It doesn’t help the customer view wines or spirits, or give the impression that this is a serious wine place, as corners seem to have been cut. Who knows, maybe it will eventually turn into a regular bar!
Sadly, also not working was the help-yourself pouring system, which was a pity — particularly as the wines by the glass are a little limited on the menu, especially as three of the eighteen were not available.
In addition to this, there was a special offer for a glass of Möet at AED 95 (US $26) advertised on the bar. Nice idea, but it did make me wonder how far down sales of Möet are this year.
Möet is really ‘The Non-Vintage Champagne’, the one everyone else benchmarks against in terms of price and quality. Their sales are likely to therefore suffer more than most as people cut back.
The wine list itself is concise and they have done well to cover most bases with a tight range of around 170 wines, the only real lack being just four rosé wines to choose from.
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It is difficult to source from around the world with this number only and although there is a predominately French bias, the selection has been put together well, just lacking anything really exciting or different.
The French bias is really towards Margaux — and fair play, in a wine bar called Cru, they have all five First Growth and Premiere Cru Reds from the 1855 Classification (the four originals plus the promoted Mouton Rothschild), as well as Château d’Yquem to complete the line up.
However the vintages were not specified in the wine list, which is a serious omission!
So, on to the tasting: after our first four selections were not available (including the very nice Montgras from Chile — is this still available in Dubai?) and with an unhelpful member of staff who didn’t make one suggestion, we eventually managed to buy another Chilean: the Cabernet Sauvignon from Montes.
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Mar 15, 2010 , United Arab Emirates
As per Dubai law all prices on menus have to be inclusive!!