Area:

is at the intersection of Fuxing and Gaoyou Lu, a few blocks west of the Fuxing Lu-Yongfu Lu vortex of Shanghai, into the quieter, more upscale residential area of the French Concession -- excuse me, the FORMER French Concession -- right before Fuxing Lu ends at Huashan Lu. As a neighbourhood, it’s a lot of upscale but unassuming and sedate renovated boutiques, and little shops and things. Right down the street on Gaoyou Lu is Lost Heaven.

What is it:

Labella is a tiny, little 15-person-capacity wine shop and bar. Simple, snug, relaxed, pleasant, low-key, and singular -- a lovely place to go with just a few friends for one or several bottles of wine. It’s run by Isabella Liu, formerly of another popular, little Shanghai café also called Labella, and represents the manifestation of her fixation with interesting and far-flung wines from all over the world. All the colors of the rainbow represented: Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Chile, South Africa, and more, along with some direct imports from the U.S. and Canada. She’s dealing with something like 20 different wine suppliers, hand-selecting just a few outstanding items from each, and then they go up on the wall with their price tags for your perusal. By the glass is 50rmb and they change the house special on a weekly basis, but the way to do it if you’re sticking around and drinking is selecting a nice bottle or three off the wall and having a lil’ drink. So that’s it. Simple really.

Why it’s good:

Labella is a small, neighborhood-focused place offering a unique and warm atmosphere, run by a long-time Shanghai resident owner who cares more about the interesting aspects of the product she’s offering more so than the profits to be made off said product. If you’ve got a local businessperson that can embody a little humility, combined with an interesting neighborhood of people who respect and patronage said humility, it makes for a welcoming and singular experience. Over the past several years, Shanghai has seen something akin to a gold rush when it comes to wines and wine shops, and if you’re coming from a place where you don’t know much about wine other than that you’re supposed to drink it, and drink it in a liberal manner, it’s a bit daunting and off-putting. Like you always feel like you might be getting ripped off somehow with some sort of nefarious mark-up. Thus, Labella is good because it doesn’t make you feel ignorant or try to profit from your ignorance. Prices are as close to market prices as can possible be, and more so than enjoying fairly-priced alcohol, it’s about hanging out and enjoying the people who comprise this one little corner of this city. The neighborhood is cross-section of long-time expats and local residents who turn up to the place and treat it like a community affairs desk, and even a local Buddhist lama has deemed the place as spiritually aligned for interesting souls to hang out at. True story.

Atmosphere:

It’s one of the tiniest bars in Shanghai, and thus kind of feels like being in someone’s den at their apartment -- the den of a fairly well-off and tasteful friend who really likes wine. Feels nice to me though -- a very nice and home-like background that gets progressively more and more blurry as the night wears on...

Prices:

Rotating by the week house wine-by-the-glass -- both reds and whites from wherever -- is 50rmb. Cheapest bottle we could find was 118rmb. It was a red one. The majority of their bottles are priced in the 200rmb to 600rmb range -- lots of selection in there. And the most expensive one is 4,000rmb. Didn’t even bother to look at what it was. Probably it was liquid gold, I don’t know.

Ordering Recommendations:

My knowledge of wine can be summed up as follows: I know that there are red kinds of wine and white kinds of wine, some like… light red, “rose”-colored kinds, and some kinds with bubbles in it. If you uncork a bottle of wine and you drink it, you get a bit blotto depending on how much you drink of it. Wine -- apply generously and it gets you pissed. That’s basically what I know about it. However, as mentioned earlier, the owner personally selected all that they have available -- tasting them all out -- and is at the place every day, so if you have a bit of a chat with her about it, you can pick out something nice that suits your tastes and budget. If you’re coming with a big wine background, she can match you on it and provide. I do have, however, some experience with hard booze, and they have this really delicious vodka available, hand-imported from France: Jean-Marc XO. Really incredible stuff, even if you’re not a big straight vodka drinker. Delicious and cinnamon-tasting. It’s super lux, lux, lux -- read about the super-intense distilling process here -- and at only 50rmb a glass, it’s a real great deal. Try this vodka. Try this wine bar. Labella Winehouse, 271 Fuxing Xi Lu, near Gaoyou Lu; Full listing here