Page 26 - Wine Spectator (January 2020)

T R A V E LR A V E L
T

Wine if by Land, Wine if by Sea

Whether your ideal getaway is schussing down a mountainside or chilling on

a chaise longue in the port-side sun, good wine should be on the itinerary

Charting a Course
Celebrity Cruises (celebritycruises.com) is reinventing the mean-

ing of “sea” food; being miles from land doesn’t have to mean
forgoing fine food and wine. Chef Cornelius Gallagher, formerly of
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence–winning Oceana in
New York, oversees the food and beverage programs on all of Ce-
lebrity’s ships, and as of spring 2019, the brand is partnering with

Daniel Boulud, adding some of the world-renowned chef’s signa-
ture dishes and his private-label Champagne, Cuvée Daniel, to
the menu. There is also a Chef’s Table option overseen by Boulud.
Add to that an array of activities such as a wine-blending class

and a Riedel glassware workshop, and there’s plenty aboard the
brand’s Millennium, Solstice and Edge ships to keep wine and
food aficionados happy. Spirits fans can enjoy mixology classes
and a Macallan Scotch tasting during which guests experience
the famed distillery via a virtual-reality headset.

The cruise line, which travels to more than 300 destinations in
79 countries, holds 10 Restaurant Awards, including a Best of The Celebrity Edge’s cantilevered Magic Carpet deck
Award of Excellence for Normandie, the French restaurant
aboard the Celebrity Edge, with a 500-plus-selection list. bars and lounges, and even a rooftop garden. And most important for wine lov-

This year, the brand will launch a 14th ship, the Celebrity Apex. Part of the ers, the 500-selection list promises broad inclusion, with wines from major re-
Celebrity Edge series, it will set sail from Southampton, England, to explore the gions joined by bottlings from Israel, Morocco, China and more. Classicists might
Mediterranean beginning in April, and the Caribbean from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., order decades-old Bordeaux; upstarts might go for the Liber Pater Graves 2015.
starting in November. The new ship is outfitted with a collection of restaurants, —Cassia Schifter

Idaho Après Ski

Not long ago, the drink you’d reach for after kicking the snow off your ski
boots was beer or a brown spirit. But wine has made inroads in the après ski
scene. It’s happened most visibly in ritzy Aspen, at venues such as the Grand

Award–winning Element 47 at the Little Nell, but you’ll find good cellars farther
afield too.
McCall, Idaho, is a small town about two hours north of Boise, poised on the
edge of a lake surrounded by tree-covered mountains. Winter brings the usual

outdoor activities at nearby resorts Brundage and Tamarack. The high point of
the season is the Winter Carnival, this year held from Friday, Jan. 24, to Sunday,
Feb. 2, with fireworks, enormous snow sculptures, parades, races and more.
While McCall is mostly a burgers and craft beer kind of town, there are a couple
of serious wine venues.

The Narrows Steakhouse (narrowssteakhouse.com), situated within
the lakeside Shore Lodge, boasts spectacular views in addition to
the lure of a 450-selection wine list. The restaurant hosts wine din-

Best of ners throughout the year, and on the penultimate day of the carni-
Award of val, it will be pouring wines from icon Gramercy Cellars of Walla
Excellence
Walla, Wash., paired with a five-
course meal.

Brundage Mountain Resort Rupert’s at Hotel McCall (rupertsathotel
mccall.com), which is smack dab in the cen-
ter of town, is hosting a dinner featuring
THE WORLD’S BEST RESTAURANTS FOR WINE Washington benchmark Dunham Cellars on TOP: MICHEL VERDURE
Find more than 3,700 Wine Spectator Restaurant Award
Wednesday, Jan. 29.
winners. Restaurants.WineSpectator.com Short rib with broccolini
—Owen Dugan

24 WINE SPECTATOR • JAN. 31 – FEB. 29, 2020