The Iron Chevsky Wine Blog

My Chinese mom-in-law ("maya") drinks beer. Sometimes Shaoxing wine , when pops-in-law is here. They drink Shaoxing sweetened with dry fruit, ever since they poured it to Rona when she was a kid. Ironically, maya doesn't really like sweet - she likes bitter. She didn't grow up on proper red wine. The other day, Kathy O. (a friend) made this luscious chocolate raspberry cake for A.C.'s birthday party, and they gave me a chunk of that gorgeousness to take home. Chinese generally don't like rich, sweet, decadent desserts (just go into any Chinese bakery to see what I mean). I had some Super Tuscan left over from the Oasis visit the day before. I forced maya to have a bite of the cake and a sip of the wine. You should have seen expression on her face. Shocked: "it's not sweet", and then "gen hao chi" ("delicious!"). The 2006 Badia di Morrona "Taneto" Toscana (Super Tuscan), a blend of Syrah, Sangiovese, and Merlot, t...

Chinese rice wine, of which Shaoxing is the most famous variety, is in the top 10 most important ingredients in Chinese cooking, some claim it's second only to soy sauce. According to wikipedia , over 5 million Chinese live in the US and Canada. Yet there are not many places in North America, physical or online, where one can buy quality Shaoxing wine. Unless you live in a city with a large Chinatown or a Chinese supermarket like Ranch 99, you are out of luck. All the better for ChineseRiceWine.com , an Oregon-based online business that aims to popularize Shaoxing rice wine in the United States. Given my interest in the subject, the founder Scott Thurman , an American ex-Intel business development manager turned into Shaoxing rice wine guru, sent me a sample of his portfolio of three rice wines - a 5, 8, and 10 year aged, manufactured by Shaoxing Dayue Wine Co. Ltd of China. A hi-techy turned a wino is a kindred soul, so I promised Scott to put his babies through their paces and p...

This is part 3 of the Shaoxing rice wine series. Click here for Part 2. While the in-laws are staying with us, our neighbors Vicky and Wu-Chung invited us for lunch to their famous restaurant Ming's - one of the oldest in Palo Alto, named after a powerful 14-17th-century Chinese dynasty. Originally from Taiwan, which according to Vicky is a melting pot of a variety of Chinese and other Asian cuisines, she comprises her menu mainly of Cantonese recipes, but with creative touches that extend beyond, and with the modern sensibilities of organic and more health-oriented diet. With a few dishes from the menu and some "owner-only" specials, they graciously presented me with an opportunity to continue my Shaoxing wine research against a variety of flavors. I brought the 20-year aged wine by Kuaijishan company - the best one I was able to find in the Bay Area so far. It's been mellowing out open for a few days now, and we decided to serve it warm - the traditional way. Tast...

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...

You can serve him 2-buck-chuck or $100 bottle of fine Bordeaux, he will discern the differences, texture, flavor, concentration. He will appreciate a high-quality German Riesling with Chinese food. "Oooh, this is so much smoother!" he will exclaim with his eyes enlarged and voice raised in a moment of child-like discovery. It's dinner time. "Would you like some more Riesling, baya?" I'd ask my father-in-law. But no answer would really be necessary, his eyes already reaching for another pour of the Shaoxing wine. Cheap and strange tasting, this is the wine of his childhood, the only choice of the local people in his hometown two hours away from Shaoxing city in the same Zhejiang province. A man who has seen the world, he can drink whiskey and vodka, sake and wine, but nothing will ever give him more comfort than warm Shaoxing rice wine, the finest in all of China. At $2.99 it could cost 10 times that much, and it wouldn't change a thing. And who am I to a...