Three wine bars for Beijing’s Sanlitun: Everwines, Veloce, California Grapes Int’l

By Jim Boyce

Look for plenty of cork popping and screw top twisting in Beijing this summer as at least three wine bars are in the works.

The first full Beijing shop by Everwines, a brand of wine importer and distributor Torres, should be fully open in about six weeks. It will be just up the street from Irish pub The James Joyce and include a retail space, an enomatic machine with eight wines by the glass, and several outdoor areas, including a special patio for those who order pricier bottles. I met Torres’ Alberto Fernandez and Damien Shee at Migas over the weekend and they told me they planned some pre-launch events — bonus Taste of Nations event, please! Everwines also has outlets in Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi’an and Chengdu.

Look also for a wine venue called Veloce to open in 1949: The Hidden City. I stopped by earlier this week to see if Krishna Hathaway, one of the key figures involved, was around to talk but he looked busy training in the former Sugar cafe space. I’ll stop by again soon. Hathaway most recently handled wine at Aman Resort at the Summer Palace. You might want to contact him if you plan to pair cheese and wine.

A third venue, a project by importer and distributor California Grapes International, is planned for Sanlitun Soho. I wrote about this project here and it looks like it will open a bit later than expected. Frank Yglesias says things should be ready by late June and that he will be adding about 200 labels to his already large collection of Californian wines.

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