Wine and champagne for yachts: how to prepare your onboard list

To request wine and champagne for a yacht, prepare a list specifying the producer, label, vintage where relevant, bottle size and number of bottles. Add the intended service occasion and the alternatives you would consider. An onboard wine selection brings together guest preferences, the chef’s menu and available space: a precise list makes it possible to check the supply before embarkation.

Start with service occasions, rather than a bottle count

A welcome aperitif, a light lunch and a dinner with wine pairings call for different choices. Divide the programme into occasions, identify the meals taking place on board and collect the preferences of adult guests. Include alcohol-free options too, so the drinks proposal stays connected to the overall service.

For a charter fleet, separate each vessel’s recurring stock from requests for an individual charter. A bottle intended for a particular occasion should not be confused with a regular reference. The yacht chef provisioning checklist helps connect this part of the enquiry with the rest of the menu.

Write a specification that identifies the actual wine

Label and vintage: what is essential?

State the producer, exact label, wine type and vintage when it matters. If guests have shared a reference bottle, a readable photograph of its label can accompany the written description: a winery’s name alone may leave several possibilities open.

For champagne, not every cuvée carries a vintage. The Comité Champagne distinguishes vintage wines from blends of several harvests in its official answers about labels and styles. Specify the requested cuvée and highlight whether a particular vintage is essential.

Keep bottle size and quantity on the same line

Write the volume per bottle alongside the number required. For champagne, a 75 cl bottle and a 1.5 litre magnum are different formats: counting bottles alone makes the request ambiguous. The onboard team should also assess space and chilling capacity before selecting special formats.

A useful sample line is: ‘Producer / cuvée / vintage if required / 75 cl / 6 bottles / alternatives subject to approval’. This is a formatting example, not a suggested allocation for guests. The actual quantity depends on the agreed programme and the preferences collected.

Agree on alternatives before confirmation

If a reference is unavailable, explain which qualities you want to preserve: style, origin, pairing, bottle size or an indicative budget range. If the label itself is essential, make that explicit. The chef or authorised contact should be able to assess a proposed alternative before confirming it.

RADA checks requests with its local supplier network and prepares a proposal to align with the team. Explore the RADA wine and champagne selection service to understand the approach; individual labels, vintages and quantities remain subject to verification. A quotation should clearly identify confirmed products and approved substitutions.

Connect delivery, storage and the first service

Share the yacht name, port or marina, date, delivery window and operational contact. State when the first service is planned and compare the proposal with actual storage capacity on board. If a top-up is planned at a later port, include it in the enquiry: feasibility needs to be checked for each stop.

Storage and preparation for service are separate steps to plan. The Comité Champagne’s storage guidance highlights protection from light and suitable storage conditions, among other considerations. Use the producer’s instructions as the reference for a particular bottle and align requirements with your contact before ordering.

To begin, send RADA a supply enquiry with your wine list and port details. RADA coordinates the proposal and delivery through local suppliers and partners; availability, costs and any alternatives are agreed before confirmation.