Bordeaux wine with Chinese food?

quote:

Yet, it seems that Bordeaux is a poor choice.

I would agree with you. Strangely enough Mr. Pratts of Cos answered a question from the audience at a tasting a few months ago about what food pairs well with Bdx. Surprisingly one of his suggestions was spicy chinese food. I mumbled aloud at this and the joker sitting next to me looked over and nodded in the affirmative as if this is common knowledge. Still seems strange.
As to your question, I spent a month in southern China earlier in the year and rarely if ever saw wine on the dinner table at chinese food restaurants.
I suspect for the most part it's being drank as a cocktail or when dining out at non Chinese food restaurants such as Italian or French.

I don't see it as a pairing for spicy Chinese food, but it could be paired with some Cantonese cooking, though I'd certainly prefer Champagne.

There are many different styles of white Bordeaux, and I can see some matching well Irwin.

As for Champagne, we DO NOT need the Chinese buying more Champagne than they already do, Board-O!

Never stopped the table next to me from opening an 86 lafite over dinner and having half of the ladies at the table say it's so bitter.
To which the gentleman that brought the wine reply, it's the best there is and it's very expensive.

I find young fruity cali cabs to be a better pairing for some of the more forward cantonese food and whenever we have family get togethers it's what I pop. When we have some more traditional taiwanese food where there might be alot more seafood (where my immediate family is from) I'll stick with the whites like albarino, oaky chards and champagnes

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Originally posted by g-man:
Never stopped the table next to me from opening an 86 lafite over dinner and having half of the ladies at the table say it's so bitter.
To which the gentleman that brought the wine reply, it's the best there is and it's very expensive.

Hence the invention of the Lafitte Spritzer cocktail.

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
Never stopped the table next to me from opening an 86 lafite over dinner and having half of the ladies at the table say it's so bitter.

Actually, at this immature stage of its development, I would expect the '86 Lafite to be be closed, tannic, and bitter.

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Originally posted by Board-O:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
Never stopped the table next to me from opening an 86 lafite over dinner and having half of the ladies at the table say it's so bitter.

Actually, at this immature stage of its development, I would expect the '86 Lafite to be be closed, tannic, and bitter.

refer to DoubleD's post ;-)

We order semi-spicy Chinese food on a regular basis, usually on Sundays. I typically open a bottle of wine before the dinner decision is made and often find myself drinking bordeaux with my Chinese. This is not a pleasing match, in fact it mostly sucks. Of course, I'm talking about 15-20 minutes of wolfing down the Chinese food, we're not making a big event out of Sunday night Chinese at my house, so it doesn't really matter. I can't imagine the Chinese are actually drinking this wine with their dinners, it's probably as an apertif, like Snipes suggested.

Two weeks ago we had a visitor from Hong Kong tour with us. He had more or less been dispatched by his father's company to find good wine sources in California.

As he explained it red wine is being used to replace the rotgut moonshine distilled hooch that has traditionally gone with business dinners. I'm sure g-man has had this hooch too, it's brutal. As he told us red wine is especially preferred by younger business people because it does not have the headache/hammered effect of the traditional stuff.

In such events it's served before and after dinner, but not really with the meal. He also hinted that a small producer might be preferred before the meal, to show that you care enough about the guests to seek out something rare. At the end of a meal, to finish a deal, the most expensive/well known wine would be served. This would show the guests one is serious about the partnership and committed to it.

Single source, but it jives with other things I've read.

For traditional Taiwanese we usually drink an assortments of whites and light reds. Sake is also something that comes out. I imagine this isn't traditional at all, but it's California and we do it. I like to have Sauternes with pig's blood, and the reds normally go with beef done it hot pot.

At our last one we had our Chard and a Varner that worked well. We're on again Saturday night and I'll probably bring a mix of Sauternes and dry whites.

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Originally posted by Stefania Wine:

As he explained it red wine is being used to replace the rotgut moonshine distilled hooch that has traditionally gone with business dinners. I'm sure g-man has had this hooch too, it's brutal. As he told us red wine is especially preferred by younger business people because it does not have the headache/hammered effect of the traditional stuff.

some of this hooch can get quite $$$

Served warm or cold, the pricier stuff can be served warm. It cleans out everything that's for sure.

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Originally posted by Board-O:


Actually, at this immature stage of its development, I would expect the '86 Lafite to be be closed, tannic, and bitter.

Are you talking about wine or g-man?

I'm thinking...I'm thinking...

must be the lead poisoning

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Originally posted by g-man:
must be the PORT poisoning

quote:

Originally posted by Stefania Wine:
As he explained it red wine is being used to replace the rotgut moonshine distilled hooch that has traditionally gone with business dinners.

Couldn't they have picked White Zin for their ceremonial drink to consumate their deals? I'm sure Constellation Brands would be more than happy to raise their prices and even create a pretty wooden box for it.

Maybe I'm assuming wrong, but why assume the people in China buying and drinking quality Bdx are only drinking it with their local food? I've never been there, but I'd imagine there are some excellent European restaurants and chefs in the larger cities.

For the Asian-travellers, isn't there a form of basic "steak" made in China, that might go great with the French wine?

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Originally posted by indybob:

For the Asian-travellers, isn't there a form of basic "steak" made in China, that might go great with the French wine?

pizza hut serving seafood pizza with mayo?

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Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:

For the Asian-travellers, isn't there a form of basic "steak" made in China, that might go great with the French wine?

pizza hut serving seafood pizza with mayo?

We do have General Tso's Chicken in the US with a caramel sauce which I am sure gives the Chinese the heebeegeebees.

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Originally posted by DoubleD:

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Originally posted by g-man:

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:

For the Asian-travellers, isn't there a form of basic "steak" made in China, that might go great with the French wine?

pizza hut serving seafood pizza with mayo?

We do have General Tso's Chicken in the US with a caramel sauce which I am sure gives the Chinese the heebeegeebees.

Not to mention walnut shrimp. I used to see it everywhere in Nor Cal, but I've been unable to find it in the mid-west. Basically shrimp fried with sweet crispy walnuts in a mayo sauce. Damn it's tasty!

quote:

Originally posted by irwin:
The current print edition of WS has an article which says that the Chinese are now buying a ton of Bordeaux wine...a huge increase over last year, though the wine is low level Bordeaux in general.
I assume they drink it with Chinese food, because, I assume, that is what Chinese people in China eat. (Of course, there are regional variants in the term "Chinese food"). Yet, it seems that Bordeaux is a poor choice.
(I wonder if this post should be in the "wine conversations" section?)

The Chinese are becoming affluent, so they can afford First Growth prices and they, like other Eastern cultures, are much more about the show than the taste. I'm sure many fine wines will be served with horrid pairings and without proper aging in order to "show the guest that their presence is appreciated". It is a masterstroke sales campaign for the Bordelais as well - they now have a new, enormous market for their wares. What a great way to keep prices in the stratosphere - never mind that your finest wines might be served with completely inappropriate food.

But give the Chinese time - they will develop their own tastes and pairings and this will all work out - but it will mean many great bottles will travel East instead of West. Such is the state of the world economy...

quote:

Originally posted by indybob:
Maybe I'm assuming wrong, but why assume the people in China buying and drinking quality Bdx are only drinking it with their local food? I've never been there, but I'd imagine there are some excellent European restaurants and chefs in the larger cities.

For the Asian-travellers, isn't there a form of basic "steak" made in China, that might go great with the French wine?

That's an excellent point. For some reason, we in North America seem to assume that every other country must only ever eat the traditional food that particular country is known for. The Japanese only ever eat sushi and cooked items seasoned with teriyaki, right?

Besides, doesn't Parker frequently get together with his buddies to taste wine in Chinese restaurants?

We have offlines at The Peking Duck House.

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Originally posted by Board-O:
We have offlines at The Peking Duck House.

a cantonese restaurant that's named after a dish from mandarin cuisine eaten by a bunch of jolly americans.

Have any restaurants changed the name to "Beijing duck" or is Peking duck now the permanent name of the dish?

Ditto Chicken Madras -- Chicken Chennai is much catchier.....

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Originally posted by bman:
Have any restaurants changed the name to "Beijing duck" or is Peking duck now the permanent name of the dish?

Ditto Chicken Madras -- Chicken Chennai is much catchier.....

beijing and peking are the same thing in chinese soooo, they wouldn't really change the name.

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Originally posted by FlyGuyMSP:
The Chinese are becoming affluent, so they can afford First Growth prices and they, like other Eastern cultures, are much more about the show than the taste...

I don't think this kind of stereotyping of "Eastern cultures" is fair as buying for "show" whether is wine or cars or bling, applies to all cultures.

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Originally posted by Stevey:

quote:

Originally posted by FlyGuyMSP:
The Chinese are becoming affluent, so they can afford First Growth prices and they, like other Eastern cultures, are much more about the show than the taste...

I don't think this kind of stereotyping of "Eastern cultures" is fair as buying for "show" whether is wine or cars or bling, applies to all cultures.

Fair enough. You're correct that there is plenty of "show" in all cultures - I've just experienced more of it in the Far East. Cheers!