Presentation of the Gault&Millau UAE Champagne Index
Every bottle in the best restaurants in the UAE, recorded and tracked for the first time.
Gault&Millau UAE today launched the country’s first ever Champagne Index, with the aim of improving the transparency and value of the burgeoning local wine scene.
What is it about?
The index, which covers the wine lists of 42 of the country’s top restaurants – all licensed establishments that received a high rating in the inaugural Gault&Millau UAE 2022 guide – aims to examine the true state of the local dining scene’s champagne offerings.
Designed to be regularly updated to reflect developments in the sector, the Index marks the first time in the 50-year history of Gault&Millau that a country’s wine scene has been examined in such detail. The index was compiled from the wine lists provided by each restaurant over a two-week period between 29 September and 13 October 2022. The lists were all requested directly and, where none were provided or made public, the restaurants were visited and their menus photographed. Each bottle on each of the 42 lists was then recorded by producer and vintage and ranked by price.
Given that each restaurant faces its own rental, production and staffing costs, as well as differences in licensing regulations between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, some variation was expected. However, the differences uncovered in the index are surprisingly wide.
For example, the same bottle of champagne available for AED 665 at the DIFC costs six times as much, AED 4,100, 13 km away in Dubai Festival City. Moreover, a vintage bottle that costs AED 9,950 at the top of the Burj Khalifa costs AED 13,500 at the foot of the same building.
The index therefore aims to provide diners with access to all this information in one place, allowing them to consider the cost of both food and drink when booking a restaurant.
How does it work?
To use the list, diners can scroll through all the producers available in the cellars of Gault&Millau recommended restaurants to compare prices exactly, or search for the desired vintages according to their personal preferences. Each comparison table has been constructed to allow regular price updates, and bar and restaurant managers are encouraged to get in touch to update vintages and prices as availability and costs change.
For 50 years, Gault&Millau has been helping French readers make their restaurant decisions by giving them access to information about the best food, the best service, the most interesting wine lists and, most importantly, the value for money offered. Now, six months after its launch, Gault&Millau UAE seeks to do the same for the Emirates, bringing a new sense of clarity, competition and fairness to the country’s wine scene.
Do you see a price or a bottle on our index that needs updating? Do not hesitate to contact us at the following address : champagneindex@gaultmillauae.com
