Episode 68 - Shao Hsing Chew

The bottle on the left is the wine bottle of a 10 year old reserved Shao Hsing Chew.

This Chinese rice wine has a tradition of over 2,400 years. It is a kind of "yellow wines" (in contrast to the "white wines" like Mou Tai) with ≧15% alcohol content.

I recall that some 30 years ago in Hong Kong, the traditional Chinese wines (perhaps with the exception of Mou Tai) were mostly consumed by people from the low-income group or used as cooking wines only. Foreign wines, like cognac, whisky and red wines, were (and still are) much more popular.

I first tried the Shao Hsing Chew, about 20 years ago, on the recommendation of my brother (he discovered that the wine, after warmed, was a good companian to hotpot food in winter). At that time, the Chia Fan was the best available Shao Hsing Chew in the market. The wine was then sold in a large traditional wine bottle - like the one used by Jacky Chan in the kungfu film Boxing of the Drunken Immortals. It took me more than one week's time to finish a whole bottle.

Although the Chia Fan was good, my attention was soon diverted to the French red wines which were then becoming popular in Hong Kong.

I do not know when the reserved wine was introduced to Hong Kong, but it must have been in the market for quite some time. I spotted it in a supermarket a few years ago and I purchased one recently. The porcelain wine bottle was packed inside a nice wooden box - much more attractive than the Jacky Chan bottle.

While the wine can also be consumed with ice or in room temperature, I like to drink it hot. I poured half bottle of the wine into the wine bottle (on the right side of the photo) and steamed it until the wine was hot. I then consumed the delicious wine with red meat.

It was an excellent wine, good smell, supple and juicy. I definitely have had my money's worth out of this wine.