Wine bar Cin Cin at the Fairmont Dubai. Wine bar Cin Cin at the Fairmont Dubai.

A server from The Exchange Floor at the Fairmont Dubai has returned from visiting a top Australian winery after winning the trip of a lifetime in a competition.

Ritwik Shastri, who spent two weeks in Australia visiting the Penfolds vineyards in Adelaide Hill and rest of the region, said the experience had been “like a dream come true”. 

“I visited numerous wineries to see the live vinification process,” he commented. “It was an amazing trip.”

Story continues below
Advertisement

The competition, which took place over the course of a year, was held by the hotel in conjunction with the Penfolds Wine Estate in South East Australia.

The prize was for one representative from the team to visit the Penfolds winery itself.

In order to win the dream trip, the Exchange Floor team had to sell over 300 cases of Penfolds wine over the course of the year — and achieved a final total of 310.

The Exchange Floor operations manager Hugo Montanari said Shastri had been selected as the overall winner based on “his constant performance and dedication to keep promoting the Penfolds wines”.

“Furthermore, he was the highest score in a quiz we held based on the Penfolds estate and history, and its selection of wines,” Montanari added.

Shastri said that it had not been hard to promote the Penfolds products. “Wines are my passion and I love to discover new things about them,” he explained.

“As far as Penfolds wines are concerned, [they] are very interesting, approachable and full of flavour, so much so that even a person who is trying a Penfolds vintage for the first time will enjoy it.

“To sell these wines, I just had to inform guests about the portfolio and they sold like hot cakes."

Shastri added that his first-hand experience of the Penfolds Wine Estate had improved his ability to sell the product even further.

“Since I have personally visited the vineyard and have experienced the Penfolds line, it greatly helps when I describe it to out patrons in Cin Cin,” he said.

Ritwik Shastri’s top wine tip:

“My tip for a good Penfolds wine would be Penfolds Bin 707, Penfolds RWT and Bin 407 — and if you can get you hands on the iconic Penfolds Grange, it’s a must-try. These wines are flamboyant, robust, fruit-driven and very approachable, which opens up rich dark chocolate, caramel and candied fruit flavours as the time passes, giving the wine a surprising delicious taste which lingers for a long time.”