The Wine Spy assesses the grape and the good. The Wine Spy assesses the grape and the good.

I keep thinking on wine lists in Dubai how good value the Chilean offering normally is and the Montes here was offered at AED 185. (US $50) a bottle.

I haven’t always been a fan of Montes, as too often their wines here lacked the freshness and elegance tasted elsewhere.

But whether it’s stock rotation or the use of refrigerated containers in the transportation, something has changed for the better and this wine from the Colchagua Valley was good quality Cabernet.

Aged in American oak, the wine has the traditional Cabernet Sauvignon marks of cassis, black cherries and strawberry flavours, with just a hint of chocolate, combining with the firm tannins which may suggest that the wine could keep and improve for a couple more years under the right conditions.

As nice as the wine was, be warned! As Robbie Williams started to annoy on the speakers, we asked for the bill rather than a second bottle of wine.

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It doesn’t mention it on the wine list, but Cru will charge you 10% municipality fee and 10% service charge onto the wine list price afterwards.

That has to be wrong, as you think you are paying AED 185 (US $50) but end up paying AED 222 (US $60).

As with the out-of-stocks, the barman didn’t seem to care much about this overcharge, so it was definitely time to leave!

Would Margaux be better? Just around the corner, it has a very nicely laid out library-bar tucked away in a corner of the restaurant.

It is a lovely little hideaway and would be perfect if you could sit at the bar, but sadly there are no stools available.