Review: The Veuve Clicquot Desert Experience by Arabian Adventures

Dune peaks and Champagne chic…

There’s an old movie cliché that you’re probably familiar with. A man wanders through the shifting sands of an empty desert, his clothes are torn, face – ruddy and ravaged by sun, his gasping, raspy voice calls out for “water, wa…ter”.

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Your carriage for the evening

The twilight lounge

Top tier gastronomy

Fine dining without walls

A seriously impressive portfolio of plates

I’ve been entertaining myself with the idea that the origin story of the new Arabian Adventures desert experience was a thematic response to that cultural meme. They looked at the thirsty drifter and thought, ‘you’re selling yourself too short, know your worth, ask for Veuve’. And hence the Veuve Clicquot Desert Experience by Arabian Adventures was born.

In truth, there’s a lot more synergy between the brands than that – but satisfying a particular thirst, whether it’s for luxury adventures or premium Champagne – is fertile ground for collaboration. There’s also the fact that the more-than-250-year-old premium Champagne house, Veuve Clicquot actively identifies with life in the sunshine, or ‘solaire’. And the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR), Arabian Adventures’ sandy playground, is an organic case study of life under the Middle Eastern sun.

But what does a Veuve Clicquot x Arabian Adventures desert dining experience actually look like?

Veuve-racking experiences

You’re picked up at around 3.30pm in a luxury vehicle. We had a G Wagon transfer, but there are Escalades in the fleet if you prefer hip-hop glamour to the regional choice for the upwardly wasta. Inside your carriage you’ll find the first nod to the life and works of Madam Clicquot – a Veueve yellow cushion. Comfort is a convenience – but classy touches like this are timeless.

On our journey towards the desert, Kevin our driver and guide deftly fields our questions on topics ranging from venomous scorpions to ancient aquifers. And after the urban towerscape has bled into the sands, we turn off the main road and into the parking lot of the DDCR. The pit stop is partly for us to let down our tyres for smooth sailing through the dunes, but we also had a quick snoop through the grand new visitor centre. We’d have stayed longer to explore but we’re on a sparkling wine and sunset deadline, and twilight waits for no man.

Cruising through the dunes, the horizon flips through a swatch book of candy hues. When we arrive at the next station, we swap our mechanical camel for a literal one, robed in Clicquot’s canary livery. It’s just a short, romantic trot through the amber undulations and dying light to the evening’s camp, where we find cool glasses of Veuve waiting for us, branded deckchairs, choral breeze and extraterrestrial views. It’s impossible not to be stirred by these sorts of sundown scenes, totally immersed as we are in the wild remoteness of the Arabian desert. And to think, in the blink of a geological eye, all this – every grain – would have been blanketed by ocean.

These immediate reconnects with nature are rare in the lives of many Dubai dwellers, and with the sort of luxury supplied by Arabian Adventures and Veuve Clicquot, you’re still able to keep one foot in the comfortable life we’ve all become unconditionally accustomed to. It’s Bedouin, but make it bougie.

What’s On the menu?

After the sundowner Champagne aperitif, we head down the tiki torch-lit path to the dining majlis. The last solar embers are still burning around us, but the pixel points of the first desert stars are already out. Today’s menu includes a slow-poached watermelon amuse bouche and starters of salads, charred cauliflower, robata skewers and octopus.

This is by far the best example of desert dining I’ve ever experienced. And by quite the meaty yardstick. The octopus, like the duck breast that follows as part of the main dish ensemble undergoes a sous vide treatment ahead of time and is flash-cooked on your Bedouin barbecue. You get all the smokey char, just none of the butchery that tends to happen with naked flames. The result is a fine dine experience that stands up to some of the finest in the city that now feels so very far away.

And then there’s the wine pairing. You can of course stick to Champagne if you wish, but the Veuve Cliquot sommeliers have hand-picked some stunning New World white and red foils for your food. And it’s unlimited.

You’ll also find steak, divinely rendered thick-cut fries, and a dessert medley that pays homage to the surrounding wilderness. I limit use of the word ‘flabbergasted’ to protect the integrity of its semantic value. But I’m happy to use a flabbergasted token for this experience. How they managed to turn this out of a desert kitchen, will just have to remain one of those sand-swept mysteries, like the building of the pyramids or the phantom shimmers of illusory oases.

Before we turn in for the night (and I’ve heard word that there may soon be an option to bolt on an overnight desert stay to this experience), there’s a round of nightcaps by the campfire. Conversations of the profane beneath yawning skies that are anything but.

Arabian Adventures, includes pick up from anywhere in Dubai, Dhs3,360 (inclusive of food, luxe transfers, and unlimited premium drinks). Tel: (800) 272 2426. arabian-adventures.com

Images: Provided