Enoteca: Wine, wine everywhere and lots of drops to drink

There have recently been whispers all across town that Enoteca is the hottest place for wine connoisseurs right now. We were willing to give hearsay a run for its money. So we turned up, yesterday to be precise.

Indeed, Enoteca, Italian for "place where you store wine," did not disappoint. Its design is simple, sultry - with a colour palette of dark mahogany and rich red. Bottles line the walls, headed under cute captions, such as "playful and evocative," "sensualist" and "hedonist," turning the place into a library of grapes. And all this vino is incredibly reasonably priced too. As the inspired creation of two wine importers, one Argentinean, and the other French, bottle prices are kept down by cutting out the middleman. What is more, there is no discrepancy between how much you pay to drink in, versus how much to take away (although bulk buying does come with its rewards, we have been informed). In short, it's an oenophile's dream.

Upon the advice of the very friendly personnel (this Shanghaiist is definitely no wine expert), we sampled a trio: two whites for 98RMB, one entitled Ampakama Viognier, which was fruity and flagrantly sweet, without being sickly; the other Ampakama Chardonnay, still fruity, but less saccharine. The red (Cabernet Sauvignon) was a little pricier at 170RMB, but it was again smoothly delicious.

In between swirling our glasses, we spent the better half of the night consumed by food envy, dashing green looks at the platters of cured meats and cheeses that were going past, not to mention the chocolate cake, which was visibly sticky. In case you hadn't guessed it, we're massive fans of Enoteca. Expect to see us at their next wine tasting event... or really any night of the forthcoming week.

53-57 Anfu Lu, near Changshu lu and Wulumuqi lu, 安福路, 近乌鲁木齐路和华山路
Tel: 54040050, daily 9am-11:30pm