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?

Alsace Wine Fair

Sep 2010
Happy Valley Racecourse

Around 30 wine importers joining the event.

Generally the wines are not as impressive as last year, both the quality and the service.

Since Hong Kong has become the port with zero wine import tax, wine merchandisers start setting countless campaigns and wine dinners, boosting up the atmosphere as a wine cosmopolitan.

This however drops the quality of wine service and product quality. Providing wine without testing whether they have turn bad; pouring wine not to the glass yet all over the table, the service is still not up to standard.

Among all 29 counters, only 3 are up to average service and product standard: concord, maxxium and ASC Fine Wines. The organizers may consider better screening to retain the reputation of wine fair quality. Also a need on beverage service training can still be observed in the industry.

Looking forward to the Wine and Dine Festival at Kowloon promenade in Oct 2010. A more variety and a bigger test for Hong Kong to bring ourselves up to international standard. Step Up!

3 blind mice

Getting exhausted to the marked up price of French wine, so recently have been swapping my perspective a slightly for other treasures.

Browsing blogs about wine dinner comparing Chilean and French wine, errarsuriz fortunately conquer the throne amog the top 5 grand cru n 4 other prestigious Chilean wine. Driven by curiosity and if course $$, I decided to grab one.

As for another almariva, recommended by the store owner that this is the only compatible wine so far from Chile. Sweet mouth, you got me. Another shot.

Last one is Italian wine. Know how famous Gaja is, budget wise, I could only afford second label...another try out.

Since I have never thought about the occasion to have it, better sign them up for special occasion. Any suggestion?

Blind mice tasting?

Half-breed - D'Aiguilhe 1999

Haven't been touching Gironde for a while. Thanks big uncle often lavishly sharing his cellar with us. In this recent Winter Solstice, he has again shared his joy -- D'Aiguilhe 1999 from Cotes de Castillon.

With fruity and berries like flavour, it tastes more like Merlot than Cabernet Sauvignon...however, Cabernet Sauvignon is the one making the major role in the wine. Its rusty feeling gives a balance to the wine. Not too tannic, I would rather say this is quite consistent to my uncle's preference: It's quite American like: Strong first grasp of my attention, punched with blackberries. Not long while after then the aftertaste slowly back to the throat till the abs.

It has the style of American with a body of French wine...Half-breed wine.

After breathing...the tannin is neutralized yet the fruitiness faded away...and yes, it's US$15.99...

Wine A versus Wine B

Pay attention. Wine A normally is the challenger and Wine B is the champion, whereby Wine B turned out to be...one of the vineyard of the Premier Cru of the 1855 Classe.

Wine A under normal circumstance, are those from the New World:

USA: Caymus, Opus One, Dominus
Chile: Errazuris, VInedo Chadwick, Sena
Italy: Sassicaia, Tignanella, Gaja Barbaresco

Looking at my little copper passbook (not the glamourous gilt ones...)
Couldn't afford to have Wine B as a comparison, I could on the other hand consider owning Wine A =P

Recently was browsing the local Hongkie magazine which mention the plan of Google acquire a online group purchase website called "Groupon" where you can join the group purchase to earn enough bargaining power for sumptuous quantity of goods at huge discount.

Deeply considering whether we can do the same... Who's in for Wine A?

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