East meet West Hairy Crab Pairing Night

A signature gathering every year among our high school schoolmates. Thanks for organizing this for me. Yes for me solely. It all begins with one phone call “Hi, we have the 19xx year Shao Xing wine available, do you want to have one? It is 3L though” “What?” Tempting, yet 3 Litre, how can I finish it?!?!

Another phone call … “It’s October now! Are you interested to organize the crab festival again? I do have the Chinese yellow wine that was created in the year we were born!!! , in the name of friends’ birthday celebration too, 1 stone 2 birds...”

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~

味皇 - 皮蛋與腐乳

近年興起紅酒配中菜之風，為愛酒之士締造驚喜口味。

皮蛋源自發酵了的鴨蛋，味濃得蓋過隨後進口之佳餚，因此經常配以豆腐、子薑等清爽的食物淸口腔，否則餘下美食猶如雞肋。

可幸皮蛋那溶化於口中那種密集豐富的口感卻被柔和纖細的輕黑皮諾（pinot noir）軟化。

喝後百感交集，它們像是美女與野獸或是貂貚馴服強悍呂布一樣水乳交融，皮蛋與紅酒配合得天衣無縫。

其後再含一片子薑。子薑辛辣，帶香了味蕾，清了乾涸的喉嚨，襯托出紅酒的單寧與原始的風味。

可與皮蛋這「味皇」並駕齊驅的腐乳，我還未找到可配襯之紅酒。有的話請儘快告訴我，因我是腐乳的粉絲呢~

Small talk on Terrior

People always draw conclusions that the quality of wine is determined by -- Terroir.
True, majority I agree is from Terrior. When I learn that from a book, the critical point is that uncertainty is quite complex; multi Terrior related factors in guaranteeing a good wine.

Rainfall, soil, sunshine...they are all determined by God. For example, grapes gained most of the sunlight when they are planted on 45 degree slope, good irrigation, retainability of water in soil is crucial in affecting the vines growth etc. No wonder Wine is called "Dew of God".

Amongst all factors, the one which is so "inborn" and "destiny" one is the altitude of the vineyard. Even it is within the same village, or even the same chateau, the Terroir may not be the same, which gives the variety and the uncertainty to wine, even in Chateauneuf - du - Pape, you might bought the wine next to the cuvee one and got disappointed. (hope it doesn't offend anyone :P)

Those in temperate zone like France will benefit from its geographical advantages. Thus Australia and Chile earn the same benefit. From the atlas, you can tell, the upcoming one is...China.

The one with most branding now is "The Great Wall". I am looking forward to how much people would invest in China to supply more funds in the investigation of the potential in wine development in there. Should be something interesting ^^