The Wine Spy returns

Having had such a good time in The Madinat last month — and with temperatures soaring even higher in August —it seemed to make good sense to try another venue within the Madinat Jumeirah complex.

It’s fairly common practice that an evening out with friends or visiting business associates will end up at the Madinat, as there is such a large choice of venues.

Personally I think that until The Palm development nears completion, or Souk Al Bahar gets finished, this really is the best destination if you’re not sure of what type of food or drink you are after.

But having enjoyed many an evening at Trader Vic’s, I thought we should try somewhere different — and do so from a wine perspective.

I thoroughly enjoyed lunch at The Meat Co a few days earlier, whose excellent steaks were helped by the inclusion of a great value bottle of Casillero del Diablo Merlot from Concha y Toro in the Maipo Valley in Chile, quite close to the beautiful city of Santiago.

Despite being a large producer of a number of different levels and different varieties, they never fail to deliver a great quality product at reasonable prices.

Following this top experience, I thought it may be worth checking out the Madinat’s Left Bank again — possibly due to the huge amount of radio advertising they have been bombarding us with; with so much food promotion, I assumed they would have a wine list to match.

Prior to this visit, it had been some time since I had been there.

I enjoyed a quick pre-dinner drink a couple of months ago in their new Souk Al Bahar outlet —and as that seemed nothing like the original one in the Madinat, I was intrigued to see if the original one had received an upgrade in décor as well as in their F&B offering.

Popping in from the sunny walkways outside, it took a moment to adjust as it was so dark in the restaurant.

When my eyes adjusted to the gloom, you could see that the venue hadn’t changed a bit; it was just the same as when it opened a few years ago.

Trying to find something different to cool down with first, I was offered a previously unheard-of African beer for AED 36 (US $10) per bottle — which made the Heineken seem a bargain at AED 32 (US $9)!

Whilst sipping this I asked for the wine list, which caused a moment of panic, but eventually I was given a menu card which, it turned out, had the wine on the back.

Disappointingly for such a professedly ‘cool’ bar, there are more types of salads on the menu than white wines and more side orders than red wines!

The wine list consists of only five whites, five reds and a rosé.

In fairness, all 11 wines are available by the glass as well as by the bottle, so at least that gave us an opportunity to try some different varieties.

The down-side of this tasting strategy was the cost per glass, starting at AED 38 (US $10) for the house white or red — the bar’s own Left Bank Chardonnay or Left Bank Syrah.

I have never been a fan of house wines and this pair didn’t change my mind.

I believe that bars too often make too much from their house offering and I typically look for the bargain just above this level.

In this case, however, for the white we had to move above the next two white wines — a Chenin Blanc from Winery of Good Hope and a Pinot Grigio from Alpha Zeta — before we found anything palatable and interesting: a sauvignon blanc from Boschendal.

The negative side to this choice was the cost, at a very high AED 55 (US $15) per glass.

This is well-made Sauvignon Blanc, with the classic steel and mineral edge balanced by both vegetal flavours of asparagus as well as tropical fruits — lovely wine.

It was also much better than the most expensive white wine, a straight Bourgogne Blanc from JJ Vincent, which at AED 59 per glass (a staggering US $16) will have the summer tourists on a budget fleeing.

However the rosé (the only one on the list) was delightful; an easy to drink Santa Digna, made from Cabernet Sauvignon by squeezing the juice quickly with only a little time in contact with the skins.

This is part of Torres’ Chilean estate — a brand looking to expand further. The wine list description boasts of numerous medals, strawberries and redcurrants.

It certainly delivers — as you would expect from a Torres wine — with a slightly different feel to European rosé, being silky and fruity and maintaining an excellent freshness.

This should have been the thirst quencher when we walked in. Now, though, it led us onto the reds.

Having tasted a glass between us of the house wine, we quickly moved onto the other options.

Valdivieso is another reliable Curico Valley Chilean producer, producing vast quantities, but with a keen eye for the finished product.

This is their entry-level wine; it is worth looking out for their ‘Reserve’ and ‘Single Vineyard’ wines, as well.

This Merlot is oak-aged and has a rich and full flavour to match the purple colour, with dark fruits such as plum mixed with a coffee-chocolate flavour and rounded off with a nice spiciness.

Trading up significantly in price per glass to AED 52 (US $14), we tried The Yearling Cabernet Sauvignon from Coonawarra.

First impressions were of a wine trying to establish a pedigree that isn’t there — and this followed through in the taste.

I am not a fan of wines that try to establish a tenuous link to something that would make them stand out.

This wine was dull, with unpleasant dank aromas — a far cry from the fruity, balanced wine described on the menu. Perhaps it had been open for a day or two too long!

With just a couple of wines to go, I had to make a choice between two from Torres.

With only 11 wines on the list, to have three from one company seems a lot like favouritism; someone clearly has a lot of time for Torres here. But they do need to be exceptionally good at AED 57 (US $15) and AED 59 (US $16) per glass.

So I chose the Celeste Tempranillo, from Ribera del Duero in Spain. Aged in French and American oak from 12 months and made from fruit grown at altitude, this wine is strong on the nose, with spicy, peppery aromas that are confirmed on the palate.

It works well with the strong stone fruit and black fruit flavours of cherry, blackcurrants and blackberries.

Its initial strength on the palate does subside and I can imagine that it is really a wine to drink slowly, by the bottle, with a couple of goods friends and a steak or two whilst you get used to it!

Unfortunately, my friend and I had to make a move, after tasting 10 wines and spending far too much! The evening crowd was just entering, so it was probably the right time to get out before getting stuck for any longer.

I am sure the two of us are not typical of Left Bank’s regular customers; there cannot be many people heading there to enjoy a good selection of wines.

They do serve all by the glass, but the price, the limited selection, the dull ambience and at times poor service would put too many people off.

Perhaps those who drink cocktails for a living aren’t quite so discerning!