Taking off with their ‘Wine Flight’ event hosted last Thursday inside their Dominica Drive corporate headquarters’ @twentythree bar, the triumvirate of J Wray & Nephew executives Chesna Haber, business development manager; Debbian Spence Minott, academy and retail operations manager; and Nastassia Hall, retail store and operations team leader, smoothly piloted an intoxicating wine-tasting journey that transported guests’ palates to Spanish vineyards.

The European nation — famous for flamenco, paella, bullfighting and the party hub Ibiza — is also the third largest producer of wines in the world, and Haber, using that impressive top-three ranking as a conversation starter, led the intimate gathering through a two-hour tasting session of the Spanish-made Torres brand of wines, which were beautifully paired with a Brian Lumley-catered selection of gourmet bites.

The Torres tasting which sampled seven wines that, in successive order, included the Viña Esmeralda, Milmanda, San Valentin, Ibéricos, Sangre de Toro Garnacha, Celeste, and the Moscotel Oro, also served as a wine education crash course as Haber spoke knowledgably about the respective vineyards where each wine originated from, the quality of the grapes, and the aging process involved in the finish of each of the seven bottles poured throughout the evening.

Waiter-shuttled trays popped out of the kitchen at regular intervals, reinforcing Chef Lumley’s acclaimed gourmet talent with each bite, and which included such savoury selections as oxtail wontons with papaya chutney purée and jerk mayonnaise, curried chicken spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce, and pulled Morrocan spiced short ribs served on top of pressed green plantain and black bean bruschetta.

Join Thursday Life as we hop aboard J Wray & Nephew’s Wine Flight.

— Omar Tomlinson