Beijing Boyce

I recently tried the Australian wine Irvine Albarino and agreed with a fellow taster that it smelled like marijuana. It didn’t only smell like marijuana. The first smell was petrol and made me think of a Riesling. The second smell was a cupboard of herbs and that included a sticky hint of marijuana. (It also led to inevitable remarks like “I don’t know if I should drink it or smoke it” and “This bottle should come with rolling papers”.) The wine eventually mellowed to lighter herb, grass and fruit aromas atop a fairly balanced body that had a slightly sweet initial taste and a lemony finish. I liked it.

Anyway, Irvine Albarino is among the more intriguing wines I have tried this year so I decided to see what other people smelled. I didn’t find anything about it in the guidebooks by Australian wine writers Jeremy Oliver and James Halliday, though they both cite the Merlot from Irvine as good. I found tasting notes on the Internet that didn’t note petrol or marijuana but peaches (huh?), pears (really?) as major smells. It seems that either those tasters were smoking up or, as is more likely, other factors were at play, perhaps the age of the wine (we tried a 2007), the peculiarities of this particular bottle or, according to several people in the wine industry, the impact of the screw top on the initial smell. To be fair, those fruity smells did come through later.

I tried this wine at The Loop, at a tasting organized by manager Weiley Lu with Philip Osenton of Wine Culture. Ostenton says that while the label says this wine is made from Albarino grapes, originally from Spain, testing has shown that it is actually made from Savagnin grapes, originally from France. This will be indicated on later vintages. It retails for RMB218 and is available from philip.osenton (at) wineculture.com.cn. Some other wines from the tasting:

Chateau Mas Neuf Les Conviviales Cabernet Sauvignon (2008: RMB122): Given the price, this is a decently round and deep fruity wine with a mildly spicy finish.

Bogle Petite Syrah (2006: RMB174): If I could pick one bottle to finish on this night, it would be this Bogle. A pleasing aroma, especially of blackberries, and a round body with a pleasant fruity finish.

Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel (2007: RMB191): Ample fruit, though it took a while to reveal, with a hint of cracked black pepper. This one is juicy, and at times borders on jammy, with a dry finish. Osenton said he picked up the smell of cranberry (I didn’t) and strawberry jam (I did).

Casa Gualda Unico Sauvignon Blanc/Muscat (2009: RMB82): If you seek something slightly sweet, floral, easy to drink and inexpensive, this blend might fit your needs.

Altor Las Hormigas Malbec (2008: RMB134): I’m including this partly because of the name, which means “the ants”. It has a lot of dark fruit, one person called it “stalky”, and it seems like a wine that would be best with a nice steak.

Wine Culture also has a sparkling red wine, from Malvasian grapes, at RMB226. You don’t see those every day…

The Loop (map) is one of those places with the potential to be everything from the hottest hidden spot in town to just another player in the background. I am hoping for the latter and am happy at how the stars are aligning. I like the design: the orange bricks, cement floors and wood trim that to me say Beijing, the tight arrangement of bar, booths, table seating and open space, and the mix of videos beamed on the wall and the music of BB Deng. It has great potential as an event space. But The Loop has thus far faced some issues in terms of food and drink. This is where good things are happening.

The eats: Previously inconsistent and at times poor, the food has seen a major upgrade since Weiley Lu joined the team. Known best for his work at Lugar and e.a.t., Lu has put together a small but good menu he says will gradually expand. I tried the steak yesterday: a perfectly cooked 200-gram cut with vegetables and herb rice for RMB58. That’s hard to beat and Lu says he aims to offer Sanlitun quality at a price that allows people to take a taxi from there to The Loop and back – and still come out ahead. (By the way, you can switch the rice for mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes.) I also tried the tasty fried pork cube with balsamic and fresh mint (RMB36 for six pieces) that Lu says is a riff on Nobu. The rest of the menu includes pastas from RMB28, snacks such as fried potato wedges, fried jalapenos, and chicken wings from RMB24, and mains such as salmon steak at RMB58. It looks like the food issue is solved.

The drinks: Those Lafite- and Latour-looking wines were an issue because at least for me they raised concerns about the legitimacy of the booze. Lu is now putting together a wine list that — given the candidates I have seen — should offer both quality and value. Even better, as he did at Lugar, Lu is getting creative with the drinks.  There are fifteen house cocktails, each named after a movie, including Roman Holiday, Norwegian Wood and Desperado. The intriguing If You Are the One combines Maotai, Triple Sec, and citrus, and rivals The Jing Fling at Mao Mao Chong as the best cocktail made with Chinese spirits. Mixed drinks are RMB30 and include a ~50ml pour while the beer list covers six bottle options, including Tsingtao (RMB15), Hoegaarden (RMB30), and Dead Guy Ale (RMB45). Look for Lu to also put together a strong collection of rums and Bourbons.

The Loop is not the easiest place to find, and it does feel a bit cold and could benefit from an outgoing staff member of two, but the food and drink upgrade, the good service I experienced yesterday, and the relaxed vibe and excellent music bode well, and I could see this spot becoming one of my favorites.

I had pretty much gone a decade without watching TV at home when DJ Chunky left me a DVD player during his exit from China early last fall. I have since watched ~60 movies and all or parts of more than a dozen TV series. And if I had to pick one thing to watch again, it would be the series Firefly (for more about this show, see here).

Good news if you are also a fan: there will be a Firefly get-together at The Loop this Sunday. The afternoon will include the streaming of a handful of episodes from 2 PM, along with some tonic (the place has a full bar) and vittles (pizzas, burgers, rice dishes, and the like). Join others in The Verse for what should be a very shiny time.

If you plan to attend, much appreciated if you let me know in the comments section or at beijingboyce (at) yahoo.com so the organizer has a rough idea of how many people to expect. You can find The Loop here.

The Loop

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I’ve already been to Shuangjing twice since returning to Beijing last Friday evening:  l will cover  my visits to new Korean restaurant Iki and to Bang! Bang! Pizza in my New Year’s wrap.

On New Year’s Day, I dropped in to Grinders and tried the meatball sub (RMB60): tasty, comes with fries and salad, and big enough that I ended up taking half home where it made a nice 4 AM snack  as I sat wide awake on Canuck time. My favorite Grinders item so far is the pulled pork sandwich, though  I hear good things about the soup and Caesar salad. And you can’t go wrong with 500 ml cans of Czech Zubr beer for RMB1o.

I also made my second visit to The Loop and it confirmed my first impression: I love the tight design that sees the place separated by table seating, sofa seating, pool table area, dance floor, and bar. Add the movies playing on the brick wall, the comfy seats, and the warm lighting, and I felt, well, all Beijing-y. I wasn’t so fond of getting a whiskey coke (RMB30) in a rather fragile looking Collins glass and hope, given the earthy nature of this place, that it tends toward the Tun / Fubar style of drinks: solid pours in solid glasses.

Anyway, this place is going to be great if it can nail the drinks and food. I haven’t eaten here yet but will soon: the menu includes brunch options from RMB48, salads from RMB20, soups from RMB22, burgers from RMB28, pizzas and sandwiches from RMB32, and snacks that range from “black pepper chicken nuggets” (8 pieces for RMB12) to fries with cheese (RMB15).

Crossing my fingers for this place…