A captivating wine experience on a Food & Wine Trails custom cruise

Adelman’s April Torina recently returned from a special wine-themed cruise aboard Oceania Cruise Lines’ luxurious Riviera. April served as program manager and onsite coordinator for our Food & Wine Trails’ custom itinerary, which featured Napa Valley’s Elizabeth Spencer Winery. Owner’s Elizabeth Pressler and Spencer Graham personally hosted the group, sharing their expertise during wine receptions, tastings, seminars, dinner and shore excursions.

This special epicurean cruise, which started with an optional pre-package in Barcelona, took guests on a unique journey to ports in Spain, France, Italy and Monaco where guests were immersed in the wine culture at each destination.  While each day of this adventure brought exciting experiences, April said one of the highlights included an all-day excursion to the island of Mallorca for a tour and tasting at the Bodega Ribas winery followed by a visit to Mesquida Mora winery.  According to April, the owner, Barbara Mesguida, is one of a handful of female winemakers on the island. “We enjoyed a special tasting and wine-paired lunch in Barbara’s mother’s family home,” said April. 

Upon arrival in the Italian port of Livorno, April and the group headed out for an all-day tour around Tuscany.  The day included visits to the quaint medieval town of Bolgheri, where they tasted wines in the local Tognoni Wine Shop, and to the famed Tenuta dell’Ornelliai for a tour and lunch with winetasting. They also took in the beautiful scenery at the Bellaria Vineyard.

April also said the pre-packaged Barcelona area excursions were fantastic and included trips to Clos de l’Obac Winery, one of Catalonia’s original wineries, and Ferrer Bobet Winery, which is built high up on a cliff and offers stunning views of the region. 

“We also took an exciting 4-wheel vehicle drive into the mountains to Pares Balta, which was my favorite winery visit,” said April. “This winery is over 200 years old. Their winemakers farm organic and biodynamic. Hearing how they treat the land, smelling the fresh country air and tasting the wine was fabulous!” 

While at sea, exclusive onboard events included a welcome reception, seminars and special wine tastings.  Guests also enjoyed a 20^th anniversary celebration for Elizabeth and Spencer and the highly anticipated winemakers dinner where they announced their next hosted wine cruise for 2019, a 10-day sailing to wine destinations in Greece, Croatia and Italy aboard Oceania’s Sirena.

April spoke very highly of her experiences aboard Oceania’s stunning Riviera. “Oceania’s staff is world class. They worked very hard to help us make our program so successful!”  

If you would like to take part in a special wine cruise such as the one hosted by Elizabeth Spencer Winery, please visit our Food & Wine Trails website at http://foodandwinetrails.com/Cruises for a complete list of offerings. You can also call us at 800-367-5348 or 800-749-7116.