WineTail Wine and Cocktail Bar's Selection Towers Over the Wangjing Scene

It's no tall tale: Wangjing is home to one of the capital's best wine and cocktail bars, and another notch for the northeastern neighborhood that has certainly been flourishing as of late (spurned on by a slew of recent openings that you can read about here). Yet the bar in question, WineTail, actually opened back in 2016, before Wangjing became a 'thing' and was still better known as Koreatown.

From the moment you arrive, you'll be charmed by the bar’s scuffed woodgrain and industrial-chic decor, along with the low chairs on the cozy terrace. The interior may be narrow but makes up for it with a towering selection of bottles composed of ten – that's right, ten – shelves that shoot up to the heavens behind the bar, making for an impressive sight both from the ground floor as well as the nookish mezzanine above.

During our visit we weren't actually able to figure out how the WineTail team reaches the highest bottles (there was nary a ladder in sight), nor how many of them are merely decorative, but no matter, it's a beguiling centerpiece and one that is reflected by an equally hefty menu.

Be sure to peruse the wine list – from the affordable RMB 350 Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon and RMB 410 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot to the pricier RMB 780 Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir – but don't pass up the tempting cocktails options. Their eponymous RMB 75 sangria is a good place to start given that it straddles both, and is elevated here by WineTail's inclusion of a splash of rum and Cointreau for a stronger and fruitier mix. Sipping one of these on the bar's terrace may just become the ultimate way to while away your time this summer should you be lucky enough to live close by.

Their enticingly bright green Season Flower (RMB 80) is also light and fun thanks to a mix of lavender gin, blueberry syrup, Martini Blanco, and lemon and lime juice. For something heftier, order a bitterly woozy Live and Life (RMB 90) made with whiskey, Patron, Martini Rose, Frangelico herb-flavored liqueur, and Fernet Amaro.    

The eclectic cocktail list, well-stocked wine shelves, and comfortable terrace all make WineTail a winner not only by Wangjing standards but in comparison to any of Beijing's more central crowdpleasers.

WineTail
Daily 6pm-2am. 8-7, Bldg 8, 1/F, Helin Qilin, Yutong West Street, Chaoyang District (135 0110 3581)
朝阳区阜通西大街合生麒麟社8号楼1F8-7

READ: DaliDali: Andingmen's Cocktail Newbie With Crucial Dianping Hacks

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Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
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Photos courtesy of WineTail