Wednesday - Day 3

Today was a seriously fun day!! Breakfast and a laugh with the ladies at Toscana, then an hour of putting the world to rights with a lovely american teacher from sacramento who I stood in the lazy river with, great great conversations on Education, politics, Trump etc!! Lol!

Lunchtime we headed to Las Olas for the reggae party! Oh my! What great fun! A couple of hours of live reggae classics, some seriously good JamaicanJerk Chicken, a couple of sol beers, blue, blue sea and the totally non-stop hardworking Alain looking after us! We went down with Fiona & Marcus, then Jill & Dale drifted along.  If you havent experienced the lunchtime reggae, its so worth spending an hour or two just chilling!

After lunch Fiona and Marcus went off for a walk, whilst Kev and me wandered back to the lazy river.

The four of us had booked the wine tasting which was due to start at 5pm at chez, with the new sommelier, Senor Raul, so we headed to our room at 3.30 to shower and change for the evening.

As usual we were late arriving, but the group (including the lovely Gill & Dave from TA and the WLEPM forum) had kindly waited outside for us.  So in we went to chez.  Now, this is where it started to go wrong........ for anyone who has enjoyed the wine tasting at EPM will know, this is traditionally done in the wine cellar at Chez, 5pm on Wednesday when Chez is closed for the evening.  However, last night Chez was due to stay open, and there was a booking at 6pm in the wine cellar - I'm guessing because the hotel is so busy. So, Raul took us all out to the balcony where the wine tasting had been set up.  Honestly, it looked lovely, heavy white tablecloths and napkins, rows of beautiful wine glasses at each place setting, some beautiful food etc.  However........the humidity was killing, and, Id just dressed for the evening and spent 90 minutes applying makeup and blow drying my hair!!! I was so diapsappointed, so much so, I said to Kevin I didnt want to do the wine tasting.  Seriously, I dont think I would have enjoyed two hours im the heat sipping wine.  My face must have said it all, and looking around the group, my dismay was clearly mirrored in the other ladies faces.  I asked Senor Raul could we please move inside to Chez, and that when he nicely explained about Chez being open that evening.  I apologised and said that Id rather not do the wine tasting and would leave it till next week.  One of the other ladies said the same, she is only at EPM until Friday, so would have been really disappointed.  However, a quick walky talky chat and our knight in shining armour, Nelson Kalixto, came to the rescue!  He took over, made a few walky talky calls, asked everyone to step into the lobby for five minutes and quickly had everything reset up at Spice.  He was our hero!! And he showed just how professional and efficient he is at his job within those five minutes, turning what could have been a big disappointment into a very happy hour (or two)!

So, to a review of the wine tasting.  If you are interested in wine, then the wine tasting class at EPM is definately worth booking.  Its usually held at 5pm on a wednesday, the price is $25 per person,  usually in my exoerience you get to sample three excellent quality mexican boutique wines which are paired with some small food bites.  Theres advice and guidance from the resident sommelier and usually after the initial hesitancy and first glass of wine, some chat between the guests.  Its a great way to pass an hour between the beach and dinner.  We go ready for the evening as it usually finishes around 7pm, so we head straight down to the martini bar after.

As my regular followers know, we were huge fans of Senor Martin the previous sommelier at EPM, who now works at the Finest next door.  Senor Raul, is different, but his methology is very very interesting.  This was our sixth time wine tasting at EPM, but we really really enjoyed it again!

Senor Raul had chosen three wines, a crisp citrussy white, an interesting dry rose and a full boded cabernet.   He choose brie, some seared tuna, some seriously divine brisket, and a chocolate truffle to taste with each wine.  It was very interesting to see how each wine reacted with the foid, particularly when tasted in an unconventional pairing i.e. The red with the tuna! 

As always, we learnt a lot and had a great couple of hours and if you get the chance to book this at EPM, just do it!!!

So, to a review of the wine tasting.  

After the wine tasting, we headed to the martini bar for some of Hugos french Martinis, but not before I had a kiss and cuddle with Caesar!

Gill and Dave (sporting a fabulously close shave 🤣🤣🤣) soon joined us, but the Bradjollies had overslept!! Lol! We had a goid hour laugh at the martini bar before the six of us headed to Basmati for dinner.

As always, basmati did not dissapoint, lots of laughs, good food and excellent service, before a nightcap and bed.  We packed a lot into this great fun filled day and had a final little surprise when we got in - a gift from Senor Raul.  Perfect end to a perfect day!