A quirky wine bar named uh-huh will close this Friday as its initial two-year lease ends. Based near the hutongs—those traditional alleyways of Beijing—uh-huh was opened by Sophie Zhou, who left the finance and tech sectors to pursue an interest in wine.
While modest in size, uh-huh has hit above its weight as events spilled onto the sidewalk out front, thanks to windowsills doubling as countertops.
The bar has offered a steady stream of activities: events for Austrian, Spanish, German, Chinese and other wines, “meet the winemaker” sessions, blind tastings, and movie and film nights. The owner has organized tours to local wineries, joined campaigns like Italian Wine Week and did popups at Beijing festivals—they were making pasta and pouring wine at the annual CBD Coffee Festival in September.
Still, it wasn’t enough, at least not by Zhou’s standards.
“Although it’s really hard to let go, I’ve decided to close uh-huh,” she wrote in a WeChat post that felt like deja vu given I have read similar messages from others this year.
“The reason is simple: Perhaps my ideal wine bar is just not a good fit for Beijing,” Zhou added and posted her mantra of “Good Wine, Good Food, Good Vibe.”
One major issue: wine prices. Zhou has no shortage of people suggesting she sell cheaper wines or leverage the high margins of cocktails in order to make things work.
“It just doesn’t align with my values!” she posted, adding that if changes to the “quality, service and atmosphere” no longer aligned with how customers saw the place, then uh-huh “loses its meaning as a wine bar.”
Shanghai native Zhou also noted something many others have found over the years, including yours truly: “Beijing seems to be a bar and cocktail market, much more than I expected.”
Wine bar owners like Zhou are in a tough spot, especially as the post-COVID rebound we expected is still in hiding after three years. In fact, some tell me this year is tougher than last year as people hold onto and even increase their savings.
I talked to consumers and distributors about the situation at the Hilton Food & Wine Experience last Saturday.
“People aren’t spending,” one distributor told me, then went on to reveal that she is also keeping her cash close at hand “in case of an emergency.”
Hard to expect consumers to spend on wine if those in the wine trade aren’t spending themselves!
Anyway, the crazy thing is that Chinese citizens are holding onto plenty of money. Per news reports, household savings in China total well over US$20 trillion—that’s trillion, not billion. It feels like they could spend their way out of the current economic malaise.
In the meantime, the official closing party for uh-huh is this Friday. And there is at least some good news.
Zhou says she will continue the uh-huh spirit. And sibling venue Tangled Pasta Bar will stay open.
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