Wine in Beijing: The City’s Best Deals, Part One

By Jim Boyce (t.sina / Twitter)

A few months ago, I wrote a story about the Beijing wine scene for lifestyle magazine City Weekend. Here is the first of three parts of that story, reprinted from here with permission from City Weekend. (See part two here and part three here.)

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This week, CW is glugging back a little plonk as we enlist a famed Beijing grape enthusiast for an insight into the city’s best wine deals. Prepare for a week of hints, tips and deals from true connoisseur Jim Boyce, creator of BeijingBoyce.com and GrapeWallofChina.com.

Please drink responsibly, and if you can’t do that, at least drink good wine.

Skip to the Lou’s

True or false: It is possible to buy the same wine cheaper at Jenny Lou’s (various locations) than directly from the importer. Surprise, surprise, the answer is true. Some importers have high list prices to keep big buyers, such as restaurants and retailers happy. Thus, Jenny Lou’s can buy in bulk far below these rates, add a small markup, and in some cases offer prices up to 30 percent lower. Ma Huiqin, a professor at China Agricultural University who includes wine marketing among her interests, notes such values are also found at hypermarkets such as Carrefour and Metro. Given that Jenny Lou’s also has over 100 wines under ¥100, good prices on more expensive bottles, a diverse portfolio of more than a dozen nations and a growing number of easy-to-reach outlets, including a new one at Central Park, it ranks among the top places to buy wine.

Spanish Evolution

While Spain ranks as the third-largest wine producer, it holds a paltry five percent of the imported wine market in China. But its reputation among “Old World” nations is rising and its wines are also increasingly available in Sanlitun, with Nali Patio now home to Niajo, Taste Spain and Migas, tapas outfit Carmen next door, and former Legation restaurant Agua soon to open upstairs. If you are on a tight budget, try the Los Majones Syrah from MPC.

Get Happy

Make happy hour plural: Sanlitun Village newcomer Flamme has a modest by-the-glass wine menu but offers a two-for-one deal from 2pm to closing, Thursday through Sunday, starting from two glasses of Australian Mountain Pass Chardonnay for ¥34 [Note: the deal at Flamme is now 50 percent off house wine daily from 3 PM to 8 PM]. Friday Night Wine Fever at Enoteca, which moves to Nali Patio this month, means any person or group who buys a bottle for ¥200 gets unlimited appetizers. And in terms of package deals, distributors like ASC and Wine Republic occasionally offer discounts up to 40 percent. The deals sometimes include hard-to-move stock, but if the brand or grape is up your alley, they are worth it.

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