A building can be a sign of the times, or an icon of a country, like France's Eiffel Tower. Then in its own modest way, ASC Fine Wines' new clubhouse for wine connoisseurs may well be a sign of the times in cosmopolitan Shanghai, and to a certain extent, China. Wine appreciation is a rising trend among China's wealthy elite and newly affluent, and wine drinking is seen as conferring upon the drinker a certain degree of sophistication and social status. And that has not gone unnoticed by ASC Fine Wines, China's largest importer and distributor of premium wines.

Occupying the grounds of a rustic red-brick mansion built in 1906, ASC's Wine Residence will be a place for club members to gather for wine tastings or host private and social functions.  Members can also entrust their prized collections for storage in the Wine Residence’s underground wine cellar, which can hold up to more than 6,000 bottles of wine in 180 lockers. But that comes at a princely sum of USD3,400 (or 25,000 yuan) per annum. 

The Wine Residence will also house a wine library stocked with 500 wine publications, the Napa Wine Bar and Kitchen (a fine dining restaurant managed by Philippe Huser and helmed by Michelin chef Stefan Stiller), as well as a wine museum and classrooms for conducting wine courses under the company’s Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) program.

www.asc-wines.com