This is part 2 of the Shaoxing rice wine series. Click here for Part 1. Determined to investigate taste differences between different grades and producers of Shaoxing rice wine, the Yangs and I scoured the Bay Area for 5 bottles ranging from low-end $2.99 to the highest-end we could find 20-year-aged at $21.99: 1. Shaohsing Huadiao Rice Wine by Kuaijishan Shaoxing Wine Co, 17% alc, $2.99. 2. Nu Er Hong Rice Wine, Yuequan brand, 17% alc, $4.99. 3. Aged Shao Xing Rice Wine, Pagoda Brand by Zhejiang Celeals, Oils & Foodstuffs I/E Co., 17% alc., 8-year-aged, $5.99. 4. Shaoxing Rice Wine by Zhejiang Gu Yue Long Shan Shaoxing Wine Co, 18% alc, 8 year-aged, $5.89 for 500ml. 5. Kuaijishan Shaoxing Rice-Wheat Wine with Caramel color added, specially designed for state banquet, aged in china jar for 20 years, 15% alc, $21.99 for 500ml. We then opened all of them at once and tried them at room temperature in 3 different ways: with a Chinese meal, by themselves without food, and blind. Our me...
Years have passed. The love and the journey continue, but the passion and the excitement of the senses have become more cerebral and serene. Funny how this works. With each passing year, I find that the fervor of my heart has settled into a profound appreciation, one that speaks more through silence than through words. The love is there, unyielding, but it has grown deeper, more introspective. I post my wine impressions and notes on Twitter , it's quick and easy, the so-called "short form". What about essays, let alone epics? Perhaps one day soon. But let me try a " thought form "... a paragraph or two expressing a single thought or emotion... In the vibrant, bustling San Francisco Bay Area, home to countless wine enthusiasts and connoisseurs, I often find myself amidst individuals who, despite their self-proclaimed liking or even love for wine, possess a rather surface-level understanding of it. This observation is not meant as criticism but as an invitation to...
Comments