Norwegian Cruise Line's Meet the Winemaker series isn't just for wine enthusiasts. This year, the brand is adding Johnnie Walker Scotch to the mix.
The cruise line will host nine sailings in 2023 featuring renowned chefs, winemakers and a spirits master blender offering guests an inside look at their craft through seminars, tastings and interactive demonstrations.
As part of the program, the cruise line will host its first Johnnie Walker cruise on Sept. 17 aboard the Norwegian Prima sailing through Northern Europe. Emma Walker, the first female Johnnie Walker master blender in the brand's history, will headline the sailing. She leads the brand's specialist team based in Menstrie, Scotland, and has spent more than a decade perfecting whisky production, maturation and blending and exploring the science to develop new flavors.
Walker will share with guests the history of the brand and samples from a range of whiskies.
The series will also include a July 9 sailing on the Norwegian Encore to Alaska with Ashley Breneman, an executive chef at Certified Angus Beef. Breneman has appeared on the Fox show "Master Chef" and on Food Network's "Cutthroat Kitchen" and "Chopped Grill Masters Napa." She will join returning winemaker Antonio Hidalgo of family-owned Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana on the sailing.
Fourth-generation winemaker Miguel Torres, of the Miguel Torres Chile family, will also be featured in the series, with an April 9 sailing in the Eastern Caribbean on the Encore planned. He is credited with pioneering planting cabernet sauvignon grapes in Spain, and his winery has a presence in more than 100 countries.
Other hosts of the Winemakers series include:
• Celebrity chef and TV personality Aaron Sanchez sailing on the Norwegian Bliss to the Mexican Riviera on April 2.
• Salvatore Ferragamo of Tuscany's Il Borro estate on the Bliss sailing to Alaska on April 22.
• Winemaker Diane Flamand hosting a Domaines Barons de Rothschild Lafite wine dinner on the June 10 sailing of the Bliss.
• Michael Mondavi of the Michael Mondavi Family Estate on the Norwegian Escape sailing to Bermuda on Oct. 22.
• Gerard Bertrand, chosen master winemaker of 2003 by the European trade publication The Wine Business sailing on the Norwegian Joy in the Western Caribbean on Oct. 28.
• Randy Ullom from the Kendall-Jackson wine family sailing the Escape in Bermuda on Oct. 29.