First Glance: Vinotheque Wine Bar in the Kerry Hotel

Robynne Tindall, Contributing Editor | Aug 11, 2014 3:00 pm | Add a comment | 2250 reads

The ever-reliable Enoterra aside, Beijing is not exactly drowning in good wine bars (I was among the many who mourned the departure of Bar Veloce). The Kerry Hotel’s new wine bar Vinotheque is here to change all that.

The slick, art deco-style space (which has the added bonus of being non-smoking) offers more than 160 wines for both drink in or take away. Prices start from RMB 350 to drink in, with 20 percent discount offered for take away bottles. Refreshingly, the wines are not just French, with a good spread of old and new world bottles from both boutique and established producers.

There are eight whites and eight reds available by the glass, thanks to special enomatic machines that help to keep the wines fresh. These are good quality wines, so prices aren’t cheap, but they are hoping to offer a happy hour in future, which should make it more accessible. If you need something to mop up all the booze, the food menu mostly features French-inspired appetizer plates, matched with the wines by Vinotheque’s sommelier Simon Sun.

See more pictures from our visit below: