Asian grapevine
Chinese fascination for red Bordeaux appears from the outside to be at odds with the various regional cuisines we eat regularly, especially with the delicate flavours of Cantonese food. However, looking at the circumstances in which wine became popular and given our dining culture, the popularity of red Bordeaux with Chinese cuisines, even Cantonese, makes sense.
One of the key factors that popularised wine in the mid-1990s was the connection between red wine and health. In Chinese dining culture, it is no secret that nearly all the most sought-after and expensive ingredients have purported health benefits. The concept of consuming food like medicine, with each ingredient possessing yin and yang properties that have cooling and healing effects, is centuries old and well documented.
Why are we willing to pay several hundred dollars to well over a thousand dollars to eat bird's nest, shark's fin or sea cucumber if not for their health-enhancing benefits? I admit, I have acquired a liking for the velvety, gelatinous texture of sea cucumber and the soft crinkly texture of bird's nest. Without ever looking for concrete medical evidence, I have accepted and consumed these delicacies - bird's nest for my skin and general health, and sea cucumber as immunity against ailments that emerge during cold weather.
From as far back as I can remember, every few years I was given a bitter, dark, muddy coloured brew to drink three times a day for two weeks to keep my health in check. This was courtesy of my mother, who bought the ingredients from doctors of Korean medicine. They no doubt made a fortune formulating the most foul-tasting herbal brews.
When I was young, I held my nose before swallowing it in three to four big gulps. A candy would be my treat to cleanse the bitter, strong herbal taste from my mouth. 'If it tastes good, it isn't good for you,' my mother would scold. She had clever ways of getting me to eat ginseng - deep fried like tempura served with a sweet soy sauce dip, candied ginseng, honey-ginseng tea and marinated ginseng with chilli and other spices.
Perhaps my personal example is a bit extreme, but many Korean, Chinese and Japanese mothers from my mother's generation emphasised health-enhancing properties of food and we were brought up to appreciate it, making it a subconscious, sometimes conscious part of our psyche. Our tolerance for tannins is obvious - in our unadulterated teas we consume throughout the day (now being replaced by coffee) and our penchant for bitter root vegetables and familiarity with strong herbal medicines.
The tannins in red wines, especially young red Bordeaux, are not out of line with the flavours we grew up with in Asia. Red wines also enjoy the fundamental preference in our culture for room temperature or warm beverages versus cold/chilled beverages (white and sparkling wine). In addition, with Bordeaux red positioned as the premium, trendy lifestyle beverage of choice, it is now the de facto choice at weddings, special occasions, business banquets and dinners at most fine dining venues. It helps that the colour is red.
The flavours of full-bodied red Bordeaux sit comfortably alongside all types of regional Chinese cuisines because we enjoy our food and eat in a different way: instead of single dish meals (eg steak and fries), as is the case with most Western meals, we roam with our chopsticks, changing each flavour combination with each mouthful. Who eats rice and chicken as an entire meal? Where are the vegetables, the fish, other seafood and soup to balance it all out? Wine is not something we sip with each, or even every other, mouthful. We reach for it when it occurs to us that with a particular combination of rice, beef and vegetables, the cabernet sauvignon might taste good. It doesn't need to be sublime with every dish on the table, a few is more than enough.
Tannins work in another way - they prolong the heat of chillis. For those not used to the heat of Sichuan peppercorn or Korean chilli paste, the tannins in red Bordeaux can exaggerate the burn. However, this is precisely what spice-lovers enjoy - prolonging the heat and spiciness of chillis, not washing it away with a jarring sweet wine.
Yes, there are other factors why red Bordeaux is popular, including the 'face' culture and ordering a 'wine label' as a gesture and acknowledgement of their importance to the relationship. This is not limited to wine but has always existed in our food culture - high grade abalone can cost more than HK$1,500 for a small single serving. Ordering expensive red Bordeaux is not always about 'showing off' or a display of conspicuous consumption (although it can be at times); more often than not it is a gesture of respect, sending a clear message to the recipient that says: 'This is how important you are to me and it is my pleasure to treat you to the best and most expensive food and wine.'
While those in Europe or America may snicker at our 'gauche behaviour' and 'unsuitable matches' with food, we are perfectly happy with full-bodied reds adorning our dining tables. Personally, I would rather have a red Bordeaux, preferably with some bottle age, with a Cantonese seafood meal than a lightly sweet, powerfully aromatic gewurztraminer suggested by Western food and wine experts. The sweetness in the gewurztraminer would wipe away all nuances from a delicate umami-filled dish and insult the chef at the same time while its strong flavours would dominate every dish, sprinkling a sweet lychee, rose petal note over everything on the table.
We are coming to wine from a different angle, with our baggage of eating habits and flavour preferences. For many mainland Chinese, their first taste of wine will likely be a red wine from Changyu, Dynasty or Great Wall. For others, it may be a red Bordeaux. Some will move on to other varieties and styles and many more will never make the switch. What is important to understand is that enjoying red wine, with its health enhancing properties, auspicious colour, firm tannins and flavour profile, does make sense for us; and for the near term, reds will continue to dominate the Hong Kong and mainland market.
