Beijing Boyce

My old Taiwan buddies John Isacs and Kat Tao were in town last week. John is a “grape American hero” in Taipei as he writes bilingual books about wine (the newest covers 250 brands), teaches wine lessons, organizes wine dinners for corporate bigwigs and does all kinds of wine promotion via PDAs and the Internet (check www.enjoygourmet.com). Kat handles operations and cranks out a slick quarterly magazine about Taipei’s gourmet scene.

After a nice hot pot and some lamb kebabs on Ghost Street, we headed to Pavillion for two fine bottle of wine: a Garvey Amont Tio Guillermo sherry (picked by John, who was recently certified in Spain as an expert on this drink) followed by a Seghesio Sonoma Zinfandel 2003 (ASC Big Wig Campbell Thompson informed me by email that this wine, produced by a family outfit in Sonoma, is on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 wines for 2005). Whiling away a few hours in the Pavillion’s big leather chairs is a comfy way to enjoy a chilly winter evening, especially as the wine is reasonably priced (even bigger ASC Big Wig Don St. Pierre said the company has sold more wine at The Pavillion in one month than it did at Frank’s Place in two years). Expect to here more from John and Kat, who are looking to expand their wine info empire into the Middle Kingdom.

From Beijing Boyce VI, first emailed on December 14, 2005)

Summergate Fine Wines & Spirits has moved to Han Wei Plaza (17F, 7 Guanghua Road / 6562-1800). Unfortunately, they still – and this is beyond me – have no website. ~ The Pavillion is offering patrons a chance to be a bartender for a day. Pick up the application forms at the bar. ~ I generally get good service at Centro at night. Not so during the afternoons. Recently, after receiving no attention from the staff, I left my cozy chair twice and went to the bar to order my drinks and then get my bill. Plus, is there some kind of staff no-smiling rule during the afternoon? Customers paying RMB50 or more for a coffee deserve better. ~ ASC has three new mixed-case promotions. Each 13-bottle set, ranging from RMB1200 to RMB2400, includes Laurent-Perrier Champagne (if you haven’t tried it, here’s you chance) at 32% to 40% off list prices. ASC is also offering 30% off select sets of four Vinum series Riedel glasses, including Bordeaux (RMB670), Chianti Classico (RMB599) and Cuvee Prestige (RMB599). (Though I wish they wouldn’t always use that same Robert Parker quote about Riedel crystal. Mix it up a bit, guys!) ~ I met the Aussino wine company people at a party a few weeks back and they are planning some Beijing events in the New Year. I’ll l keep you informed. ~ Journalist, China specialist and logician (how does he make so much sense after so many beers!?) Ralph Jennings has a crafty little blog at www.livejournal.com/users/lalaoshi ~ Plans for my rap band Bling Dynasty are coming along nicely. We’ve already got several songs in the works: Yo! Mae Yo!, Hot Mama Huhu and Mi Bad, Yu Bad, Mai Bad. I’ll l keep you updated on any concert dates. ~ Last, but not least, best wishes to everyone during the holidays. Eat, drink and be merry people. Cheers! JB.

(From Beijing Boyce VI, first emailed on December 14, 2005)

Ch-ch-changes: Is Neo Lounge set to reappear? The bar had a cult following before it closed more than a year ago and is the topic of a forthcoming documentary. Which will come first: the new bar or the movie? / Hilton Beijing is making over its restaurants and bars. It will add a signature Zeta Bar (a la the Sydney, Kuala Lumpur and London Hiltons). / Huxley, who popularized the none-too-subtle slogan Shut Up, Just Drink, is apparently readying another bar. In my crystal ball, I see… 10-kuai Qingdao… low-priced shooters… noisy dice games. / Has anyone else cringed at the new Cask of Amontillado-like structure behind Sun City (near Alfa)? Turning to my ball again, I see possible names… Public Execution… Abu Ghirab… Dungeons and Dragons… Hairy [sic] Potter… and a home for the city’s S&M scene.

Wining about Beijing: My co-worker Andrew McDonald, whose family owns Seven Springs Vineyards (Oregon), ranked among American’s ten best by Food & Wine, will lead a tasting of five Pinot Noirs on January 20. The wines include 2001 Amity Pinot Noir, 2003 Rex Hill Pinot Noir, 2003 King Estates Pinot Noir, 2001 Ponzi Pinot Noir and the rare 2000 St. Innocent Seven Springs Pinot Noir. The event is RMB250 and limited to 18 tasters. Six spots are left. If you’re interested, let me know ASAP. First come, first served. / The Riedel crystal wine glass empire expands. ASC Fine Wines founder and Riedel distributor Don St. Pierre writes: “We are selling Riedel in about 40 cities now, including selected Carrefour outlets.” They start at 160 kuai per. ~ I didn’t list Torres Wines new address last issue because I couldn’t find it on the company’s website. Torres’ Galia Stern diplomatically noted that it was in all of her emails to me. Point taken: Annex House, Tian He Mansion, 7A Workers’ Stadium West Road, Chaoyang District (5165-5519). / Montrose’s Ethan Perk suggested I emulate that Johnny Mercer song (“accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative”) and praise wine distributors with functioning sites, rather than complain about those without (Summergate, Torres, Palette). Here they are: Montrose, with the best site, is at www.montrosechina.com, while ASC is at www.asc-wines.com. / A few issues ago, I claimed that the six sparkling wines at a tasting at John Bull Pub came from Torres. In fact, only the Bellavista Franciacorta is distributed by the company.

More shots: Try Polish, American, Russian, Mongolian and other vodkas on January 15 at John Bull Pub. The RMB150 fee includes a buffet with bratwurst, borsch, Russian salad and mash. Email frank_siegel@hotmail.com or call 13301-377-336 to reserve a spot. / If you’ve got the New Year’s blues and need some chuckles, catch Chopschticks on January 14 at 7:30pm at icehouse (6522-1389). The show features stand-up comedian Jim Dunn (Boston) and opener Tony Moschetto.  Tickets: RMB250 at door; RMB220 in advance (13701-210-489). ~ The Pavillion is planning a whisky club. And I plan to talk ideas with them as I’d like to start a whisky and bourbon society. Is anyone up for it? / Re my futile search for a toilet plunger, Damon Perry suggested I try Carrefour. Thanks for the tip. I also found some with wooden handles at Jingkelong on Gongti North Road and bought one with a steel handle (49 kuai) at Ikea. Note: Ikea will move sometime this year. I’ll let you know the exact address.

(From Beijing Boyce VIII, first emailed on January 13, 2006)

It was drink, eat, drink, eat, drink eat, etc. and be merry at the Shafer and Joseph Phelps wine dinner, held by ASC Fine Wines at Aria on November 10. I know little about wine, other than being able to visually discern between red, white and rose, but here’s my two renminbi.

We started with Bollinger Special Cuvee Champagne, followed by Phelps’ Los Carneros Chardonnay 2002, which Doug Shafer, president of the winery and in attendance, called “big, fat and rich” (which isn’t an uncommon way to describe wine: try plugging those words in to Yahoo.) Next, a Shafer Merlot 2002 that Doug described as “yummy” and a “pretty rich full wine that reflects the weather [where the grapes were grown].” This did have a nice nose and with two solid wines and some Champers under out belts, we were ready to trek into the sacred land of California’s top “cabs” as some like to call Cabernet Sauvignons.

We next tasted, side by side, Phelps Insignia Napa Valley 1997 and 2001. In my notes I scribbled “vigorous, solid, full-bodied – Halle Berry in a tasteful black cocktail dress” and “this is a killer – Campbell Thompson.” Campbell works at ASC and was sitting beside me, thought I can’t guarantee that he actually said those words. (By the way, does he not have a name that deserves a royal title, such as Sir Campbell Thompson or The Right Honorable Campbell Thompson or Campbell Thompson, Earl of ASC? I’m telling you, there’s nobility just waiting to happen there.)

If Campbell didn’t say it, then I will: This wine is a killer. It was beautiful, with a nose that made you want to squeeze your head into the glass. It made the 2001 which came after it and which in other circumstances would probably have been the star seem like a slightly unready debutante (could I sound any more pompous?). Next up and, again, side by side were the Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 1997 and 2001. These wines, highly regarded by experts, seemed to be a bit of a letdown after the Phelps Insignia. An attendee astutely asked, “Were the Shafer wines disadvantaged being served with the steak course rather than the cheese course?” They were and it’s too bad, but I guess two slabs of meat weren’t in order. Around that time, according to my notes, Doug uttered the words “I’m a big ass Cabernet and I’m here to see you,” but I have no idea of the context. Anyway, we finished off with a Joseph Phelps Late Harvest Riesling 1993 (which I can sum up in one word – sweet) and I then bucked down two glasses of Bollinger for good measure.

As for the dinner, it was good, although it required some dictionary research (remoulade: a piquant cold sauce made with mayonnaise, chopped pickles, capers, anchovies, and herbs; quince: the fruit of a central Asian tree of the rose family that resembles a hard-fleshed yellow apple and is used esp. in preserves; and so on).

This wine dinner cost RMB988 and was excellent value, with a good combination of food, drink and interesting patrons. For number crunchers, just consider that a bottle of Shafer Hillside would set you back at least USD350 (www.winesearcher.com – thanks to Campbell for the site reference). For all others, consider that man cannot live on Taillan Malbec alone. Speaking of which…

(From Beijing Boyce IV, first emailed on November 18, 2005)

Icehouse got its name because during the Qing dynasty the place was apparently, surprise surprise, an icehouse. Maybe that’s the problem. After all, if it had good feng shui, then emperors past would have used it for a dining room or guest quarters, instead of a place to store frozen water. I know, I know, the lounge is partially owned by Handel Lee, who is associated with all that is high class in Shanghai and Beijing. Thus, my discomfort is obviously due to a personal deficiency in taste. Even so, I’m not the only misfit, because numerous other people have found Icehouse to be too boxy, too flat, too vacant, too much like the cement-floored, soulless events room in my hometown’s ice hockey arena (of course, only I made this last connection).

While I’m griping, why does Icehouse make it so hard to tell apart the men’s and women’s toilets? I went into one toilet only to run into a woman. I headed into the other toilet only to run into — another woman. I then realized that the first woman was cleaning the place and went back. The result is a terrible dilemma: either I have to use valuable memory space to remember which toilet to use or I have to start wearing adult diapers. This is all the fault of Icehouse!

Finally, there’s that hallway, which I’m guessing is 80 meters long. It’s impressive going in, although some oxygen tanks along the way would be nice for the less fit. Coming out, especially if you’ve had a few drinks, you could end up bashing your head off the walls a dozen times and/or be sober by the time you reach the door.

Okay, to be positive, I know some people who like Icehouse and I’ve had a few good times there, too, notably at the Chopschticks event a month ago and at that’s Beijing‘s launch of their 2005-6 Insider’s Guide to Beijing a few weeks back. The latter event featured Grey Goose vodka, and saw plenty of happy people, including a magazine editor who described Icehouse as “fantastic!”

Still, the feng shui factor remains. I dunno, Icehouse reminds me of the New York Yankees baseball team. They spend outrageous amounts of money on their product, they have lots of strong backing and they have a good customer base (Icehouse has Chopschticks comedy shows, ASC wine tastings, Beijing Cheese Society events, etc.). The stars are aligned, but something just doesn’t feel right.

(From Beijing Boyce III, first emailed on November 3, 2005)

Since I came to Beijing a year ago, I can’t think of a company that has provided me better service than ASC Fine Wines. Okay, the first time I called them, some 12 months ago, I ended up in a horrible game of phone tag. But since then, they’ve been spot on. A few examples:

- Their delivery people are on time, almost down to the minute;

- They have some very creative specials, especially the mixed dozens;

- Their wine tasting events are well-run and informative;

- When I showed up one Saturday to buy some wine glasses for a wedding the next day, Simon Liang, who happened to be in the office during off hours, took me to the warehouse (an awe-inspiring, temperature-controlled, air hanger-like structure filled with pyramids of wine) way out on Fifth Ring Road to pick them up.

I think ASC outdid itself a few weeks ago at a media briefing. It packed the following into a couple of hours: a presentation on China’s wine industry (40-50 percent growth expected over the next five years); a tasting of the company’s new Laurent-Perrier Champagne (thought I didn’t see it listed on ASC’s website today); a trial of the new Riedel “O” series of glasses, sans stem and base (which mean each glass had to be filled with wine); a lesson in sniffology, as we tried an aroma kit, Le Nez du Vin (The Nose of Wine), which contains 52 bottles of various scents and is used to train your snout to detect aromas in wine (at RMB3000, it’s not cheap); and a food and wine pairing, where we tried various eats (chicken, lemon, ginger, dried tomato, and so on) with different wines, to see which ones best matched. The event was well-organized, educational and intoxicating. Note 1: Who would want wine glasses with no stems or bases? Restaurants: since it would reduce breakage and since seated diners are unlikely to hold their glasses for long (which is the main concern, since that could warm the wine). Note 2: Note 2: ASC Champagne whiz Olivier says: don’t swirl your bubbly or it you’ll decrease its effervescence.

(From Beijing Boyce III, first emailed on November 3, 2005)

Time is running out for spending fantastic fall nights on a rooftop or deck. Options include The Big Easy (relaxing), Suzie Wong (people watching), Nuage (views of Hou Hai and the drum and bell towers) and Hai Bar (the same, but more rustic and cheaper). / Want to see the Astros win the World Series? Be a benchwarmer at the Goose and Duck or John Bull Pub. / Wine industry bigwigs constantly come to town since everyone wants a drop of China. I’m working on putting together wine tasting listings. / If you haven’t seen Ah-Q bring down the house at CD Jazz Club, catch their show on Thursday nights. Trombonist Matt Roberts says the house has been packed of late and he’s trying to figure out an encore. Ah-Q was playing at icehouse but the club, being a blues bar, wanted an, um, blues band, which makes you wonder why they hired a jazz one to begin with. / Steak and Eggs vegetarian omelet with hash browns and toast: RMB19. Get this and three other breakfast specials before 11 AM, or four RMB25 lunch specials, all October, as the place celebrates its anniversary. / Would Summergate wine please get a web page? You guys have some nice Antinori products, but make it too hard to find out about them. / The Starving Artists Party on September 15 at Yan Club was another finely run event by that’s Beijing, which includes the restaurant awards at Bar Blu and bar awards at Zing by Doodoo’s. It helps to partner with ASC Fine Wines, who poured Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon, and Sculpting in Time, which provided the eats. Funnily enough, I ran into a pair of Italian journalists were had just arrived in Beijing that day. And where did they hear about the party? From another journalist in North Korea. / The next issue includes Marketing Beverages on the Great Wall, Beer Mania, Books: Those Things Made Out of Paper, $10,000 wine glasses, A Bar with an Identity Crisis, and more. / Build the community: If you know people who would like this newsletter, pass it on. They just need to send a message to me to get on the mailing list. / Again, your comments and questions are welcome. I do realize that this issue is nearly 3,000 words long. Believe me: my fingers barely have the strength to pick up the single shot of 10-year-old Balvenie Single Malt I allow myself each month. Cheers, BB.

(From Beijing Boyce II, first emailed on October 20, 2005) 

The annual Hilton wine fest a couple of weeks ago filled two floors of the hotel, with over 160 producers from Canada (How often is Canada listed first when it comes to wine? Go Canada!), Italy, Australia, the U.S., France, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa, Germany, Austria, and other grape-growing nations. I tasted 52 wines – these were sips, not full glasses, my friends – along with the buffet, for a measly RMB250 (US$30).

I also looked like a total poseur by writing tasting notes on my little black pad – unfortunately, I forgot my turtleneck sweater and Robert Parker book or I could have really stood out. Even so, when going through enough labels to make a deck of cards, you need a way to remember what was good, bad and ugly. It’s funny how my early notes use descriptions like “fruity,” “fresh,” “acidic” and “earthy,” while later ones are more, uh, creative: “hints of Sprite,” “honestly mundane,” “this grape’s got [sic] identity crisis” and “tastes like birch bark” (which I’m pretty sure I’ve never tasted). It’s also funny how you think a wine tastes like, say, birch bark, but then the distributor approaches and says it has “a delicate nose, a full body and a passionate finish” – and you suddenly realize it’s true! (And, in the case of this description, get turned on.) When the same expert points out the “notes of Saskatoon berries,” you swear you can taste them even if you’ve never eaten, seen or heard of this fruit, or know where Saskatoon is (it’s in Canada, which at least in this inaugural newsletter, ranks first in wine. Go Grape White North!).

Thanks to Stefan Fleischer of Palette, who explained his company’s wines and had us taste each of them in the proper order. (Stefan is opening a coffee shop in the art district – Dashanzi – more details to come). Beijing’s other four leading distributors were also there – ASC Fine Wines, Montrose, Torres and Summergate. By the way, to those who know that my cell phone and I parted ways that night, it was not lost, I repeat, it was not lost. Someone stole it. I clearly remember putting my phone down at 9:34 PM (26 minutes left to taste!) to exchange business cards and minutes later it was, so to speak, Gone with the Wine. Be careful fellow tasters. Cell phones disappear as quickly as that last glass of Bollinger’s.

(From Beijing Boyce I, first emailed on October 6, 2005)