The house wines blended exclusively for P&O Cruises by Olly Smith have been highly commended in the 2011 International Wine and Spirits Competition. The Porta Palo Red 2010 vintage won Silver (Best in Class) and Porta Palo Rose 2010 vintage won Bronze in the same competition.

The wines were blended specially for P&O Cruises by Olly Smith at the Settisoli vineyard in Sicily, Italy. The wines are stocked on all seven ships in the P&O Cruises fleet and are firm favourites with passengers.

Olly Smith, said: “I’m so pleased and proud that these Porta Palo wines have won awards. I passionately believe that you don’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy good wine and my mission continues to be to share the best wines I can find with the entire P&O Cruises fleet. Cheers!”

Olly oversees The Glasshouse on board Azura. A new wine bar concept for P&O Cruises, The Glasshouse is a must for wine lovers. Featuring a state of the art Enomatic wine system, passengers can choose to try any of the 32 wines by the glass. A bottle can be opened, then preserved by using revolutionary inert gas so it does not react to the oxygen in the air allowing the flavours and characteristics of the wide range of selected vintages to remain intact, as if the bottle had just been opened and therefore able to be enjoyed by many.

Olly travels regularly throughout the year and in 2012 will travel on the following cruises:

· A208 – a 14 night Western Mediterranean cruise, April 15 – 29
· A211 – a 14 night Baltic cruise, May 19 – June 2
· A216 – a seven night Norwegian Fjords cruise, July 14 – 21
· A226 – a 13 night Canary Islands cruise, November 19 – December 2