Misha’s Vineyard Returns to Shanghai

Misha reports on the recent trip to one of the world’s most exciting cities – Shanghai!

We just love to find an excuse to visit Shanghai – one of our favourite cities! And quite frankly the fact that we sell our wines there gives us more enough reason to visit! This most recent trip was our third ‘business’ trip and again we chose to stay at the quirky Hengshan Villa Moller. It’s a boutique hotel in an old fairytale castle built in the 1930s which has an incredibly convenient downtown location and on the edge of the former French concession area which has loads of atmosphere with interesting shops.

Our packed agenda, organized by our distributor Jebsen Fine Wines, started with a visit to New Zealand Central, a facility set up by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) to provide New Zealand companies with meeting rooms, hot desks for those visiting who need a temporary office and some great function spaces. We’re thinking it would be a great place to host a wine Masterclass so perhaps we’ll organize this on our next visit.

Much of our time in Shanghai was spent visiting the many 5-star hotels – it’s amazing just how many there are and even more amazing is that they keep building them and keep filling them! As well as touring the 5-star hotels, we also present our wines to the sommeliers and go through a tasting with them of course! On this trip, our hotel visits included the Ritz Carlton in Pudong, Indigo Hotel (where we also hosted a packed Misha’s Vineyard tasting event), The Grand Hyatt, the new Four Seasons Hotel in Pudong, and The Puli.

No visit to Shanghai would be complete without the obligatory visits to the many restaurants on the Bund – a spectacular waterfront location – and this time we had lunch at Napa Wine Bar and Kitchen who list our wines, and who have recently upgraded their location to the wonderful Bund 22 building. The food is just fabulous but that’s not surprising given the innovative style of Chef Patrick Dang, an Australian who has spent much of his career at two and three Michelin starred establishments around the world. And whilst at the Bund, we also met Julien Morena who runs the restaurant Mr and Mrs Bund – one of the World’s Top 50 restaurants and also no. 7 on Asia’s Top 50 restaurants. Described as ‘high-end contemporary French bistro cooking’, the food of Paul Pairet has created quite a sensation and in a short space of time, and we’re honoured they have three of our Misha’s Vineyard wines on their list! Their wine selection is impressive and they also offer 32 “lovingly picked wines” by the glass. It’s entirely possible when you have a bank of enomatic machines to keep all the wines in tip top condition! The interior of the restaurant is chi but informal with a touch of wacky!

We also hosted a wine dinner at Kakadu, owned by another Australian James Sing and his wine Amy. The dinner was a lot of fun and as well as interested consumers we had quite a few folks from the hospitality trade as well. The food and wine matches were just perfect – but then James has a bit of a passion for both Australian and Kiwi wines and has held a few wine dinners at his restaurant over the years so he’s had plenty of practice! We also visited some spectacular restaurants and did tastings with the sommeliers or general managers at Kathleen’s Waitan, The Kitchen, a very popular restaurant overlooking the river in Pudong, and the lovely Italian restaurant, Isola, located in one of Shanghai’s IFC Mall – the place for luxury goods and sophisticated dining.

Can’t wait to explore more fabulous places in Shanghai next visit!