ok, this will be a work in progress by me as i get contact details and actual retail pricing on some of the products, BUT i intend to make this the definitive thread on the best value wines in town. I've done a lot of research over the years. My livers loss is your gain, as i explain where to get the best value squashed/fermented grapes in town. All the contact details are for the actual importer/distributor, and they will deliver to your home.

Here they are.

1 - James Estate Semillon Chardonnay - Australia. 80rmb/bottle. (15% off full case lots)
This wine is an absolute ripper. If you're a white wine drinker, this should be your daily dose. No oak, and a lot of Semillon to take the fruitiness out of the wine and give it some body. The reds from the same range are ok, but nothing special, although the Merlot is quite good.
James Estate - jakub at jamesestatewines dot com dot cn - ph. 5256 2719

2 - Donelli Prosecco. - Italy - 121/bottle (discount of 25% if use the promo code "Talkdeal").
As much as we'd all like to drink Champagne everyday, we can't. However, Prosecco may be just the answer. There are quite a few very well priced, good ones around. Bisol from East Meets West is good, but the Donelli gets my vote for value. Light bubbles, and quite dry for a Prosecco, it's a refreshing drop. They do a Lambrusco as well (Sparking Red) for the same price.
Donelli - Available through http://www.pluswines.com

3 - LAN Pinot Noir - New Zealand - PRICE TBAI had to change my pants after drinking this for the first time. Who doesn't love NZ Pinot Noir? This is THE best value Pinot around, ever, anywhere bar none. It is simply amazing. Nice light colour, and just well made. They do a Sauv Blanc, which unfortunately is not as good. The Pinot rocks though. Unfortunately their website is tough to understand, but contact them from it and tell them to send you a box of the good gear.
NZ Direct - http://www.nzchinadirect.com

4 - MAN Vintners Cabernet Sauvignon - South Africa - 108rmb / bottle (25% discount if you use promo code "TalkDeal")
I'm not normally a Cab Sauv drinker, unless of course it's from Bordeaux and called Chateau Palmer or something similar, but this one bats 2 metres in front of its crease. It is bloody good, and at a great price. Nice and smooth, well oaked and another very well made wine that is perfect with food or by itself. The Pinotage and Chenin Blanc from the same range aren't too shabby either, and with the 25% discount, worth grabbing a few bottles of each to do your own tasting.
www.pluswines.com

5 - La Privera Bordeaux - France - 170rmb / bottle
Unfortunately i've turned into a bit of a wine snob, having been spoilt by suppliers over the past 6 years, meaning it's tough for me to drink cheap french wine, as it's usually rubbish. This one is the exception. A great, typical style bordeaux, with perfect balance between the Cab and the Merlot. Another great thing about this wine is it's fine to drink it over 2 or 3 days. It ages very well once open, and infact gets significantly better. Probably best with food, although good all the time.
Available from Vin Selection Wines. Thomas ph. 13661800655

6 - Ch. Haut Bernasse Monbazillac - France. - 221 / bottle
WOW. I love this style of wine. Mobazillac is right nearby Sautuerns and does the same style of sweet, Boytrotis affected wines, but at a fraction of the price. Great length on this, and again, for the price, it's one of the best value sweet wines around.
Available from Vin Selection Wines. Thomas ph.13661800655

7 - Concha y Toro Frontera Sauvignon Blanc - Chile.
Concha y Toro make the full spectrum of wines, many of which are classics, however, the Frontera is their flagship entry wine. The Cab Sauv is actually quite good, but the Sauv Blanc is very good. Perfect for your fridge at home. You'll see this one around everywhere (all the supermarkets), but you can buy direct from Summergate via their retail outlet.
Contact details to follow.

8 - T.H.E Sauvignon Blanc - New Zealand. 175 / bottle
New Zealand is becoming the specialty Sauvignon Blanc maker, and this one stands up to much of them. Great grassiness (Typical in the NZ Sauv Blancs), this is a bottle that you can (and i have) knock down like water. A group of 3 or 4 of you could easily go through 6 or 7 bottles of this in a short afternoon. Although not super cheap, it's great value for what's in the bottle.
Available from Ruby Red Wines. http://www.rubyred.com.cn

9 - Kirribilli Cab/Merlot - Australia - 90rmb / bottle
Nice balanced wine. Aussies can not make Cab Sauv but we can definitely blend the bejesus out of it and make a great Cab/Merlot. This one at 90 is a bloody good drop too. Nice packaging (doesn't help the taste, granted), and well made. A fair bit of fruit in this one too from memory.
Available from http://www.nickschina.com (He also does Aussie meat)

10 - Marquis de Beau Rond Grenach/Syrah Rose - France - 92 / bottle
As dry as a nuns nasty is this Rose but it's bloody great. Seriously, awesome rose. Seriously light in colour, making it easy to quaff. The Grenach/Syrah works suprisingly well. What value this stuff is also. Blood amazing Rose.
Available from http://www.pluswines.com (out of stock for the next few weeks)

11 - Grace Chardonnay - China - 60 / bottleSERIOUSLY, this Chinese white is bloody good. A succession of Aussie and French winemakers has tweaked this vineyard into a little gem. For 60 a bottle, you can't go wrong. In my opinion, the whites are better than the reds, although their premium Chairmans reserve red Bordeaux style blend is up there as one of the better wines i've had.
Available from www.everwines.com


Again, i'll finalise the contact details and add a couple more to this in the next few days, but hopefully this helps a few people.

Thanks for putting this together. Back in the US I would buy Cristalino cava for about $7 a bottle. I don't suppose that's available here? How would you say the Donelli compares?

I've not had the Cristalino, but the Donelli does the job. Nice and dry, which i think is good in a Prosecco. PM TheWalrus on this website, he does the Donelli stuff and he might hook you up with a deal.

There are plenty of us wines here, i just don't think they are great value. Exchange rate mostly to blame.

California cabs are the shizzle for sure. Silver oak, jordan, hawks crest, peju. All good but no value.

leidelaohu wrote:I can go to any grocery store in California and have a good selection of nice wines to choose from, all under ten bucks a bottle. Many in the 5-6 $$ range, decent ones at that.

First thing I noticed when I got here was that the price of the wines I was familiar with was around three times what I paid in the UK. Marks and Spencer is the only place I've found so far where prices are comparable.

This thread will hopefully change that perception. There are bargains out there, you just need to know where to look. :) city super and carrefour, go direct to the importer.

Everyone needs to try the MAN cab, James estate sem chard and the LAN pinot i mention above. Without doubt the best three value wines in town.

Marks and Spencer can't be beat. They have a huge selection now of varying styles and varietals. Very drinkable bottles for as low as 39rmb. Lots of great choice in the 70-75 rmb range and plenty of 100 to 175 rmb bottles. I haven't yet had a bottle I've been disappointed with even while plumbing the 39rmb bins.

A lot of the Australian stuff at M&S is made by a mate of mine (The Lane Vineyard). Agreed good value, but M&S in Shanghai is not exactly known for the product availability consistency. Also, as i said, there's bargains outside of that pommy store if you go direct to the distributors.

Hey Mat, thanks for putting this together. How about a cheese&wine for us to try them out?

Been looking for a good Rose, but have been quite disappointed by what I've bought here (Carrefour - recommended by the French guy, but awful)

mat wrote:Everyone needs to try the MAN cab, James estate sem chard and the LAN pinot i mention above. Without doubt the best three value wines in town.

Thank you for putting this together, mat. Now, which is the sweeter, more fruity, the least sour one out of the 3 mentioned above? I am interested to try them and hope that you can give me some pointers here as I am not a wine drinker myself. Someone always help me when ordering wine from a restaurant, and I usually start by telling them what I don't like in taste.

Ahhhhh, Rose. Was about to put a couple on my list.

James estate (mentioned above) do one. it is VERY deep in colour. I think it's based on Shiraz and Cinsault. Will try and confirm. VERY deep colour, but well priced (about 100rmb).

The one from Pluswines is very good (and i've just added it to the list up the top), but in short supply for the next few weeks.

If you like darker rose's, give the James estate a try. Not everyone's cup of tea, but worth a try.

canuckian wrote:

mat wrote:Everyone needs to try the MAN cab, James estate sem chard and the LAN pinot i mention above. Without doubt the best three value wines in town.

Thank you for putting this together, mat. Now, which is the sweeter, more fruity, the least sour one out of the 3 mentioned above? I am interested to try them and hope that you can give me some pointers here as I am not a wine drinker myself. Someone always help me when ordering wine from a restaurant, and I usually start by telling them what I don't like in taste.

I'm drinking the James Estate Sem/Chard at the moment. Quite dry, short pallete but refreshing. Not too fruity.

The MAN Cab is probably the bigger (fruitier) of them all. The Pinot is typical NZ Pinot, but for the price, obviously not as big as a Felton Road or something like that.

Top work mat. Will be sure to try some of them out. Cheers.

Will add more during the week also.

mat - where's the best place to go to buy barossa valley wines? for some reason they seem not too well marketed here

Barossa wines. Hmmmmmmmm. No real place that has a massive list.

The Wine Republic does Hewitson (great new producer)
ASC, Summergate and Torres have the usual suspects.

Tell me exactly what you're after and i'll point you in the right direction. The Barossa is now such a massive area, with many distrbibutors here, but the good thing for you is that i know who most of them are.

Be specific of what you want, and i'll hook you up!

How many are at Cuvee?

Good thread bump. I'd missed this the first time round.

I need to get back onto this

Mat, they there have a shed (or shelter ?) for sale. For stock wine. Are you interested ?

wo chi shi wrote:mat - where's the best place to go to buy barossa valley wines? for some reason they seem not too well marketed here

It sounds cheesy but try the bottles at marks and spencer just called borossa. If you can get hold of any Henshke (sp?) they are nice. Wolf Blass is Borossa ( haha). I was lucky to have a gf whose parents owned a winery there so I drank alot of Borossa wine and liked it. Grant burge and Peter lehman were nice if my memory serves me right. Jacobs Creek ( yuck) is even from there.

I mostly go to ASC for wines.

^ That's because you are a very bad marketing person employed by Mortons that has no idea how to market in this town.

Seriously, you are so bad at your job, you should be paying them, as ASC is paying Mortons.

KNOB

Updated to include Grace Vineyards Chardonnay from China, which is up there as one of the best value in town.