This Saturday marks Chinese New Year as the Year of Rooster begins to crow. Many of us will be celebrating by going out to a Chinese banquet or trying our wok skills at home. Now is a great time to plan what drinks we will choose to enjoy with the festive dishes.
If you want to be traditional, and the Lunar New Year celebrations are all about tradition, choose a Chinese wine. Surprisingly, China is number six in the world for wine production, after Australia.
Kuhei Hua Chen Chiew ($10.99), Chinese Happy Wine, is a traditional drink to celebrate the Year of the Rooster. It’s an orange coloured blend of white wine and dried Osmanthu flower fortified to 15 per cent alcohol. I loved its rich, sweet apricot and floral aroma and taste.
Serve it chilled to make a sweet wine more refreshing. “If there’s heat, drink sweet,” so spicy Szechwan dishes with chili would be a perfect match. I also enjoyed it with BBQ pork; sweet wines cut the salty flavours that many Chinese dishes have.
Another traditional choice is a rice wine that comes in a fancy ceramic bottle and has over 2,500 years of history: NuErHong (Lucky Girl) Five-Year-Old ($20.49). It was brewed when a family had a baby girl and it was ready to drink when the girl was engaged.
Lucky Girl looks like a tawny port with its golden brown colour. It also has some of the tawny port nutty aroma and flavour and a savoury consommé character. Serve this dry wine with any dish that has nuts such as cashews or peanuts, as well as spareribs and soy braised chicken.
Switching to Western wines, if you are sitting down to hot and sour soup or any seafood such as crab in black bean sauce, I recommend New Zealand`s Kono Sauvignon Blanc ($15.99).
I love Kono’s generous bouquet of peach, passion-fruit and mango. Its rich flavour has layers of lemon, orange, guava, and mango, all bound together with crisp acidity and a lengthy finish.
Because red is the colour that pervades Chinese New Year and symbolizes happiness and good luck, here is an affordable and highly recommended red wine to uncork. Jacob’s Creek Shiraz Reserve has a gorgeous dark red colour and it’s brimming with lots of dark fruit bouquet and flavour.
It’s important to consider your main flavour and texture when pairing wine with Chinese food. If the dish is cooked in rich plum or soy based sauce, the Jacob’s Creek Shiraz with its dominant smooth fruit focus is best.
As always, ensure lots of wine choices to enjoy Chinese New Year. Gung Hay Fat Choy! and Gong Xi Fa Cai!
