Wine Weekend V: Grapes and Greek gods

I owed myself a weekend of fun for ages and cashed in last Friday, Saturday and Sunday by attending five wine events. Here’s number five: Sometimes you need to cut your losses. After four fun wine events, I pushed Lady Luck when Sir Campbell T called last Sunday afternoon about a wine auction being held [...]

Wine-a-thon: 11 countries, 150 wines, 188 kuai

Torres China is organizing “Taste of the Nations” at Traders Hotel Beijing on November 3. The 188-kuai entry fee gets you more than 150 wines from 11 nations, not to mention free appetizers and live performances. Space is limited, so reserve yours by contacting Sophie (5165-5519, extension 208 / sophie@torres.com.cn). Note: Get more info on the Chinese [...]

Wine Weekend IV: A grape-stomping time

I owed myself a weekend of fun for ages and cashed in Friday, Saturday and Sunday by attending five wine events. Here’s number four: We be jammin’ A winery-touring, grape-stomping, bottle-uncorking day lay ahead as ten of us boarded a bus in Guomao on Sunday morning and headed to Chateau Bolongbao, outside the city, for [...]

Wine Weekend III: One year for wine bar

I owed myself a weekend of fun for ages and cashed in Friday, Saturday and Sunday by attending five wine events. Here’s number three: It took (exactly) one year but I finally made it to Houhai wine bar Le Baie des Anges last Saturday night for its first-year anniversary party. The layout is tight but [...]

Wine Weekend II: Cabs, quizzes and sauerkraut

I owed myself a weekend of fun for ages and cashed in last Friday, Saturday and Sunday by attending five wine events. Here’s number two: The Beijing Wine Club organized a full evening of fun – including a blind tasting, food and quiz – last Saturday night at Sequoia Cafe. Here’s what attendees received for [...]

Wine Weekend 1: Reds, whites and you

I owed myself a weekend of fun for ages and cashed in Friday, Saturday and Sunday by attending five wine events. Here’s number one: The task: to blind taste nine Chinese wines. The goal: to pick a favorite red and white. The rules: each taster received two poker chips and voted by placing them in [...]

Stop whining, start wining…

Getting provincial: Shandong’s Catai… or Shanxi’s Grace? For those who complain that Chinese wine is rotgut, here’s a chance to shelve big wineries such as Great Wall, Changyu, et al and give the work of smaller China wineries a shot. This Friday, Sequoia Cafe features a blind tasting of a red and a white from [...]

A Baie des Anges birthday

Saturday marks the first-year anniversary of Houhai area bar la Baie des Anges. Get into the birthday spirit with some cake, a quiz and quality music, plus specials on wine all night. Check out the bar’s website or call 6657-1605. Thinking it’s too hard to find? Well, there’s a handy map below While you’re in [...]

Grape education: know your varietals

Get to know your Sauvignon Blanc from your Chenin Blanc and your Cabernet Sauvignon from your Cabernet Franc as wine educators Fongyee Walker and Edward Ragg lead a tutorial titled “A Variety of Varietals: I” on September 6 at the Park Plaza Hotel in conjunction with the Oxford Cambridge Club Beijing. “In this sit-down, tutored [...]