How are the ship's own wines selected?
The selecting process of Tallink Silja's own wines is precise work
Every two years, company chooses its own title wines, which are called ship's wines. The aim is to choose wines that suit the widest possible range of tastes and occasions. How are the ship’s wines chosen correctly, what is considered in the selection of wines and how does a wine eventually become a ship’s wine? In this article, we’ll cover the wine selection process in more detail.
Published 22.3.2022.
The wines are selected for two years at a time
Every two years, we select carefully new ship’s wines, and several professionals are involved in the process. The selected wines are normally on board for two years, after which the selection process is re-examined, and new wines are chosen again.
The current ship’s wines landed on ships in 2019, and due to the corona pandemic, those have been available for a little longer than normal. So, in the end of year 2021 it was the time to start the process of selecting new wines! The new ship’s wines will be announced and available on board in May 2022.
Ship’s wine selection always include champagne, sparkling wine, white wine, red wine and, since the last selection of ship’s wines, also rosé wine.
In the beginning it’s all about blind tasting
The selection process for new wines to go on sale in spring 2022 began in mid-November 2021. It’s an exciting two-step process to select the wines. The first round is the quality round or in other words, blind tasting. All the bottles were packaged so that the tasters knew nothing about the wines other than whether they were champagne, sparkling, white, red, or rosé wine.
In the first round, a total of 120 wines were tested in 5 different categories by 16 professional wine experts from ship’s shops and sommeliers from the restaurants. After the blind tasting, the three wines with the most points were selected from each wine category. After that, the second round started with finalists including negotiations with producers.
The second round matters the most
The second round will focus only on the wines that have reached the finals. In this case, in addition to taste, also the pricing and logistics of wines, are considered. Tallink Silja's customers buy about 450,000 liters of ship’s wines each year, so decisions must be made carefully. After the wines have been evaluated from different perspectives, the winners for the coming years are finally selected.
Ship’s wines are recognized from the label
Ship’s wines are provided with special Tallink Silja labels, and you can’t find these wines anywhere else! When buying ship’s wine, the customer knows that they are getting the best possible quality at the best possible price.
The new ship’s wines will be available in ship stores and restaurants, as well as in Tallink hotels in May 2022. It is such a pleasure to enjoy those on the magnificent Promenade of Silja Serenade or Silja Symphony or in the lobby bar or restaurant at Tallink City Hotel. These wines are also an excellent gift to take home as a souvenir.
