{"id":1771,"date":"2021-02-25T19:39:16","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T19:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1771"},"modified":"2021-02-25T19:39:16","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T19:39:16","slug":"wine-drinking-in-arabia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1771","title":{"rendered":"Wine Drinking in Arabia"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we say \u201cArabia\u201d we are quite sure that the image that comes to mind is endless desert, Bedouins in robes and camels.\u00a0 Well, yes, there\u2019s a lot of sand.\u00a0 It does get awfully hot.\u00a0 Tourists do take camel rides.\u00a0\u00a0 And many of the men do wear robes, called thobes<\/em>.\u00a0 But today many of the countries of the Arabian peninsula have ultra-modern cities, with skyscrapers (including the world\u2019s tallest), restaurants, museums and sports arenas.<\/p>\n

What they don\u2019t have is alcohol or, at least, not much.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The dining room at the Abu Dhabi Sheraton.<\/em><\/p>\n

Muslims aren\u2019t supposed to drink any alcohol and many observe this stricture.\u00a0 But a lot of the cities in Arabia, such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi are centers of finance, trade and of course oil.\u00a0 Quite a few expatriates live there, working for the big companies and governments.\u00a0 There are a lot of tourists these days, too.\u00a0 A fair number are Americans and Europeans who are used to a beer after work, a little whiskey on the weekend and wine with dinner.\u00a0 So, in some cases, exceptions are made for non-Muslim visitors.<\/p>\n

We have worked in that part of the world and were usually able to have some wine when we wanted to.\u00a0 In the hotels that cater to Westerners, there is almost always a bar and a wine list available with meals, but there aren\u2019t any in the unaffiliated restaurants.\u00a0 Prices tend towards the high side for what you can order and there isn\u2019t a lot of variety.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On Dubai Creek.<\/em><\/p>\n

Many Lebanese people work in Arabia. \u00a0While Muslim, they make wine and do enjoy drinking it.\u00a0 Many of the wines you\u2019ll see on the lists come from Lebanon and some of them are quite good.\u00a0 Chateau Musar is the best known and, in our opinion, the best tasting.\u00a0 You\u2019ll also see Ksara and Massaya, which are worth trying. There are some American and European wines on the lists, but they\u2019re not the ones you\u2019d choose back home.<\/p>\n

There are occasional problems that remind you that you\u2019re far away.\u00a0 Women are not allowed in the bar of our hotel in Doha, Qatar without a male escort.\u00a0 They also check for passports to make sure that those men and women who enter are not Qataris.\u00a0 And one evening we were informed that it was a local holiday and no bars were open anywhere.\u00a0 (Room service bailed us out.)<\/p>\n

Business dinners can be problematic.\u00a0 If your host is observant, you don\u2019t want to impose on him (your host will always<\/em> be a man) and order some wine.\u00a0 At the same time, we have been to dinners many times where half the group wants a glass or two with dinner, while the others abstain.\u00a0 It can be a little awkward, but it seems that everyone is used to it.\u00a0 If you\u2019re the host, ask if anyone else wants any wine.\u00a0 If no one else is interested, it\u2019s diplomatic to skip it yourself.<\/p>\n

There are no wine stores and we strongly recommend that you not try to bring a few bottles in your luggage.\u00a0 (We have had no personal involvement with the police authorities, but the word is that such interactions are not very pleasant.)\u00a0 We were told that registered expatriates may have alcohol in some countries, with a permit.\u00a0 Saudi Arabia, however, is very strict in forbidding alcohol and there really is no chance of getting any there.<\/p>\n

So if life should bring you to this vibrant part of the world, be a good guest and stick with the hotel bars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we say \u201cArabia\u201d we are quite sure that the image that comes to mind is endless desert, Bedouins in robes and camels.\u00a0 Well, yes, there\u2019s a lot of sand.\u00a0 It does get awfully hot.\u00a0 Tourists do take camel rides.\u00a0\u00a0 And many of the men do wear robes, called thobes.\u00a0 But today many of the … Continue reading Wine Drinking in Arabia<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1774,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771\/revisions\/1774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}