Happy Father's Day -- Wine for my dad

Receiving lots of promotions regarding wine suitable for father's day. A much more masculine base of wine, I have been receiving 9 to 10 promotions of wine from chile, france on cabernet sauvignon, carmenere, shiraz....

In my mind, to show the masculine side of my dad, I would pick Shao Xing wine.
My hometown is Shao Xing, locating east of Shanghai in the province of Jie Jiang, only 1 hour car from Hangzhou -- the paradise of west lake.

Shao Xing wine is a yellow wine, and the fermentation is done by burying the wine pot underground. Yes, not in the cellar, they just buried by digging the hole, and filled them back with soil. Perhaps you may have heard of  "zhuan yuan huong" (狀元紅), "nue er huong" (女兒紅), "wu jia pi" (五加飯), "jia fan jiu" (加飯酒), classification by classes are very obvious in this wine.

Zhuan Yuan Huong is for celebrating the outstanding performer in public examination.
Nue Er Huong is for the adult ceremony of girls in the village when they turn 18.
Wu Jia Pi and Jia Fan Jiu are the vintaged wines depending on the years. They imply that Shao Xing wine is made of rice.

This is in fact the very first kind of alcohol I taste in life. My grandma is fond of drinking, certainly the heroine of the family in terms of drinking. It is a regular drink for meals. Instead of seeing soup next to the bowl of rice, you will see a small cup of Shao Xing yellow wine.

Not until grandma can't take the wine, the only circumstance I see family drinking them would be during ancestor worship, company with white chicken (白切雞) and roasted meat (燒肉).

This wine has embedded in the daily life of Hong Kong / Guangdong kitchen in which you can find it as an essential seasoning in the kitchen, why? Let me ring you a bell of dishes made of those:

Drunken chicken (醉雞)

Drunken shrimp (醉蝦)

Drunken gizzard (醉腎)

Drunken fish (醉魚)

Drunken crab (醉蟹)

Drunken liver (醉肝)
Drunken tofu (醉豆腐乾)
Drunk phoenix talon (醉鳳爪)

So, happy father's day~ Dad, you will find the Shao Xing wine at home soon~

Housewarming

Housewarming is often a good occasion to share wine.

Exotic: Coffin Bay and Tasmania oysters, Alaska crab
Jusco: shrimp sashimi, muscles
Home cooking: cheese cube in potato mesh ball, shredded mushroom spaghetti, lemon pepper n herb chicken wings

Wine:
1. German sparkling
2. Alsace cremant
3. Chateauneuf du Pape
4. Cantamale
5. Errazuriz
6. Macmillan 12 years

Sparkling matches better with lighter taste seafood
Cremant with finer bubbles tastes more mineral made create acid to muscles
Chateauneuf du Pape often is a mixture of at least 7 types of grapes, would be good for mild taste food like pork and chicken as it will feels like melting pot
Cantamale has 3 stages of taste: vanilla opening, leather mid taste and smooth berries at the end, need to decant at least an hr advance
Errazuriz has strong plummy punch and very long finishes, unlike Aussie wine which don't necessarily have such a strong finish t the end
Macmillan: 1L is very hard to finish among 5 of us, hence like sake we hare the malt bit by bit. Smoother than regular black label, with malt smell, yet not as smooth for 12 yrs, if you have tried 15,18, there's still a distinction in terms of vigorous alcohol chuck

This triggers me a thought. Is it only until the moment you drink that you decide to buy a wine? If not, for people who kind of have built up their own preference, will there be otter method to urge them buy new wines?