Without a doubt, wine is becoming more and more accessible in Beijing. Gone are the days when the only options were a bottle of Changyu from the corner shop or a bottle of generic French red from the Friendship Store. Finding good value wine – that suits both your wallet and your taste buds – can still be a challenge however. Where do you go to pick up a wine for everyday drinking or a couple of bottles to take to a party (and don't say 7-11…)? Here we present you with a guide to finding good value wine in Beijing, whatever your budget, and suggest a few of our favourite wines to get you started.

1) Cheers Wines: So budget friendly your bank manager would approveView In Map
Cheers' arrival has fundamentally changed the Beijing wine scene. Since they opened their first store last year, they have expanded to six different locations across the city. Their core mission is to provide professionally sourced, imported wines at the lowest prices possible. The stores are simply laid out (one of the ways they cut costs) with all the available wines on display. You can try many of the wines and the staff are quick to recommend their new products.

The Cheers' Sanlitun Branch also serves wine by the glass (starting from 10 RMB) and has the advantage of having a sizeable terrace outside, which it shares with the Middle Eastern restaurant next door.

If you plan on becoming a regular customer, we recommend getting a VIP card (free), which gives you 10% off full-priced purchases.

Author's pick: For white wine, I like the Viña Mestizo Sauvignon Blanc (39 RMB/bottle). Crisp and grassy, it makes a great pre-dinner drink and also tastes great with seafood.  As for red, try the Petit Ministre IGP (60 RMB/bottle), a fruity, easy-drinking French wine.

Add: 102-6, 29 Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing (100m north of 3.3 building)
地址：北京朝阳区三里屯路29号楼6门102室(三里屯3.3大厦同侧向北100米)
Tel: 400 005 5500
Opening hours: Mon, 13:00-00:00; Tue-Sun, 11:00-00:00
Website: www.cheers-wines.com/en/

2) Chez Gérard: Mid-range French flairView In Map
Better known by many as the place to go for cheese, meat and fresh daily baguettes in the Gulou/Lama Temple area, Chez Gérard also has a good wine selection, many of which are competitively priced. Unsurprisingly for a French butcher (owner Christophe also runs Café de la Poste), most of the wines originate from France, although new world wines aren't completely ignored. Many of the bottles come in around the 50-80 RMB mark and you can find some solid French table wines amongst these.

Author's pick: Rosé hasn't caught on as quickly as red wine in China, so finding a decent bottle can be difficult. I like Chez Gérard's Domaine Montplo Pays d'Hérault 2011 Rose (58 RMB/bottle), a dry, pale Rosé that is just the sort of thing I would drink at a picnic in Chaoyang Park. In addition to wine, they also have a good selection of spirits, starting with Smirnoff Vodka at 62 RMB a bottle.

Add: 40 Jiangchang Hutong, Dongcheng District, Beijing (50m north of Guozijian)
地址：北京东城区箭厂胡同40号(国子监向北50米)
Tel: 010 6415 0118
Opening hours: Daily, 10:00-22:00

3) Modo: High-end wines at reasonable pricesView In Map
Enomatic wine machines (a machine that uses inert gas to preserve open wine for up to three weeks, making it easier to enjoy wine by the glass) have been around for a while, but they are a relatively new, and very welcome, addition to the Beijing wine scene. Modo is one of the first venues in Beijing to take advantage of an Enomatic machine, serving a selection of around 15 wines in 25ml, 75ml and 150ml pours, which you help yourself to using a prepaid card.

Modo is not the cheapest place for wine in Beijing, but if you are the type of person who prefers to savor a quality glass than chug it down, then Modo's by-the-glass system allows you to try new wines, without risking a considerable sum on a full bottle.

If Modo's extensive wine selection alone isn't enough to tempt you, they have a daily happy hour from 17:00-20:00 with deals on wines and cocktails, as well as 30% off all bottles of wine all day on Tuesdays.

Author's pick: I've never come across a wine I didn't like at Modo, so my advice would be to take advantage of that Enomatic wine machine and try as many wines as your budget will allow!

Add: S10-31, 3F/ Sanlitun Village, 19 Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址：北京朝阳区三里屯路19号院三里屯Village三层S10-31
Tel: 010 6415 7207
Opening hours: Sun-Thu, 12:00-22:00; Fri-Sat, 12:00-22:30
Website: www.modobj.com/en/modo 

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Keywords: best wine in Beijing wine bars in Beijing foreign restaurant bars Beijing