Beijing Boyce

Spring 2008

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The Carrefour wine fair (Shuangjing branch) is held twice per year and is the best free public tasting in the city. True, most of the wines are cheaper entry-level ones but these are what the average consumer typically buys. But first things first: I want to mention two issues that arise at every fair.

1. BYOG: Bring your own glasses. The ones provided are puny and it is far more enjoyable to sniff and sip from a proper vessel. I usually bring a few of  the 22-ounce glasses I bought in Laitai Flower Market for RMB10 each. There is lots of room in these babies–you can almost pour in a whole bottle of wine or five wheels of melted Brie (but not both).

2. Pray for water and spittoons. There is a dearth of both every time. Let me cut and paste from a post last year:

What happens when people can’t find spittoons? They dump unwanted wine in ice buckets, in empty boxes, even on the floor. And without water, they cannot rinse their glasses. I am guessing that buckets and water should be pretty easy to find since THE EVENT TAKES PLACE IN A HYPERMARKET.

Maybe I can appeal not to Carrefour but to distributors such as ASC, Torres, and French Wine Paradox that participate in the fair: Do you want people to associate your companies and products with a pigsty of half-filled glasses, soaked boxes, and spilled wine? Especially when the problem can easily and cheaply be solved by going to the household department and buying some pails? I will put my money where my mouth is and sponsor the first spittoon / bucket / pail. Or even the first two, but guys, please get spittoons or the equivalent.

I do realize the event is free. Even so, it still makes sense to improve it when the cost of doing this is so little.

Anyway, these fairs are good fun and I usually head over with friends around 7 PM or 8 PM on opening night, which is October 15 this year. Hope to see you there.

Note: There is a 20 percent discount on wines during the fair, which starts on October 15 at noon and runs through October 17. Check this e-catalog to see the available wines (click the bottom right and left hand corners of the catalog to flip the pages).

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See also:

• Spring 2010: ‘Prostitute wine’ and other tales
• Spring 2009: Glasses, deals, and labels with animals galore
• Fall 2008: Southern exposure
• Spring 2008: By / buy the case

Providing more evidence that the heavy metals in Beijing’s air affects us all in different ways, a group of guys is organizing a “Suit Up Day”, inspired by the womanizing character Barney Stinson on the TV show How I Met Your Mother, tomorrow night at Fubar. From Wikipedia:

In the show’s pilot, Barney first utters his most recognizable phrase, “Suit up!“, as he tells others to dress like him…  The phrase is repeated in many episodes, and is often modified to fit whatever clothing Barney is wearing, such as “Flight suit up!” when telling Ted to be his wingman in Halloween or “Snow suit up!” when inviting Ted to build an igloo in Central Park, mid winter or when Ted is waiting for a woman at a Halloween party ” I even penguin suited up for you!” or “Slut up!” when Robin and Lily go to a prom. Also when he was getting naked in Robin’s apartment and she asked what he was doing he replied “birthday suiting up!” The phrase has also led to an International Suit-Up Day on Facebook. He used the phrase “law-suit up” in an episode in which Marshall passed the Bar exam.

The event starts at 7 PM, with happy hour being extended to 11 PM, and also features  live music from Robbie  Hennebry. See the poster below for more details.