Wine Tasting Heaven

Nowhere in Beijing utilizes the potential of Enomatic machines for serious tasting as well as Pudao Wines does. This try-before-you-buy potential, plus the staggering selection, makes Pudao the most exciting wine shop in town. It’s intended to be a retail venue rather than a wine bar, but that said, there’s lots of wine drinking to be done there. You pay ¥300 to start tasting, ¥100 of which is a membership fee, and ¥200 of which goes towards pre-paid Enomatic credit. There’s no food on offer, but you get complimentary mineral water and delicious cheesy bread sticks. Customers can also order from neighboring restaurants like Annie’s or LM Plus. Wines in the Enomatic machines change every two weeks, and are chosen by theme. This setup allows for comparison between wines from different countries, of different prices and of different production styles, making an evening here extremely educational. You’ll be able to try affordably priced tasting pours of fantastic high-end wines, and there’s lots of entry level stuff as well. Tasting flights started at ¥7 on our visit, with many bottles in the ¥100-200 range. We hope you’re reading this early, as the first 10 readers to bring in this article get their ¥300 cards for free.

Sienna Parulis-Cook, December, 2011