HME.com's dedicated Wine Spy has been out and about again, tasting what's on offer on Dubai's wine lists. HME.com's dedicated Wine Spy has been out and about again, tasting what's on offer on Dubai's wine lists.

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.

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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!