HM The Queen to Launch Ship with Wiston Sparkling Wine

Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, will name the new P&O Cruises vessel Britannia at Ocean Terminal, Southampton, on Tuesday March 10, 2015 with English sparkling wine Wiston Estate.

Four nebuchadnezzars (the equivalent of 20 bottles) of Wiston Estate Brut NV have been specially commissioned for the naming ceremony of Britannia, one of which will be smashed on her bow to officially launch the ship, while bottles of the Brut NV and Rosé Vintage 2011 will be served during the various inaugural events.
P&O’s newest and largest ship Britannia will be the embodiment of the best of British, with her union Jack livery, British contemporary art and design on board and a focus on British food and drink throughout its bars and restaurants.

The menus and drinks lists have been created by P&O Cruises’ ‘Food Heroes’; including James Martin, Marco Pierre White, Atul Kochhar, wine expert Olly Smith and cheese expert Charlie Turnbull.  A state-of-the-art cookery school is also on board, with these and other celebrity chefs such as Mary Berry to run Masterclasses on a number of Britannia’s sailings as guest presenters.  Mary Berry herself visited Wiston Estate last year, as featured on her Christmas programme, ‘Mary Berry’s Absolute Christmas Favourites’.

P&O Cruises’ marketing director Christopher Edgington commented: “When it came to selecting a wine for Britannia‘s naming ceremony and inaugural season, we wanted to keep in with our British positioning and select an English sparkling wine. The Wiston Estate Winery immediately stood out as a British brand with a proud history, very much in our own mould.”

This was echoed by P&O’s Wine expert Olly Smith, who helped to choose the perfect English sparkling wine to celebrate the launch of the biggest ship to be built for the UK market: “I selected Wiston Estate to launch Britannia thanks to its impeccable quality and for its poise between modernity and tradition. Wiston stands for passion and pride as a technically masterful English sparkling wine producer since 2006 with heritage as a farming estate stretching back to 1743. But the main reason is because its bubbly is irresistibly delicious!”

Wiston’s proprietors Harry, Pip and Richard Goring together with winemaker Dermot Sugrue will be on board Britannia to celebrate this historic moment.