Beijing Boyce

A heads up on a couple of noteworthy wine tastings coming up (as mentioned earlier, I hope to again start providing a list of upcoming wine events each week):

Palette held an excellent tasting in December of more than 100 of the wines it distributes. The price tag? A mere RMB 100 (USD 13). If you missed the event, don’t fret, as there will be a Beijing repeat on February 2, from 2 to 7 PM, in the Central Park banquet hall (2F, in the building with Alexander City Club). RSVP with Shirley Guo at 6585-3099.

I very much enjoyed trying Palette’s Australian, Spanish and dessert wines. If you’re a consumer, it’s hard to find more value than this. (See this write-up of the December event.)

This week’s Friday night tasting at Sequoia Cafe’s Sanlitun outlet features wines from Slovenia. RMB 100 gets you snacks and a taste of wines from the country that apparently has the oldest vine in the world (400 years). To RSVP, contact Frank at 13701178073 / frank.siegel@gmail.com.

An Obama Slammer, a large Kro’s Nest pizza and victory is ours.
((c) Obama for America)

Some notes on places visited over the past month or two…

Kro’s Nest
Everyone talks about the huge pizzas at Kro’s Nest, but also impressive is the service. The staff is consistently efficient and good-humored, the drinks and pizza tend to arrive on time, and the bill, change and doggie bags come without delay.

Kro’s Nest is one of my default venues when I am a) hungry, b) meeting a group, c) looking for somewhere informal, and d) seeking to keep control expenses. With plenty of seating, a laid-back atmosphere, and the modestly named “medium” pizza starting at RMB 80, the place works on all counts. The Kro’s Nest Special, a hearty but not overly heavy meat and vegetable combination, has grown on me, and I can slap the other pie’s half with the Greek Mama, Philly Special, or, if with big eaters, Mighty Meat.

Also you never know who you’ll meet Kro’s Nest. One my last visit, I sat beside the Beijing for Obama fundraising group and suggested that they, a la the Alabama Slammer, come up with a shooter - the Obama Slammer or Barack Attack - and charge RMB 25 per shot as a fund-raiser. Sell 250 of these and you have a thousand bucks. For those willing to pay for a double shot, up the nomenclature to the Whamma Bamma Thank You Obama Slamma. People, I’m giving out this advice for free! (Remember me when the ambassadorships to safe and sun-soaked Caribbean countries are handed out.)

About the only downside to Kro’s, besides it destroying many a New Year’s resolution to lose weight, is the mafan hike down that dimly dirt path behind the place.

(Note: Kro’s Nest is closed during the Chinese New Year festival and on every Monday.)

Bellagio
Bellagio is a restaurant that maximizes its potential. The staff is not particularly friendly, the seating arrangements are nothing special, and the Taiwanese food doesn’t take me back to the island, but the place is usually hopping. The situation is no doubt helped by the place’s prominence, by business from nearby clubs, and by a good rep for late-night eats.

p3wong and I found the gongbao jiding pretty good, while the Taiwanese oyster pancake and string beans were OK. Where the place does well is desserts, particularly those shaved ice creations, if that’s your dish.

By the way, if you have not been to Hsin Yeh, the “other” Taiwanese restaurant on that same Gongti West strip, give it a try. It comes off as more formal, but the food is good value and among the most authentic Taiwanese fare I’ve found in the city.

With this thing, it’s happy hour forever! ((c) Universal Studios)

Rare be those times when a Beijing birthday boy busts moves to the Back to the Future theme in a bar*, but such was the scene on Saturday night at CJW.

I haven’t been to CJW - Cigar, Jazz, Wine - since last summer, when I parked on its patio, sipped two-for-one martinis, and stared at that massive plasma screen in the sky. (Get out the RUB A535 if you plan to do this for any length of time).

The inner sanctum is impressive for its size and layout, with a bay of tiered seating ascending theater-style. Drinks flowed, drinkers danced, the band - wrapping up their stay at CJW, I am told - rocked the joint, and the boa, uh, constricted. Great party all around and I hope to get back to CJW soon to check out the after-work drinks scene.

Birthday shenanigans continued at Nanjie, with people flank to shank downstairs and packed in like sardines upstairs. In other words, it was typical Nanjie. With a heated argument at a nearby table posing escalation potential and the birthday boy already back to the futon, CP and I headed to The Tree for a wind-down pint and then The Rickshaw for medium wings. A solid Beijing night…

* And Scarface! I wonder how much he had to pay to get the house to play that one!

Spotted in this post on The Beijinger forum: “Top 10 Bars Foreigners are Most Interested In,” according to AT0086, which states, “To be authoritative and honest, AT0086 ranking is inclined to act as a reliable and honest consumption reference for you.”

Hang on to your toques and search your memory banks, because here they are:

1. Aloha
2. 19 Bar
3. Arcadia
4. The Blue Lotus Cafe
5. CD Cafe
6. Downtown Cafe
7. Durty Nellie’s
8. First Avenue Cafe and Bar
9. Fly Bar
10. High Ground

Well, they do say you learn something every day. For those interested, here are the top ten bar / restaurant queries on this blog this month:

1. Hooters
2. Maggies
3. White Rabbit
4. Chef Too
5. Yugong Yishan
6. Salt
7. China Doll
8. Nanjie
9. Salsa Caribe
10. Treasure Island

A smoke-free Olympics? (Rcmathiraj)

“A Beijing official recently announced that ‘provisions to ban smoking in public places in Beijing (Draft to Be Approved)’ will go into effect in Beijing office spaces, restaurants, and hotels,” reports People’s Daily. It’s all part of a “smoke-free Beijing Olympics.”

“… restaurants and hotels will set up clearly-marked and well-ventilated indoor smoking areas or smoking rooms. At least 70% of rooms will be smoke-free,” states the article. “The government-approved prohibition of smoking in public places is expected to begin after February of this year.”

No details are given on how the ban will be enforced or what, if any, penalties will apply to offending smokers, including all those Chongnanhai-puffing expats, so perhaps we’ll see a San Francisco-like situation (see this Danwei post for more on the ban).

Somewhat related, last March, I posted about a China Daily article that stated, “Beijing is to introduce a rating system for its Western-style restaurants, bakeries, bars and cafes by the end of the year to help diners make more informed choices.” Does anyone know what become of this initiative? (See: Judgment call: How many friendlies for Fridays?)

No smoking? You must be joking. (Mocker)

(Hat tip to M-Dawg for the heads up on the People’s Daily article.)

Why does that bottle of wine cost RMB 400?
Ever wondered how five-star hotels come up with the wine prices on their menus? Campbell Thompson takes readers on a step-by-step tour through the world of wine pricing, over at the sibling blog, Grape Wall of China. Other recent posts on GWOC include:

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Shangri-La Jones and the Lost Vines of France
Are grape wines from southern China’s Yunnan province - considered by some the location of Shangri-La - made from the survivors of vines devastated in France in the nineteenth century? Besides it’s Indiana Jones-like feel, this question is intriguing because of its historical and East-West angles and because Yunnan wines might be China’s best bet to get on the world wine map.

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Chantal Chi on wine, wineries and wine books
The newest contributor to Grape Wall, Chantal Chi is on the verge of releasing three books about wine. I interviewed her to get the inside story on the books, her hundreds of winery visits, and how she got involved in wine in the first place.

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Jeremy Oliver on the China wine scene
An interview with renown Australian wine writer and educator Jeremy Oliver. The topic: China’s wine consumers and wines. “I find the Chinese consumer to be an open-minded one who is happy and willing to try new wines without preconceived ideas or expectations,” he says in the interview.

I have been making the rounds with my laptop in search of spots that offer decent food, drink, and online access. This is part four of my winter wireless wrap-up. (Previously: The Rickshaw; Le Petit Gourmand; The Stone Boat)

Sequoia Café (Guanghua Street)

The good
- Tasty coffee, brownies and sandwiches - tuna pita, steak and cheese, and, highly popular for some reason, “turkeyberry”
- Plenty of plugs means plenty of places to sit
- Service is generally OK
- If you want to work amid journalists, this is the place to be in Beijing, given that many bureaus are located nearby
- Garden Books is opening on the second floor, which means you can take a break from your screen and get reacquainted with paper

The bad
- Too many hard surfaces means the place gets noisy
- If you leave any time between 5 and 7 PM, expect to struggle for a taxi

The wireless
- The signal is good. Surf to your heart’s delight in the smaller room (non-smoking) or larger one (smoking allowed).

* Sequoia Cafe has an outlet in Sanlitun North (home to Friday night wine tastings) and a kiosk in Shunyi.

Next: The Bookworm

If the recent China Wine Guide by Time Out magazine were a glass of vino, I would describe it as exhibiting typical aromas, possessing a light body, and leaving a bad taste.

I found a copy of the 100-page guide in this month’s issue of Beijing Time Out, available for free in bars, restaurants, and other venues about town.

The wine guide has three sections. The first is “wine for beginners“, which explains how to open a wine bottle, common wine myths, and wine terminology, among other topics.

The second is “a consumer’s guide“, with information about distributors, storing wine, buying accessories*, and so on.

Despite its name, The China Wine Guide is light on China context. It covers topics such as Shanghai and Beijing wine bars and pairing Chinese food with wine, but could have gone much farther. For example, some of the space spent on a lengthy look at Bordeaux wine would have been better used to explain the scene in China, such as wine availability (in gourmet shops, supermarkets, and hypermarkets), counterfeits, tasting events, and so on.

Long story short: more local content would improve the guide.

In any case, these first two sections have a good deal of useful material, especially for newcomers to wine, and are published in both English and Chinese.

Too bad the guide didn’t end there.

Instead, it has a third section that includes the results of a tasting panel organized in Shanghai for the guide. The panel used a “double blind” system and “the [five] judges never saw a bottle of wine during the judging process,” states the guide. Fair enough.

Unfortunately, a fair system only goes so far, especially given the context of this guide.

We are told that a “call for submissions” went “to all wine distributors in China” and that the panel tasted wines from eight of these distributors (note: each distributor represents different brands, thus the source of the competition).

The vast majority of distributors, ranging from major players to smaller outfits, did not participate. For those companies that did participate, we are not told how many wines each provided, which hinders meaningful interpretation of the results.

Then there’s ASC, generally considered the top distributor. Two wines it represents are listed among the guide’s 55 “top wines”. However, according to the company, “ASC declined to submit wines for the tasting.” Given this, how were its wines included? I posed this question to Time Out, but have received no response.

But, why would anyone be wary of participating?

Here’s one reason: The Time Out China Wine Guide is “in association” with one distributor, Summergate Fine Wines & Spirits. The Summergate logo is on the guide’s cover and all but four of its pages. It is the only wine distributor with ads in the guide. Its portfolio director was on the tasting panel along with the wine guide editor of Time Out.

It doesn’t take a public relations degree to realize that a magazine, particularly one with the global reputation of Time Out, providing a single company with such exclusivity and access in a project that involves judging that company’s competitors is bound to raise eyebrows. Fair or not, this perception isn’t improved by the fact that Summergate came out on top in the tasting (see below).

According to ASC, “We didn’t participate because the judging panel did not represent a broad enough strata of wine distributors in China.”

Another distributor, which did participate, was unsatisfied with the end product. “Had we known that the guide would be ‘in association’ with Summergate, as mentioned on the front label, we would have never participated,” according to Jebsen. Which raises the question of why Time Out didn’t seek an alternative to doing the guide “in association” with one distributor. As Jebsen stated, “No one asked us to advertise.”

Add in the small number of distributors involved and the lack of information about how many wines each company provided, and it is quite a reach for the guide to claim it lists “the top wines available for drinking in 2008.”

I find this situation unfortunate for Time Out, for the non-affiliated panelists, and, especially, for consumers.

* The guide lists Riedel, Eisch, and Schot Zwiesel as wine glass options. For something more affordable, try these 10-kuai glasses. I like the tip about asking for a free corkscrew when you’re buying wine from a distributor.

Tasting panel results

Below is a list of distributors included in the “top wines” section. The first number indicates how many of the distributor’s wines are listed. The number in brackets indicates how many of its wines ranked first in the four categories - value wines, red wines, white wines and dessert wines. Based on this, over 70 percent of the “top wines” in China hail from only three distributors.

Summergate - 17 (2)

Torres - 15 (1)

Palette - 8 (1)

Jebsen - 5

Pernod Ricard - 3

Gelipu – 3

ASC - 2

Ruby Red – 1

Wine World - 1

Announcing the results of this blog’s first contest - The Haiku Challenge. The four esteemed judges - Naoko Aoki, Jo Lusby, Badr Benjelloun and Will Moss - have made their picks, two during an in-depth powwow at The Bookworm last night and two by email. The system: I took the “top five” of each judge, assigned points - five for first place, four for second place, and so on - and tallied the scores to determine the winner. I gave the judges the haikus in alphabetical order (using the first letter of each poem) without the authors’ names.

To build suspense, and make everyone as excited as a trembling hamster on a vibrating bed, I’ll first list the runners-up, each of whom receives a bottle of 42 Below vodka:

New Yugong Yishan
No more souvenir t-shirts
Hipsters do laundry
- A. Lopez

*

One was bad enough,
now I don’t know which to choose,
Pure Girl multiplies.
- J. Kornides

*

Sunday memories:
Smokey clothes, missing mobile,
Yanjing hangover.
- J. Nicholson

The winner, who receives three bottles of 42 Below vodka and a 500-kuai gift certificate to Song, is:

I worship only
one divine being, and her
name is Suzy Wong
- M. Wong (note: we presume he is of no relation so Suzie)

Here, for your reading enjoyment, are more haikus:

Beer Mania calls.
Belgians by the bottle, but
I want a waffle.
- D. Murphy

*

Didn’t bathe today
Do the Kai Bar bump and jump.
Going indie pays.
- D. Murphy

*
Eat, Drink, Scan, Talk, Dance
My “rou chuan-r” burns at both ends
Bars abound, no time
- M. Lewis

*

Even TWENTY’s old
Amid the Euro-teen hordes.
Underage drinkers!
- P. Murphy

*

Headache and nausea:
What one surely deserves, post
Beijing-style night out
- E. Tchoudjinoff

*

Headache, nausea
Skid marks across my jacket
Bus Bar hit and run
- A. Lopez

*

Hey there! FuWuYuan!
Please bring us another round.
The night’s just begun.
- G. Loveland

*

Language partners drink
Racks of tequila shooters
It’s Lush at first sight
- A. Lopez

*

Naked bodies floa-
ting in water and on the
walls of China Doll
- R. Deng

*

Now we dream awake
And conjure the sun’s return.
One drink, one thought more.
- P. Murphy

*

Obiwan hidden
at Xihai, movie nights and
themed parties with class
- R. Deng

*

One hundred kuai gets
you twelve sweet reasons why you
put up with Nanjie.
- M. Wong

*

One, two, twelve shooters.
Only bought ten. My liver:
last seen at NanJie
- D. Murphy

*

orange sun setting
silhouettes over houhai
the night is still young
- J. Dominick

*

Q-Bar Martinis
Or Rickshaw Margaritas?
“The Beijing Question.”
- J. Nicholson

*

Still got the rack, upped
the ante with a floor, show
some love at Nanjie
- R. Deng

*

Tacky malls arise
Eclipsing former hotspots.
‘Sanlitun’ no more.
- P. Murphy

*

Three AM Monday
Five-kuai monsters at Shooters
Foresee work day doom
- E. Tchoudjinoff

*

Tongli Studios,
Bars they come and go like us,
Strangers in the night.
- J. Kornides

*

Vomit on my clothes,
I remember real cheap drinks,
Wudaokou last night.
- J. Kornides

*

What brings us to the
Ulaan Batur Jockey Club?
Just Maggies’ hot-dogs…
- J. Nicholson

Thanks to everyone for participating. I will contact the winners to arrange for delivery of their prizes.

I have been making the rounds with my laptop in search of spots that offer decent food, drink, and online access. This is part three of my winter wireless wrap-up. (Previously: Le Petit Gourmand; The Stone Boat)

The Rickshaw

The good
- Solid comfort food, including medium wings, burritos, and chicken pot pies
- Cozy stalls, though it is chilly downstairs
- Diverse clientele: I have ended up talking to dozens of people in the food and beverage industry, a guy whose family has a stake in an ice wine facility in China, a guy in charge of wiring all the Olympic stadiums, the GM of a five-star hotel, film makers, journalists, and teachers describing the trials and tribulations of the Chinese classroom, among others
- The NBA package: They have it, so I can watch basketball while I work. With five screens, other sports nuts can also catch their games of choice.
- Fellow laptop warriors: on most afternoons, there are about a half-dozen other people getting online.
- The staff is friendly and generally efficient, though when management is away, service can easily slide down the tube
- The only place in town you can hear Kim Wilde’s “Kids in America” on an almost daily basis

The bad
- Diverse clientele: Along with the interesting patrons, there are some weird people as well as more than a few of the type that loudly want everyone to know the important business deal on which they are working (”I need to crack some skulls to get the equipment in-country, you know how it is dealing with the local ops, man, where would they be without  me, yadda, yadda, yadda.”)
- Too many people consuming liquids + one toilet = bladder strain
- It tends to get smoky

The wireless
- Access is excellent, and given the food, cozy seating, and NBA Channel, not to mention proximity to my apartment, The Rickshaw remains my place of choice for going online.

Next: Sequoia Cafe

Last week, I posted about the less than stellar service experienced by two bloggers at separate five-star hotels in China - one in Shanghai and one in Beijing.

One wrote about a tasting for a wedding meal. The hotel did a re-tasting and you would think everything went peachy keen the second time around. Not so, says p3wong, who has more than her fair share of experience in Beijing’s food and beverage sector. In her most recent post, The 2nd Tasting, she writes:

Overall, as much as the entire team tried.. in all honesty, I was still disappointed with the results. I’m actually not a picky eater, and so, if I felt the meal was mediocre, I think there’s a lot to be said about the food quality of this “top notch” hotel.

… What I found absolutely UNACCEPTABLE though was… WHY the food came out cold, as the Sous Chef later explains to us. The kitchen we were told, was on the other side of the banquet hall. Since we were doing our tasting in one of the breakout rooms on the other side of the hall, the food had to travel some distance to where we were dining. With THREE foreign chefs working the kitchen that night, NOBODY realized until just before dessert that all the dishes travelling about 200 meters or so from the kitchen to the breakout room would get COLD??

See the full post.

I have been making the rounds with my laptop the past few months in search of spots that offer decent food, drink and online access. Here is part two of my wrap-up on winter wireless places. (Previous write-up: The Stone Boat.)

Le Petit Gourmand

The good

• Plenty of parking options, including a high table with stools and cozy booths (with outlets). Most of the seating is dining style and there is a covered terrace
• An atmosphere that is part library (thousands of books), den (the soft lighting) and restaurant (tables decked with cutlery, napkins, and so on)
• Decent food, including pasta at RMB 30 to RMB 45, complete with a basket of bread. The guy behind me had sole. “I’m from Normandy and we eat this fish all the time,” said he. “This is good”
• Regular coffee at RMB 15 kuai, Cappuccino at RMB 20, and several Belgian beers
• Decent bathroom facilities
• The location makes it easy to pop into the gourmet shop in the 3.3. building (at the back, in the basement) and grab groceries on the way home
• Friendly staff, though they struggle with service at times.

The bad

• The music is repetitive (one night, I heard 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s going on?” more than a half-dozen times in two hours, another night the same songs were repeated numerous times) and the noise (on one visit, a staff member’s phone loudly rang over a dozen times to Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me”; suggestion: adjust phone to vibrate)
• If a food special is advertised, and the staff recommends it to you, it’s a bummer when they return a few minutes later and say, “We don’t have that today”

The wireless

• A pretty good signal: with reasonably priced coffee, lots of books to peruse, and comfy seating, this is a place that I park for a few hours.

Next up: The Rickshaw

I jumped into the back of a cab near the St. Regis Hotel last Friday and asked the driver to go to Workers’ Stadium.

We made it as far as the northwest corner of Ritan Park when the driver pulled over, shook his head, and pointed at the door to indicate I should get out.

I didn’t like the idea of looking for a new cab on an empty street at night in the cold. I repeated the address in the hope that might do the trick. He shook his head again. I asked if he knew the location of Workers’ Stadium. He said he didn’t and indicated the door.

Unable to convince him to go further, I took out my phone to record his taxi license number.

Big mistake - he became agitated, started shouting, and grabbed my arm. I shouted back at him, pulled my arm free, gathered my computer and groceries, and exited the taxi.

I stood about ten meters away and dialed a friend.

Another big mistake - he came after me and, fifty meters later, latched onto my arm. If he wasn’t pulling the sleeve of my coat, he was gripping my computer bag or grabbing at my cell phone.

This tug-of-war lasted about five minutes, as I tried to hold onto all my bags while dragging him down the sidewalk. We passed some locals and he started talking to them. Like me, they were unsure of what he was saying. Finally, as he had a coat sleeve pulled six inches past my wrist, one woman had an “a-ha!” look and said, “He wants to be your friend — your pengyou.”

My Mandarin level precluded me from explaining I don’t link friendship to damaging people’s coats, public harassment, or being dropped off on a dark corner on a cold winter night. In any case, the presence of the woman and a few other people calmed him slightly and I escaped. For all I know, the driver did feel bad or wanted to explain he had other matters to deal with and thus wanted to drop me off, or… whatever. In any case, once he got out of control, I simply wanted to get away.

What’s the point of the story? I am NOT making a generalization about China, its citizens or, even more narrowly, its cab drivers. I take two or three cabs a day, which translates into about a thousand per year, and this is the first time I’ve experienced something like this. While I have issues with cabs in Beijing – particularly in terms of inconsistent service - I don’t feel unsafe in them.

No, my point is that this situation soon saw me alone, in the cold, beside Ritan Park, with no taxis in sight. And I realized… this is the perfect time to go to Stone Boat and start my winter wireless series.

The series is called The Good, The Bad and The Wireless - not the most creative title, I know - and looks at options out there for those seeking to get food, coffee, and online.

First up: Stone Boat

The good
- It’s a sedate getaway in the city center and lies beside an ice-covered pond
- You can feel tourist-y / a sense of history in its Qing Dynasty surroundings
- The atmosphere is cozy, the place kept warm by heaters and double doors
- A pot of Whiskey and tea is 30 kuai
- If you stay late enough, you’re within a five-minute walk of a Maggies hot dog

The bad
- The bathrooms are outside, they are cold and, at least on this night, they reeked
- If business is slow, the staff gets bored, so don’t be surprised if they mindlessly bang something on a table or make other annoying noise

The wireless
- The access is good and, frankly, there is something cool about parking on a bench in this building, gazing out at the pond and trees, and being online.

Next review: Le Petit Gourmand

… going to be announced by the end of the week.

The entries to The Haiku Challenge are now in the hands of the four judges and the winners will be announced by Friday. As noted earlier, the winner receives three bottles of 42 Below vodka and a 500-kuai gift certificate to Song. Three runners-up each get a bottle of 42 Below. All authors are commended for their efforts for, as William Hazlitt penned, “Poetry is all that is worth remembering  in life.” Hear, hear…

The panel of judges:

• Witty/wacky wordsmith Will Moss of the Imagethief blog
• Jo Lusby of Penguin Group
• Modern-day vagabond, able bartender and IT guru Badr Banjelloun
• And last, but certainly not least, hailing from the land of the haiku, Naoko Aoki of Kyodo News

To ensure fairness, I provided the judges with the haikus in alphabetical order, using the first letter of each haiku, and kept the authors’ names secret. No Sake, Shoju, Suntory, Kirin or other such alcoholic beverages, not to mention 42 Below vodka, will be provided to the judges until after the winners are decided.

Browsing the bookshelves at Le Petit Gourmand yesterday, I came across the 1987 edition of The China Guidebook, by Fredric Kaplan, Julian Sobin, and Arne de Keijzer. I flipped to the Beijing nightlife section and found this:

After the revolution of 1949, a curtain of Puritan prudishness descended on the once lively if seamy entertainment world of Beijing. The ubiquitous teahouses and wines shops disappeared, and not a trace remained of the pleasure houses of the past. Social dancing flourished briefly during 1979-1981, but was officially proscribed in late 1982. In 1983, discos were opened within the confines of the Jianguo, Great Wall, and Huaqiao hotels, but as “tourists only” establishments. Most hotels still maintain cafes for late night imbibers. In summers, the rooftop cafes at the Beijing (west wing) and Friendship hotels draw lively crowds of foreign residents, and these two venues have now come as close to “in” places for socializing as any place else in the capital.

That’s it.

By the way, Charlie’s bar at Jianguo Hotel is apparently Beijnig’s longest continuously running bar. Those who recall it from the eighties tell me the place was a business hot-spot because it had the first FAX machine in the city.

Previous posts: my one and only write-up on Charlie’s bar.

When it comes to great grape names, Grüner Veltliner ranks up there. It sounds like the name of an ice hockey* player or an airship or a pair of fashion sunglasses. Or a belt of asteroids circling the sun. Frankly, it tastes better than all of these things put together.

Tastings of Grüner Veltliner are as rare as a week of Beijing “blue sky” days, but Cafe Europa in Beijing will have one on January 24, from 7:30 to 8:30 PM. RMB 150 fee gets you a taste of four Austrian wines (two red, two white) and canapes (RSVP: 5869-5663 / josefkiang@yahoo.com).

Here’s what one site has to to say about Grüner Veltliner wines:

Austria’s serious winemakers have discovered that, with lower yields and higher ripeness, Grüner Veltliner can produce stunningly intense and concentrated wines. Even the simple wines, from overcropped vines and underripe fruit, can have very pleasant citrus and grapefruit aromas, with a hint of the variety’s most distinguishing characteristic: the spicy fragrance of freshly ground white pepper.

For more details, see the full article.

By the way, I will soon re-start listing information about upcoming tastings, so keep the info flowing. Details are preferable in text format, so as to reduce the risk of my mistyping information from a pdf.*

I use “ice hockey” not because I hail from a non-hockey playing nation, but due to my sensitivity toward those who live or grew up in lands where “blue line”, “five-minute major” and “holy moly, what a goalie!” were not everyday language.

Bar and restaurant owners in Sanlitun North are preparing for what they hope - or perhaps a better word is “expect” - to be a major Olympics payoff this summer.

Among other developments, some of those copycat bars on the main strip have been or are being renovated, a massive China Doll will reportedly open in 3.3 Building, and, next door, the new Nali Studios will see about a dozen F&B spots launch, including Ciro’s, Muse, and Saddle.

The bigger picture sees the opening of more than a dozen buildings designed to upgrade Sanlitun - if you define upgrade as endless retail space and architecture that includes a building studded with what appear to be cargo containers.

I have far greater faith in evolving bar and restaurant scenes than in Frankenstein-like ones, which is what seems to be emerging in Sanlitun. In other words, an area that slowly builds up a presence based on consumer wants as opposed to a complex, street or bar area, often based on a “concept” from London, New York, Hong Kong or Shanghai, suddenly thrust on our - intricately sauced, of course - plates.

Even so, a one-off deal like the Olympics is unprecedented in Beijing and thus makes it difficult to predict what will happen in Sanlitun, or the general bar scene, in terms of who cashes in. Not least of all is the question of what the government will do.

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One issue is the size of the customer base. Visitors to Beijing who peruse their city guides in search of a place to drink will find no shortage of references to Sanlitun, but they will also have other nightlife options, such as corporate parties, hotel bars and restaurants, alternative drinking spots (Houhai, the Olympic stadium area, etc), and tourist activities, such as watching Peking opera or acrobats spinning plates on sticks. The degree to which locals patronize Western bars and restaurants is difficult to say, as is the impact of likely traffic restrictions versus the opening of a new subway stop at Gongti North.

It seems safe to say that the number of potential Olympics customers for Sanlitun is substantial. It also seems to me - and I write as a consumer, not as an industry insider - that the size of the payoff depends on numerous “whether or not” scenarios, such as:

• Whether or not bars and clubs in Tongli Studio and its environs, just west of the main Sanlitun strip, remain open. Numerous Tongli bars faced short-term closures this year, with fire safety code violations being the usual reason given. The area in the nearby streets is associated in many people’s minds with seediness. And a few months ago, a heavy-handed police action saw the rounding-up of blacks, including tourists and the son of an ambassador. If the Olympics are Beijing’s “coming out” party, then Sanlitun, or at least parts of it, might be seen as the uncouth cousin who crashes it. (By the way, despite its reputation, Tongli and environs include venues such as Cheers, The Tree and Kokomo, among others, that would offer interesting experiences for visitors.)

• Whether or not the strip of mostly copy-cat bars on the east side of Sanlitun’s main strip will be open. This is where wandering male visitors hear “lady bar, sexy girl”, almost everyone hears “DVD, DVD” (from touts) and “money, money” (from beggars), and the average spot features chairs out front, a live band inside, and what I consider overpriced beer. Even so, this strip has traditionally been popular with tourists, those freelance peddlers can be sent on vacation for a month, and some bars are renovating, thus suggesting they expect to continue business.

• Whether or not new establishments are open and ready to go - many places in the new Nali Studio, beside the 3.3 Building, are behind schedule. This ranges from Ciro’s, which was supposed to open last year, to Project H20, which predicted opening one floor by last week, but is far from doing so. Add in an employment scene that sees a surplus of establishments and a deficit of qualified people, as well as the learning curve in getting things smoothly running, and many challenges lie ahead. I expect that locking down Olympic events or corporate sponsorships is in the minds of many owners.

• Whether or not a makeshift bar area will open. A common comment among those doing business in China is that as soon as you are making money, someone better connected will find a way to get a share. The Olympics is big money. Is it possible that some massive beer tent area could arise in the Sanlitun area and siphon bar-goers? It’s certainly in the realm of possibilities.

• Whether or not the government controls entry to Sanlitun. Does anyone remember if the drinking scene was good in Athens, Sydney or Atlanta? What matters is that the Games themselves are successful. Again, it’s not hard to imagine access being restricted to Sanlitun. After all, streets get closed for visiting officials or major events, car use is restricted during important Beijing gatherings, and bars have been closed down before.

None of these events may come to pass, but that’s the whole thing - while change is a constant in the Beijing scene, there is an additional level of uncertainty this year.

Frankly, bars and restaurants might find their golden opportunities in the months leading up to the Games, as journalists, technicians, sponsors and other people pour into the city.

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Note: I focused on Sanlitun because it is in my neighborhood. I would love to hear what other people think, not only about the Sanlitun scenario, but about other areas of town.

- By Jim Boyce

Tenacious taster Thompson (J. Fallows)

The mention of Chinese wine often brings smirks, mock gagging, or jokes such as “leaded or unleaded?” Given this, I enjoy getting together for a tasting of the local drop with people who express open-mindedness about it. Last Friday was such a time. Our party:

• Lawrence Osborne, New York-based author of The Accidental Connoisseur
• James Fallows, Beijing-based writer for The Atlantic Monthly and among the few buying, trying and writing about Chinese wine from a consumer standpoint
• Campbell Thompson, Beijing-based wine guy, former marketing director of ASC Fine Wines, and current Master of Wine Marketing student
• Me, consumer

We did our taste test at Dishes of Mao Zedong Hometown restaurant, behind the Hilton. I had hoped to dine at the hotel, but explaining that our patronage would bring revenue and possible coverage did not suffice to get the corkage fee waived for our eight bottles. Fair enough, but it was worth a try.

So, we headed down the street and, after Thompson explained to restaurant staff our need to open that many bottles, did our tasting in puny glasses amid vapors of meat, garlic and hot peppers. Not ideal tasting conditions, but real-world ones.

The notes are mine and, as often mentioned, I come at this as a consumer. The quotations are not attributed and meant to give some thoughts of others around the table.

Great Wall Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 (the only bottle we bought at the restaurant).

Some fruity though feeble aromas with a hint of cough syrup, and a limp body with a slight berry / cherry flavor; this one came off as fairly close to grape juice.

The table: “Palatable, but not too pleasant”; “The fruits are played out”

Suntime Red NV (RMB 28)

Dull red with a slight orange tinge, with a touch of wood and some (but too weak) black fruit; pretty much no finish (note: I’ve heard good things about Suntime from readers, so I’ll give the higher-priced bottles a try soon.)

The table: “I’m glad it’s not more than 28 kuai.”

Catai Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (~RMB 45)

A light fruit (black cherry) nose; the body had some dark fruit, jamminess and a hint of spice

The table: “Some varietal definition, but a bit thin”
Grace Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (RMB 60)

The nose had light and pleasant fruit, with the fruit and tannin working well together, though the color made it seem as though it were an older vintage.

The table: “Tastes like a perfectly American wine”; “It’s a step up from Catai”; “They’re trying to achieve something restrained.”

Chateau Bolongbao Grand Vin 2005 (~RMB 195)

There is a lot of wood (sawdust?) on the nose, a bit much for the dark fruit jamminess below; the same with the body

The table: “The wood is weird and heavy,” “like a carpentry shop”, “like pine resin”; “I like this: interesting wood and fruit flavors to savor”; “you could find people who love this and who hate it”

Taillan Rose 2005 (RMB 60)

Orange-pink, with a mushroom-y nose and some fruit (peach? light red fruit?) beneath; similar fruit in the mouth; if you plan to try this one, it’s best to do so now rather than later

“It’s struggling against adversity - it’s an honorable effort”

Huadong Dry White (Riesling) 2002 (RMB 76)

Very ripe, almost fermented, apples on the nose; slightly sour, with some tropical fruit (pineapple?), but lacking adequate acid and finish

“There’s no acidity to it, no core - you can’t make Riesling like that”; “It’s past its time”; “It doesn’t finish clean”

Grace Chardonnay 2006 (RMB 60)

Some toasty aromas on the nose; the body has oak and green apple, though it tastes slightly unripe

“It’s disjointed,” “the acidity is out of balance”, “it doesn’t have any delicacy”

Sino-French Demonstration Vineyard Chardonnay 2005 (sampled provided during a winery visit)

Light, creamy and with some freshness; subtle light fruit in the body, though not much finish

“It doesn’t have that buttery angle,” “it isn’t overly commercial,” “that’s the only wine so far that I think you could pass off as a foreign wine”

On the whole, the Grace Cabernet Sauvignon, Bolongbao, and Sino-French Chardonnay fared best. In any case, as always, it was good fun to work our way through these wines.

Lined up and ready to go (J. Fallows)

Thanks to a large backpack, I trucked the nine bottles home, where I later met Palette Vino’s Stefan Fleischer, and we went through the wines again, this time sans the odor of garlic and hot peppers. I’ll have his evaluation soon.

Note: Bottles of Sino-French and Bolongbao wines are available from the winery. The other brands are available in spots such as Carrefour, Jenny Lou’s or April Gourmet, though I have been picking up Chinese wines of late in the gourmet shop in the basement back of 3.3 building.

A couple of recent posts raise the issue of service in five-star hotels. One concerns wine service in a Shanghai hotel, while the other covers a tasting for a wedding meal in a Beijing hotel.

Given the number of high-end hotels and restaurants opening vis-a-vis the number of available employees to run them, it is no surprise that service in Beijing is less than stellar. It’s one thing to get a venue up, quite another to get it running smoothly.

It will be interesting to see what happens in Beijing, in this Olympics year, at Chinese New Year. Typically, this is when many employees “take the year-end bonus and run.”

Victory vodka
For one Beijing pub poet
Write your haiku now

There are two days left to enter The Haiku Challenge. Send your poems (maximum: three) about Beijing’s nightlife scene to beijingboyce@yahoo.com by noon on Wednesday. Author of the best haiku gets three bottles of 42 Below vodka as well as a RMB 500 gift certificate to Song. Oh, and the glory! Three runner-up authors get a bottle of vodka each.

You don’t need to be Japanese, have an English literature degree, or be a published poet to enter, although you need the math skill to count to seventeen (the number of syllables in a standard haiku). Check details about the contest and the judges.