Beijing Boyce

Where would you take the Desperate Housewives drinking in Beijing?

Post your bar recommendations in the comments section here and you’ll be entered into the weekly Celebrity Pub Crawl draw. So far, the possible itinerary includes Aria, Block 8 and my pick Suzie Wong (this assumes my apartment isn’t a valid choice).

The deadline for entering is Tuesday at noon. I’ll ask an esteemed member of the Beijing community - it was CRI’s Mark Rybchuk last week - to conduct the draw, with the winner being announced on Wednesday.

The prizes:

- A bottle of Grace Vineyard Tasya’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from Torres- A package of four books - Insider’s Guide to Beijing 2008, Mandarin Phrasebook, Healthy Chinese Cuisine: A Restaurant Ordering Guide, and Spicy Chinese Cuisine: A Restaurant Ordering Guide - from Immersion Guides.

Ready for a hot night on the town? ((c) ABC)

This might be of peripheral interest to wine consumers in Beijing. Last week, I wrote about Chinese Customs investigating wine importers. Today, ASC Fine Wines released a statement about inquiries into the company. The obvious question: what is meant by ASC being with Customs staff “now”. I have talked to numerous wine importers about this investigation and will have details later this afternoon on this blog’s sibling - Grape Wall of China.

To the Valued Customers and Suppliers of ASC Fine Wines:

As our valued business partners, we feel it is important to inform you about industry wide inquiries recently initiated by the Chinese Customs Bureau into the import declarations that has involved ASC Fine Wines. We firmly believe that this situation is either a misunderstanding or merely a routine industry by industry review of import practices.

ASC is cooperating fully and Managing Partner, Don St. Pierre Jr. and VP, Ms. Carrie Xuan are with Customs’’ inquiries personnel now. It is important to note that the value of ASC’s imported wine declarations under review is approximately 1.5 days business for ASC.

We expect a swift and mutually satisfactory resolution to this issue and note that ASC’s country wide business of importing and selling wine continues without interruption now.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,
Don St. Pierre, Sr.
Chairman, ASC Fine Wines

Palette Vino is hosting a single malt tasting on March 28 (8 PM), hosted by Kelvin Tam from Taiwan. The tasting includes selections from the Highland, Speyside and Islay regions. The single malts include:
Ancnoc 12-year-old
Speyburn 10-year-old
Balblair 1997
Old Pulteney 12-year-old
Laphroaig 10-year-old

The fee per person is RMB200 and snacks are included. To RSVP, contact Leo Liu at 8046-4461 / leo@palettewines.cn.