I am currently in North Eastern China for some wine and tourism related fun. I’m with Sandi and John, the owners of Arns Winery and Bob and Nancy of Montagana Estate (both premium Napa wineries). We spent the day shopping around Beijing and trying to stay indoors out of the frigid cold. Headed up to Shenyang in the evening – where the temperatures are even colder than Beijing! Today we walked around Shenyang’s version of Beijing’s Forbidden City (much smaller) but very well preserved. There was still snow on some of the roofs – its supposed to snow here in the next few days which might actually be quite nice as it would warm things up a bit.
We are being treated like rock stars! The highlight today was the visit and hospitality we received at a new private members only wine club along Shenyang’s riverfront. This was the reason for this trip – they just opened and are focusing their efforts on premium wines from the Napa Valley – hence the appropriate name of their club, The Napa Valley Wine Club.
They rolled out the red carpet for us – literally. The inside of this opulent club is plush yet elegantly decorated – there are four floors, a commercial kitchen and a number of private rooms for tasting or dining.
Here are some photos from a wonderful day!
Must be freezing cold by now in Beijing! We were there in mid October and it was getting chilly! Would never have guessed they have wine clubs here in China!
YES…. and we’ve been in Dalian and Shenyang and Dandong (North Korea border) – and all these areas are even colder than Beijing. It was minus 12 C yesterday morning…brrrr! Can’t WAIT for Thailand!
The Northeast of China has some decent wine it’s self. Look out for Wunu Shan Ice Wine from Benxi. It retails for about 200 to 300 RMB per half bottle.
Hi Derek – wish I had known about your site before going on this trip – awesome information – keep up the good work and thanks for the recommendation.