Surprise Wine Tasting in the Grand Hyatt Erawan Club Lounge
Apparently the Grand Hyatt Erawan is a test property for ideas to help differentiate the Grand Hyatt brand, and if last night’s fun is an indication, they’re off to a good start!
My enthusiasm for this property had waned in recent visits. Or perhaps it was that my first experience during the renovations was a hard act to follow. The new renovated suites have a bit too much mirror and busy patterns for my taste and the new club lounge while bright and modern, is also very busy and feels rather bland.
Everything felt much the same checking in a year a later and staying the same fun house mirror suite and having my pre-dinner cocktails in the lounge. My 1-2 night stays are never quite long enough for the lounge staff to get to know me so my experience tends to be perfectly fine but impersonal (which is mostly my doing).
That all changed last night. When I arrived at 5:30, they were setting up for an unannounced wine pairing at the far end of the lounge. The sommelier had worked with the chef from the You & Mee restaurant downstairs to offer something a little different for the club lounge guests.
There were 6 wines available, all of which paired beautifully with the spicy fresh ingredients in the appetizers.
Both the chef and the sommelier were on hand to answer questions and introduce the options. There were even recipe cards for the appetizers.
Best of all, I got to try a very decent Shiraz from Thailand!
The only thing I would have changed would be to offer a list of the wines we were sampling, since all went well with the food and were a welcome change from the standard Viognier and Gewurztraminer suggestions I get in the US.
I did get details on a few of the bottles if you’re interested.
Stonefish Gold Sparkling, Margaret River, Australia NV
Pinot Bianco, Sirmian, Nals Margried, Alto Adige, DOC Italy 2012
Merlot, Ronan by Clinet, Bordeaux 2011
Shiraz, Heritage, Granmonte, Asoke Valley, Khaoyai, Thailand, 2012
It was a fantastic experience and made me excited to come back, just in case my stay should overlap with another surprise event!
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Unfortunately, Thailand is the worst (non Islamic) place in the world to drink wine. Wine is ‘Farang Juice’ & taxed to ridiculous levels. $6 Oz or Chilean plonk goes for $25-30 in stores & then restaurants mark it up even more. Best to BYOB to BKK.
I agree, which is what made this even more exciting — the wines were nicer than the typical lounge selection and were free!
Great Posting… and great pix with staff.
Dear Khun Keri, thank you for sharing your recent experience. I was delighted to read that you enjoyed our surprise wine tasting. Please rest assured that we will continue to surprise and delight our guests with more tastings in the future. Thank you so much for your suggestion to list the wines – we will arrange this for our next tasting. Hopefully one of our future events in the Grand Club Lounge will co-incide with your stay. I look forward to meeting you on your next stay. Best regards, Gordon