Le Ponant
Le Ponant
The Ponant Dining Room
Erbalunga
Outdoor dining area
Taormina
Corsica, Italy & Croatia Wine Cruise
22 July - 1 August 2008
A luxury small ship Wine Cruise from Nice to Venice, with great food and wine. We sailed round Italy, calling in on Corsica, Sicily and the Croatia's Dalmatian islands too. being on a smaller ship we were of course able to call into charming smaller out of the way places. Amongst our ports of call were Cap Corse, Porto Venere, Gaeta, Taormina, Otranto and Korcula.
Go to our 2010 Wine Cruise or the full itinerary please visit our download centre.
The cruise was very much In the tradition of our Italian, Sicilian and Greek wine cruises but using the fastest and most luxurious boat yet. There is a superb programme of on board tastings with a panoply of wines from the regions served with meals on board. These include top Italian wines from Piedmont, Tuscany, Campania, Sicily, Puglia, Rosso Conero and Friuli, plus our selection from Provence, Corsica, Croatia and Slovenia.
About Le Ponant
Le Ponant is a 260 feet luxury, 3 masted sailing-cruiser with just 32 good sized outside cabins (from 116 – 150 sq ft) with marble shower-rooms. Our maximum party size will be just over 50 to a crew of 30. Being a French ship, there is a French chef and a pastry chef preparing gourmet menus.
Breakfasts and lunches are buffets and dinner is seated. There is a spacious sun deck, an open air restaurant and an interior restaurant, a spacious salon with a bar. You can plunge directly into the Med from the swimming platform, and there are snorkels, a windsurfer and a canoe available.
About Arblaster & Clarke's small ship Wine Cruises
Every year A&C offers a small ship cruise. Cruising on a small craft has many advantages. You visit small harbours and stop for impromptu swims. You get to know the crew and fellow passengers and meet people from your host country in intimate gatherings. Our cruises have been likened to house parties afloat.
22 July - 1 August 2008
£4,199.00 
per person
Tour completed.SY Ponant Wine Cruise Includes: Scheduled flights Heathrow-Nice, Venice-Gatwick*; all taxes; transfers to and from the ship; breakfasts; buffet lunches with wines from the ship’s cellars; afternoon tea and pastries, gourmet dinner with wines selected by A&C; additional on board tastings. Crew tips. 2 – 3 members of the A&C team will accompany the trip. (*Complimentary transfer Gatwick-Heathrow if required)
No Flight Discount: £150
Sole Occupancy:
Deposit: £500.00
Room Upgrade: n/a
Corsica, Italy & Croatia Wine Cruise
22 July
Flight with British Airways Heathrow-Nice (Included. Local add-ons can be arranged).
Transfer to the ship in Nice harbour and depart early evening. Dinner with tasting of Provence Wines.
23 July
This morning we arrive in Genoa. You will have plenty of time to explore the interesting old city. A guided walking tour of the city will be offered as an option. We will taste wines from the Cinque Terre today. Dinner with tasting of great wines from Piedmont.
24 July
Today we arrive in Corsica, to Bastia with plenty of time to explore this fascinating town and its castle. We will taste the wines from Cap Corse and there will be an optional drive up the spectacular coast line to the village of Macinaggio with a tasting of luscious Cap Corse Muscats along the way. Dinner with top Tuscan wines.
25 July
We drop anchor off the coast of southern Lazio and visit the lovely town of Gaeta on a headland dominated by its magnificent Aragonese castle. Whilst here we will be tasting the wines of Falerno, the region that was ancient Rome’s ‘Grand Cru’. Dinner with our selection of Campanian wines.
26 July
We continue sailing south overnight and arrive at Agropoli in the Cilento region on the bay of Salerno. This is close to the ruins of the Ancient Greek city of Paestum with its famous temples, and the lovely town of Santa Maria di Castelbate. The region is also home to Mozzarella cheese and some pretty impressive wine from the Cilento DOC.
27 July
We sail past the active volcano of Stromboli at night. Coming from the north we will have a great view of the impressive and near continuous eruptions. In the morning we arrive Taormina, Sicily. We will have a round up tasting of Sicilian wines here.
28 July
Arrive Gallipoli, on the western coast of Puglia. This is of course the less well known, Italian Gallipoli. (The name is a corruption of the Greek ‘Kali Polis’, meaning beautiful city.)
29 July
Arrive in Trani on the Puglian coast. These pretty small ports are close to the top vineyards of Puglia.
30 July
Overnight we sail accroos the Adriatic and arrive into Croatian waters and spend time on the island of Korcula. Here we find the Lion of St Mark over the entrance to the city. This reminds us that the archipelago used to belong to Venice, - reminders are to be found on all the islands in the colonnaded piazzas, soaring belfries and powerful fortifications. Dinner with our selection of the top wines from the Croatian islands.
31 July
Our destination today is Porec, an attractive town on coast of Croatian Istria. We will taste the wines from the region which are made from Refesco in the North and Malvasia in the South and from varieties that you have probably never heard of such as Posip and Plavac Mali! However, you are likely to be very pleasantly surprised by the wines which we show in a round up tasting and with dinner.
We depart from here in time to arrive in Venice. We arrive in the late evening in time for a stroll along the Grand Canal, or to catch a river taxi to St Mark’s Square, to sit in a café for a coffee and grappa and watch the world go by.
1 August 2008
Depart after breakfast for a lunchtime return flight.
Extend - Stay on for two nights in Venice.
