sangiovese, Primo

Sauvignon Blanc, Sundance

Chardonnay, Radiance

Tobytini's

St. Barths

Finally I am posting again!!

It has been a BUSY couple of weeks. St. Pattys Day/NCAA tourney/Cocoa Beach Food and Wine festival. I have been watching NCAA basketball like it is my job. My bracket is ....meh. Who thought Morehead State was going to beat Louisville??

So back to posting pics from the cruise. :) Oh and this weekend is the BIG wine tasting at Tobin James Winery....we wish we were there.

Here are some pictures from the lovely millionaire's playground that is St. Barths. We spent the day at the Nikki Beach Club.

I recently found out that this is where Beyonce performed a controversial concert for Gaddafi's son, Hannibal. (nice name)

This club was VERY posh....like very posh. They had white beds on the beach and it cost us about $25 to rent a chair and umbrella for the day. We kinda spoiled ourselves. Right across the bay from us was the exclusive Eden Rock Hotel. Below are the pictures.

Wines on the ship on this day:

Syrah, Blue Moon Reserve

Syrah, James Gang Reserve

Tempranillo, James Gang Reserve

Refosco, James Gang Reserve

Pinot Noir, Pinot Envy

ZInfandel, Dusi Vineyard

Sauvignon Blanc, Sundance

Chardonnay, Radiance

Tobytini's

NIKKI BEACH CLUB WEBSITE

WINE NEWS

Below are links to wine news. Check out some of the latest wine news.

NOTE: Relating to the first news story --> I have known this since I was in 5th grade. This was my 5th grade science project. I played classical music to plants in one room for an entire month and rock music to plants in another room for a month. The plants in the room with classical music grew taller and survived. The plants in the rock room were wilting and died. I should have invented this....damn. lol

1)Is that Mozart in my glass? Austrian claims music 'infusions' make wine better

2) The art of the wine barrel

3) The Parker era in wine, and beyond

4) 8 Walla Walla wineries cited for serving minors

(Tisk Tisk)

5) High-end restaurant owners want corkage law - Baltimore Sun

6) Healdsburg is 'the place to go' in wine country

(I agree, but I don't want it turning into another Napa) (Grrrr)

7) Hong Kong Wine Auction Season Begins

8) Look-Alike Wines Featuring Look-Alike Marsupials Duke it Out

(Do the match the label artwork with the wine name game) I got them all on the first try. I didn't win anything except the ability to post my awesome marsupial label power on facebook. Lame.

9) Judging Napa Cabernet's Class of 2007

I am going to a 2007 Napa Cab tasting tonight. It'll be interesting. I like the Turn 4 2007 Cab....really nice. It is made by Bennett Lane winery. That is what we are taking to the event.

Virgin Gorda

Exactly two weeks ago I was sitting on the beach in Virgin Gorda drinking a beer and enjoying The Baths. Virgin Gorda is located in the British Virgin Islands. The island is becoming more popular but still maintains small island charm. The Baths are the biggest tourist attraction on the island. They are pretty gorgeous and totally different from the normal beach scene.

The only thing I can compare The Baths to would be Cooper's Rock State Forest in West Virginia. The hike down to the beach looked exactly like some of the hiking trails at Cooper's Rock. (lots of big rocks and caves and such)

Below is a picture of the local taxis.

Below is a picture from the top of The Baths looking down at the beach.

Here is a picture of the trail down to the beach.

Here are some pictures of the beach itself and The Baths. We mostly hung out at the beach and the Poor Man's Bar. I did get to watch a local give a bird ice cream. The bird loved it. It was a bit weird.

After we left the beach we went to the harbor and had some drinks before returning to the ship. Spanish Town is a great little harbor with a small bar.

That night we circled around Wind Surf's sister ship, the Wind Spirit. The setting for this couldn't have been more beautiful. The sun was setting and a full moon was out.

We had dinner at the specialty restaurant Degrees. The food there was so delicious. I had veal but the lamb chops looked great as well. This was paired with more amazing Tobin James wines. There is another picture of the desserts paired with the Blue Moon Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

Here is a list of the wines we were drinking on this day:

* Cabernet Sauvignon, Blue Moon Reserve (one of my favorites)

* Syrah, James Gang Reserve

* Meritage Blend, Estate Private Stash

* Sangivese, Primo

* Zinfandel, Fat Boy (another favorite of mine)

* Sauvignon Blanc, Sundance

* Syrah Rose, Paradise

* TOBYTINI'S (LOVE THESE)

It was another awesome day and night.

St. Martin

Tuesday we arrived at the island of St. Martin. The island is divided between France and the Netherlands.

The ship opened the back of the ship (marina) while we were anchored. I immediately went out and enjoyed swimming around. They had a huge mat for us lazy folks. :) You can't see it because it is behind the giant slide/trampoline. I really liked this part of the ship. You can't do this on the larger cruise ships. They have those giant rock walls.

Below are two pictures of the island. We were tendered onto the French side. I visited this island about 2 years ago on a Celebrity cruise. It seems as if it has gone downhill. Many of the businesses were closed and many shops vacant. I did enjoy the local market and purchased a pretty dress.

The sunset was once again amazing. I enjoy putting the wine into the pictures. lol

Chef Eric had a food and wine pairing. I could go for some of that right now.

I kept the daily schedule...so these were the wines we were enjoying on that day:

* Syrah, Silver Reserve

* Refosco, James Gang Reserve

* Sangiovese, Primo

* Tempernio, James Gang Reserve

* Sauvignon Blanc, Sundance

* Chardonnay, Radiance

* Syrah Rose, Paradise

That night we decided to try the outdoor restaurant called Candles. We went with Penny and Debby. It was perfect because we were still in port and you could see all the lights of Marigot. They had a large grill outside grilling all kinds of seafood/meats. I had the lamb chops.....sooooo good. The pictures are below. I was hoping someone would just come out and sit in the hot tub while we were eating. lol It didn't happen.