Shanghai Wine Bars

Shanghai is probably the chinese town which has most of the wine bars . They are not easy to find and address mostly to the expat community . One thing strange is that I did not find a single one that had chinese wine by the glass . This is true today , but things change rapidly here of course and it would be interesting to visit again in a year or so .Filling my glass at RedShangai, China
The first place I visited was Red , a wine bar and a restaurant located 284 Anfu Lu (ph: 86 21 5403 6376), which is a parallel street to Huaihai Lu & Yanan Lu , near where Wulumuqi crosses the three of them . Taxi ride from my place near the Bund took 15-20 minutes and cost 20 Yuan (2 Euro) . Nearest subway station is Chang Shu Lu station . Red is located in an old house in a garden . Beautiful surroundings , very quiet . The place opened 2 years ago . They have wines by the glass , 6 whites and 7 reds , priced 58 to 78 Yuans , 5 Champagnes . Their bottle selection lists 14 whites , priced 408 to 768 Yuans , and 17 reds (428 to 768 Yuans) . The selection is diverse ,: Australia , Spain , US, South America & Africa , etc... A little disappointed not to see chinese wine by the glass , I chose an australian wine that was very correct : Xanadu Secession Shiraz-Cabernet 2002 . We don't see a lot of australian wines usually in France , and it is quite strange to go taste them in Shanghai , when I actually wished to drink chinese wines... I spoke to Stephanie Wang , marketing manager of the place . They have tuesday specials : For 150 Yuan ( 15 Euro ) , you can taste 4 whites and 4 reds , plus enjoy something to eat with . Near the bar , there is the restaurant proper , where red is also the dominant colour ( like for the counter seats ) and where you can also sit to drink .Stephanie Wang at the Red bar

Bonne Sante wine bar waiterSecond Place I visited is Bonne Sante , located 8 Ji Nan Lu , phone : 86 21 6384 2906 . It is at the foot of Somerset Grand Shanghai East tower ; but to find the place , I suggest to say it is located at Taicang Lu and Puan Lu , as the Ji Nan street is very hard to locate on a map . It is at the corner of Huahai Park , just south of Huaihai Lu . This is the best of the places I saw , but I missed some others , I think . It is a wine bar , with some possibility to have dishes with the wine . The owner , who was not present , is from Singapore : Mr Timothy Yeo . He happens to be also an importer , wich may explain the very large selection in his wine bar . At the glass , 4 reds from Europe and Australia , 4 whites & rose , from US and France .Philip So, Bonne Sante night managerHis bottles choice is rich . I'll give only part of it to have an idea : 11 Champagnes (220 to 1458 Y) , 14 french whites ( 210 to 1600 Y) , 14 italian whites ( 195 to 990 Y) 5 spanish whites (190 to 525 Y), 23 US whites (215 to 1105 Y), 3 canadian whites ( (245 to 380 Y) , 14 australian whites ( 180 to 535Y ), 2 NZ whites ( 285 to 400 Y) , 3 argentina whites (275 to 370 Y) , 13 chile whites (150 to 550 Y) and 2 south african whites (250 Y) . Red wines list is proportionally as important . No need to say this is a good place for wine amateurs ( a bottle can be shared with friends ) to visit . I took an australian red wine glass : NXGVinfive Cabernet-merlot 2003 . The label on the bottle says : Bouquet of milberry & plum aromas . Complemented by a hint of oak maturation . Nicely said . If you visit in the evening , the master of the place is night manager Philip So . The Mad House, near the BundLast place I visited was Mad House . It is not exactly a wine bar , but rather a place where you can drink some wine . It is located 115 Jianxi Lu , not far from the Bund and Fuzhou Lu . This is interesting as there are not many places to enjoy a drink around. Phone is 86 21 6321 6611 . The owner is a well known designer from Hong Kong who studied in the UK : Mr Simon Ma . He bought the whole house and used his interior designer skills to give his personnal imprint on the place . A gallery upstairs has some of his works , paintings , sculptures as well as furniture he designed . His office is also upstairs ; The whole place is an interactive space for expositions, you can have a drink and ask for a look upstairs . Just the way the building's architecture and volumes have been used is interesting . The Mad House has strange lights in the bar that make its ambiance . About the wine : They had (when I visited) only one wine by the glass . The label of this red said : "Baron de Mevouillon . Vin de pays portes de la mediterrannee . Union des vignerons de cotes du rhone a Tulette" . 40 Yuan a glass . I am sure Mr Ma will change this wine soon . Otherwise , there are a few wines by the bottle that may be a better option . And the Mad House has different sort of coffees , latte , etc... And the staff is friendly . Mad House staff at the door

Shanghai subway encounters

Comments

[Rich]

Hi Bert -

Interesting posts and fascinating to see how a new culture is adopting wine. I love the pictures, too. I will be in India over the next few weeks and plan to seek out wine bars and Indian-grown wine. Check out my blog in early December for the posts!

Rich

[raymond ringhoff]

very interesting to find out that shanghai has more wine bars then beijing. Will that change in the future since wine is becoming a chinese consumers interest. I am very interested in the wine industry in china since I have a wine background from australia and california. Very interested in wine tourism besides anything that is wine connected like wineries and wine bars. Been to china this past summer but not to either beijing or shanghai but to xian. Interested in networking and making wine contacts. I have dual citizenship american born but also australian and plan on returning to australia to live be closer to asia. My e-mail is ringhoff@hotmail Raymond Ringhoff