Beijing Boyce

Room Hospitality Group in Beijing, slated to soft open its namesake restaurant, lounge, and bar Room next week, announced today that it will team up with Guy Savoy and Chateau Margaux for a May 22 dinner on the Great Wall. Look for Brian McKenna of Room to cook alongside Savoy, who has three Michelin stars, for those who count such things. States Room:

During the dinner, priceless vintages of Château Margaux wines dating from as far back as 1900 will be uncorked for an exclusive AAA-list of 60 of Asia’s wealthiest people. The event has been initiated by wine and liquor merchant Acker Merrall & Condit, who invited McKenna and Savoy to help bring the Château Margaux wines to prominence in Asia on a grand scale.

A source at Room says that the wine uncorked will run to millions of Euros and that each patron will likely guzzle one million kuai worth. They will then throw gold bricks off the Great Wall just for the hell of it before warming themselves at a fire fueled by stacks of RMB100 notes.

The surprising thing is this event did not happen sooner. Among the Premier Crus of Bordeaux, Chateau Lafite has been running ragged over its four rivals; an event like this should help boost the status of Chateau Margaux.

Alistair, who I know best as the race marshall during a crazy day in Nanluoguxiang and Houhai otherwise known as The Rickshaw Rally, drew the winner for the ANZAC Day contest. The prizes include…

• Six Coopers beers at 12SQM (map). Plus six VB from Dxcel.
• A bottle of  Aussie Cabernet Shiraz and an Aussie pizza at Mao Mao Chong (map). Plus six James Boags from Dxcel.
• Six Bundaberg rums (“Bundy”) at Ned’s (map). Plus six Pure Blonde from Dxcel.

And the winner is: Zach.

Once again, here are the ANZAC specials for this Sunday at Ned’s, 12SQM, and Mao Mao Chong:

Ned’s From 10 AM: Discounted drinks all day, meat pies, and giveaways, plus a screening of the ANZAC Day football match at 12:30.

12SQM From noon: Aussie and Kiwi music all to go along with RMB15 Coopers and VB beers, RMB20 James Boags beer, RMB30 Australian wine by the glass, and RMB35 meat pies.

Mao Mao Chong From 1 PM: Specials include RMB25 James Boags and Redback Wheat beers, Australian sparkling wine, and eight-inch Aussie pizzas (eight-inch), plus free ANZAC biscuits.

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Q: What happens when you pair a molecular archaeologist with preserved pottery found in the Neolithic village of Jiahu, China

A: Well, naturally, you get a beer brewed by beer geeks for beer geeks—all thanks to a geek. More specifically, you get Chateau Jiahu, an exotic ale inspired by a mixture of fermented rice, honey and fruit that was crafted in those very same clay pots roughly 9,000 years ago.

Dr. Patrick McGovern from the University of Pennsylvania teamed up with Dogfish Head Craft Brewers of Milton, Delaware, to create a beer based on what was discovered in a number of ancient pots unearthed in Jiahu and the barley beers and grape wines common to the Middle East in that era. The concoction was brewed with pre-gelatinized rice flakes, wildflower honey, Muscat grapes, barley malt, Hawthorn fruit and chrysanthemum flowers, and the resulting wort was then pitched with a sake yeast strain.

Are you as compelled to taste this as we are?

- Beer Advocate

Compelled to try an alcoholic conconction that predates Chinese history by 4,000 years and harks to a time when Beijing was nothing more than a watering hole for dinosaurs? Sign me up.

I finally had a chance yesterday, from a bottle of Chateau Jiahu kindly brought by Mr Hao from the United States.

My first reaction? Before it got within a foot of my face, I smelled bananas. Up closer, I smelled mild tropical fruits, a steady dose of slightly funky honey, and some floral and grape aromas–guessing the latter come from the Muscat.

The beer itself was slightly sweet–that honey again–and had a lighter body than expected and a bit of spice at the end. I found it well made and enjoyable, even if it not something I would regularly drink. This is one worth getting a friend to bring back from the U.S….

If the weather holds, this weekend is going to be a good one to get out and about. I’m planning to head down to NLGX on Sunday afternoon for a few ANZAC Day bevvies at 12SQM, Ned’s, and Mao Mao Chong. If you are into Aussie rules football, you can catch the match between the Beijing Bombers and Shanghai Tigers at 1 PM on Saturday (see here for details). Just beware of a Bomber named Bahen or he’ll sell you a team bottle opener for RMB200 before you can say shrimp prawn on the barbie.

Someone also asked me about St. George’s Day and whether or not there is anything going on besides this British Chamber of Commerce charity dinner. Indeed, there is. Luga’s Basement officially opens on Saturday tonight [yep, having a bad day with facts] with a St. George’s Party. Look for free beer, drink deals, and RMB15 hot dogs cooked just the way St. George would have liked them — either lightly seared by breath of dragon or chef of Luga.

As noted here, Enoteca has a sampling of 40 wines for RMB200 on Saturday, while Oh! Marco on Financial Street kicks off its month-long wine fair tonight, from 6 PM to 9 PM, with a tasting and discounts. Good times on the music front, with a Bad Mamasan / Chun Qui double-header tonight at Yugong Yishan from 10 PM and DH & the Hellcats rockabillying 2 Kolegas on Saturday.