There’s more to the ancient city of Chengdu in southwestern China than fluffy pandas and spicy food. It is a city where the pace of living is bent on slowing down. Located closer to Tibet than Shanghai, life in Chengdu is laid-back and often sprawls outside in open air in elegant and atmospheric teahouses, in lush parks where locals practice Taichi, and over a table of Mahjong.
In the past few years, Chengdu has also seen its economic booms as a regional consumption center for luxury, dining and drinking thanks to the city’s expanding Middle Class. It was ranked No. 1 city on the list of 15 cities that freshly gained the first-tier city status based on a set of parameters including business resources, lifestyle diversity, and retail industry. It’s one of the most progressive cities in China, with a bustling art scene and a more tolerate attitude towards LGBT groups, landing it a moniker as China’s queer capital.
The city’s bar scene like the city itself is vibrant and diverse. Its importance as a distribution and trading center for wine, spirits and other alcoholic beverages particularly in western and southwestern China was cemented when it’s picked as the hosting city for mainland China’s biggest drinks show, China Food and Drinks Fair, in March every year.
We selected five wine bars in the city that stood out for its wine selection, service and overall atmosphere that should be on every visitor’s list and for wineries and importers who are looking to reach wider customers.
This is the first of our new series that will focus on regional wine scenes in China to give the trade a more updated and insightful view of China’s diverse wine scene across different cities not just limited to Beijing or Shanghai.
Scroll through the pages to see all the bars selected by us.
Bu’er Music Restaurant and Bar
When Bu’er Music Bar was founded, it was created with two things in mind: folk music and wine. Its first location near the historic Jiuyan bridge, a popular tourist spot and local hangout first built in China’ Ming Dynasty in 1593, the bar owner noticed that all neighbouring pubs and bars are serving beers, cocktails and spirits but none was specialised in wine. The owner thus decided to make wine its signature, something that would differentiate the bar from the rest in the neighourhood.
It proved to be a success. The bar sells about 2,000 bottles of wines a month. According to Chinese language media reports, wine selection at the bar follows a few cardinal rules aside from focusing on quality. The team at Bu’er usually pick wines with noticeable bottlings and easy to remember names, as some argue long alphabetic names from Italy or Germany for instance deterred their wines popularity in mainland market. Additionally, wines that are easy to pair with local cuisine with good value are more likely to be selected on their menu.
Bu’er has now branched out to a few locations in Chengdu and outside of the Sichuan capital to Hunan, Shaanxi, Qinghai provinces. It currently has six locations across China, and one new bar is coming up soon in Nanjing in Zhejiang as well.
The bar was temporarily closed during Covid, but has reopened now.
More information on the bar can be found on WeChat by searching “不二民谣音乐餐吧”.
Address: Si Guan Road 66, Jiuyan bridge
Vinoteka
This wine bar is a favorite among Chengdu wine lovers, offering value-for-money bottles of roughly 120 brands from 13 countries. Its founder, Chen Wei, from Shanghai left behind an art career for a more relaxing lifestyle in Chengdu to create this bar franchise.
Similar to Bu’er, Vinoteka has its pulse on the music scene as well, offering more Jazz tunes and live Jazz performances. The bar is often packed with revelers, glasses in hand, wining and dining to the smooth jazz tones. It has become one of the glitziest hangout places among Chengdu’s affluent nouveau riche and more recently millennials and jazz music fans.
Its Taikoo Li location has been closed but wine lovers can still find the familiar list of wines at its new location in Hejiangting opposite of Taikoo Li near Shangri-la Hotel. It has also branched out and opened another bar in neighboring metropolis Chongqing of the same name.
Food here mainly focuses on western cuisine such as tapas, cheese platters, steaks, fish fillet, foie gras, and iberico hams.
More information on the wine bar can be found on WeChat by following their official WeChat account “VINOTEKA爵士俱乐部”.
Address: Tower 3, Chengdu IFS, No.1, Section 3, Hongxing Road, Jinjiang District
葡悦Gusta
This restaurant and wine bar in Chengdu’s upscale Upark serves some casual Spanish tapas and a good selection of wines mainly from Old World such as France, Germany and Italy.
The wine bar was created by three friends just two years ago and aims to offer wine lovers in the city some delectable bottles that won’t break your bank. The bar was temporarily closed for most of the time in the first half of the year due to Covid-19 and re-opened later in Summer. The bar also offers WSET wine education for beginners interested in wine. Follow them on WeChat for more updates on the bar’s offers and get in touch with team.
Address: B1, UPARK, No. 666 Fuhua North Rd.
润wine&more
Run Wine and More is another new wine bar on the Chengdu wine scene that’s quickly gaining followers. The bar located in Wan Xiangli in Chengdu offers wine and whisky as well as cellaring services for clients. Besides staples from Old World such as Bordeaux, Burgundy and Super Tuscans, the wine bar also offers a few selections of organic and natural wines for more adventurous drinkers.
Address: Wanxiang Nan Road 699, No. 2 Building Xiangnanli
Le wine bar
Le Wine Bar has moved from its old location in Qing Lian Shang Street to its current location on Da Chuan Alley. Its space has since expanded, so has its wine list.
During the day, it acts as a cafe serving coffee, bakery and snacks. When night falls it transforms into a buzzing meeting point for the city’s wine lovers and drinkers to share glasses of wines, beers and whiskies. The bar is rather popular hangout place for millennials and young work professionals, and has one of the highest foot traffic in Da Chuan Alley, partly because it has frequent promotions such as all-you-can-drink menu of quaffable Spanish cava and ladies night on Wednesdays.
Its wine list is heavy on Bordeaux wines and Australian Shiraz.
There are a few other bars worth mentioning such as the swanky BAR π, a stylish speakeasy bar, Bar Lotus, Omerta Cafe and Bar, and the artsy Little Pub. These mainly focus on cocktails and other spirits, hence we did not lavish on them. A few old favorite wine bars in Chengdu did not make on the list, as they are either permanently closed or still temporarily suspended from operation due to economic uncertainties such as Vino, VinoHouse and the natural wine heavy 18° Bistro.
Address: Hejiangting No.9-17, Da Chuan Alley