Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Winery to Host 4th Annual FOOD & WINE Voyage Aboard Oceania’s Riviera

Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, one of Italy’s most lauded wineries, will be the winery host on FOOD & WINE Magazine’s fourth-annual Wine Voyage. This seven-day cruise will be on Oceania Cruises’ newest cruise ship Riviera, which leaves from Monte Carlo on October 11, 2013 and arrives into Civitavecchia, the port of Rome on October 18.

The Riviera is a mid-sized cruise ship specifically designed for the food and wine lover, with Executive Culinary Director Jacques Pepin overseeing seven no-extra-charge restaurants, the cruise industry’s first restaurant collaboration with Wine Spectator magazine and the first at-sea hands-on cooking classroom.

Onboard will be Leonardi Raspini, Ornellaia’s general manager, who along with FOOD & WINE’s long-time wine expert Anthony Giglio, will preside over a series of private events that include a vertical tasting of multiple Ornellaia vintages and a five course gourmet, wine-paired dinner.

As Ornellaia is one of Italy’s highest-rated and most expensive wines, the cruise affords a rare opportunity to cruise the French and Italian Riviera in luxury, while tasting multiple vintages back-to-back and mingling with fellow wine enthusiasts and top wine experts.

Ornellaia’s hospitality will also be extended when the ship visits Livorno, the port of call for Tuscany. Here, the estate normally closed to the public, will open for an optional and opulent private group luncheon and tour.

The Fourth FOOD & WINE Wine Voyage includes other opportunities for the food and wine lover to experience the culinary terroir of the regions they visit. From the French port of Marseille, an optional tour of Chateauneuf-du-Pape is offered, with a wine-paired luncheon cooked by a Michelin-starred chef and a private tasting Domaine de la Janasse, another highly rated winery. In Sorrento, the group has the option of visiting the Stabiae Villas, thought to be the home of the regions governor which, like Pompeii, was buried by Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79. Following a tour led by a local archeologist, the group drives up the volcano’s slopes for a private tasting and lunch at Azienda Sorrentino Winery, featuring varieties of grapes and wines not found anywhere else in the world.

Rates of the Fourth FOOD & WINE Wine Voyage begins at $2,624 per person double occupancy and includes Oceania Cruises’ free airfare* from 26 major US airports. All bookings are to be made through Food & Wine Trails, one of the nation’s oldest and largest wine-travel companies. Bookings made before March 31, 2013, will receive a complimentary $100 shipboard credit and prepaid gratuities.

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Food & Wine Trails Offers 12 New Cruises for 2013

Food & Wine Trails has released details of 12 new food and wine cruises for 2013, filled with opportunities to drink the best wines, experience great meals and travel with top wine and food personalities.

Among the highlights:

• A multi-course, wine-paired dinner at Chateau Smith Haut-Lafite in Bordeaux hosted by star Napa winemaker David Ramey who has previously worked in Bordeaux – on the Oceania Nautica June 13-20 Lisbon to London cruise.
• A vertical library tasting of Duckhorn’s acclaimed Merlot, with founder Margaret Duckhorn – on the June 26 to July 3 Azamara Journey Rome to Monte Carlo cruise.
• A private wine-maker hosted luncheon at a top Chateauneuf-du-Pape winery served by a Michelin starred chef on the Azamara Journey July 3-11 Monte Carlo to Barcelona cruise.
• A tour of the Grgich family winery in Croatia with Violet Grgich – on the Oceania Riviera Sept 7-19 Venice to Barcelona cruise.

The value of a Food & Wine Trails cruise becomes apparent when viewed against a comparable land-based culinary vacation. Whereas a typical price for a land-based wine program is $4,000 to $5,000 per week per person, the price of a similar length Food & Wine Trails wine cruise starts at $2,274. This includes the cruise cost with transportation to and within Europe, all meals and entertainment, plus an exclusive to the group wine experience with winemaker dinners, parties, receptions and educational wine tastings.

The mission of Food & Wine Trails is to provide authenticity, value and access to the world’s best food and wine travel experiences. Each program is led or organized by a recognized local culinary expert to provide the guest with insight, access and a behind-the-kitchen (or cellar) door experience. Food & Wine Trails is the tour division of the HMS Travel Group, a 25-year-old company based in Santa Rosa, California. The company designs culinary travel programs for enthusiasts and for the creme of the food and wine world, producing programs for Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and many of America’s top food magazines and wineries. Larry Martin, the president of Food & Wine Trails, is a wine collector, vegetable gardener and the Northern California Regional Governor for Slow Food, an international food advocacy organization. The editors of Conde Nast Traveler Magazine have chosen Martin as World’s Top Wine Travel Specialist for three consecutive years.

Contact Food & Wine Trails at 800 367-5348, or info@foodandwinetrails.com. A complete list of 2013 wine cruises can be found at www.foodandwinetrails.com/cruises.

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