Test your wine knowledge at Grand Hyatt's The Cellar

MANILA -- Do you think you know your wine? If you do, then put your money where your palate (and nose) is when the Grand Hyatt Manila transforms its wine bar, The Cellar, into Le Grand Casino Du Vin for two nights a month starting this February.

The hotel’s normally quiet wine bar literally gets the Monte Carlo treatment complete with gaming tables, gambling chips, and dealers/game masters with the energy that go along games of skill and chance which all together, promising a truly unique night out.

Along with a four-course dinner by executive chef Mark Hagen’s culinary team, guests are given a gaming card to tally which games they have played along with 12 chips to wager on three games that test one's knowledge and pallet about wine. On the “casino” floor are three games played on tables all around The Cellar.

On one table is a blind wine tasting game with 1:2 odds where players try to figure out if they’re sipping a white, rosé, or red wine.

On the far side of The Cellar is the aroma sensory game, again with 1:2 odds where players sniff out aromas from a vial taken from a Le Nez Du Vin set, a wine sensory kit used to train sommeliers and wine professionals, and choose what the correct aroma from choices on the gaming table.

Right beside the sensory game is Wines of The World, perhaps the most difficult test of wine knowledge. This is another blind tasting game where players have a chance to double their bet if they correctly guess if they’re sipping an old world or a new world wine. For those who are really confident with their wine, they can choose to name which region the wine comes from, which gets you five times the tokens wagered and major bragging rights.

All this is accompanied by a four-course dinner -- Double Baked Meredith Goat Cheese Souffle, Pumpkin and Ricotta Tortellini, a choice between Grilled Beef Tenderloin or Pan-Seared Sea Bass for the main course, and Frozen Lemon Parfait for dessert. 

The wines poured for the Le Grand Casino De Vin’s games come from the extensive catalog of AWC Philippines, one of the biggest wine suppliers in the country. Grand Hyatt said it may change the menu and wines occasionally during the run of Le Grand Casino De Vin.

The night ends with an auction using the tokens that were won and/or lost on the gaming tables. Guests bid on prizes which may include bottles of wine, vouchers for massages, dinners, and even a night stay at the Grand Hyatt.

Le Grand Casino De Vin will be held on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. This is priced at P3,000 net and includes a 4-course dinner, a glass of red and white wine, and 12 chips to start. Guests can acquire more chips by buying a bottle of wine that comes with a dozen more.

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