Tonight, I have had the chance to visit some pretty nice wine bars to feel the scene in Shanghai and get a sense of where the wine scene is going.

From what I have seen, it looks pretty good! First on the list was "La Vite" (Wulumuqi Lu 247) w/ a long list of Italian wines and a menu w/ classic Italian dishes. The pizza was especially delicious!

Then off to "Project Wine" (Xiangyand Bei Lu 17), the type of cool place one would expect of Shanghai. Hip music, hip crowd, hip decor. A great place I would return to for the atmosphere but not so much for the wine list...

"Burdigala" (Jiashan Lu 301), next on the list was devoted to Bordeaux, toujours Bordeaux. Nice modern decor w/ a pretty good list by the glass & bottle. French fare looked pretty tasty as they were passing by my table. I would certainly return & check hang-out there would I live in Shanghai.

"Dr. Wine"(Fumin Lu 177) was the best design of all 5 wine bars I visited. Great atmosphere too & a decent wine list. Definitely a place I would hang out to. The upper floor seemed much more comfortable, if a little bit more crowded than the ground floor. The staff was real friendly as well.

"UVA Wine Bar" (Shaanxi Bei Lu 819) was the coolest, the hippest, and the most pretentious of the evening. However, the staff seemed the most knowledgeable & certainly the wine list was pretty good which is not to be denigrated. But it was the place where I felt the most uncomfortable taking pictures & the crowd was the most self-conscious. Mind you, only 1visit does not make a place but still, I am not sure I will return.

A great evening! Prices were at least 1/2 of what we find in Hong Kong, even if Shanghai pays 48% tax on wine and this is not even talking about the 15% service charge that is (almost) obligatory to add to the bill in Hong Kong. Generally, I had a geat sense of vibration here this evening which is unlike most wine bars I have visited in Hong Kong.