The concept is pretty simple. Wine, lots and lots of wine. Between 20:00 and 23:00 every Thursday, Oeno Bar in the Westin becomes a haven for all wine enthusiasts. For 295 AED per person you can take advantage of their superb collection of wines and bubbles, as well as having a free reign in the cheese & charcuterie room.

Before we take you on our wine journey…

Let’s set the scene a little bit. The decor in Oeno is fantastic and immediately makes it obvious why you are here – to relax and enjoy fine wine…and come on, it’s Thursday evening you’ve earned it!

It isn’t just the decor and wine that gets you settled in and relaxed…

The perfect compliment to fine wine and fine decor is a bit of live music, which is exactly what you get at Sip Happens. The live music is a great collection of acoustic renditions of pop classics and by the end (after wine number 4 or 5) you will probably be singing along.

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A room of bubbles and wine and a room full of cheese and charcuterie…

We are now campaigning that these are two rooms that every establishment should have. The nature of Sip Happens gives you free reign to dabble in the plethora of cheese and wine on display and sets it out in a classy yet chilled manner.

Now for the journey…

Enter Kenny. 

Kenny asked us if we would like some help with our wine selections, which would entail ‘joining him on a journey’ through the many, many wines on offer. As it was a Thursday and we felt like we’d earned it we thought why not?

All good journeys start with bubbles

Kenny instantly earned our respect as he informed us that we should begin with bubbles as they help with the digestion process. That was enough of an excuse for us so we got stuck in to some lovely, lovely bubbles.

Build your pallet…

…was the main pearl of wisdom from Kenny. Apparently the best way to go on a red wine journey is to build up from a low body to a full body wine. He tells us that this allows you to feel the characteristics and flavours of each wine as they build up in body and taste. We can now confirm that this works as we began with a Frontera Chilean Red, which was a really light wine and started the journey off perfectly. We can also confirm that Kenny’s journeys involve a LOT of red wine! 

The journey went through a Californian Chirac, a South African Merlot, a South African Cabernet Sauvignon, an Australian Shiraz and then onto an Italian wine that I forget the name of, (you try remembering that much after one of these journeys!)

Each time, the wine becomes more full bodied and more intense in flavour and you actually do get a sense of progression (and also a sense of achievement when you reach the end without falling over).

A night cap definitely wasn’t needed…

But when in Rome and all that…so Kenny twisted our arm into finishing the journey with a sweet desert wine, Muscato. This is made from grapes where the skins are taken out to avoid any bitterness. I am pretty sure this one was responsible for the headache in the morning but it tasted great at the time. 

This really was an excellent evening where we also managed to learn a little about wine…and definitely drink a lot of it thanks to the wonderful staff.

Go forth and Sip…

If you fancy a nice, relaxing end to the week and don’t want the chaos of a Friday afternoon brunch, then Sip Happens gives you the opportunity to get your hands on some (a lot) of fine wine, whilst in a more casual, relaxed environment. Fully recommended to wine lovers, wine experimenters, or anyone looking to wind down and get merry at the end of the working week.

Oeno that it’s good, and now you to do…so go have a sip or two.