Not too thick a texture for a rice wine – I think
somewhat thinned by age. Nor is it too oxidative (though oxidation is generally
considered a desirable characteristic in rice wines); it is more like an aged
red wine than an Amontillado sherry. Remains quite sweet, plummy and nutty;
coupled with the 15% alcohol the finish is quite port-like.
We had this back at Made in China in Beijing (along with their epic Peking Duck and the
Beggar’s Chicken, which is clay-baked chicken; I was supplied with a hammer to
smash apart the clay to get at the chicken, a more entertaining restaurant
activity than putting on headphones to listen to seagulls at the Fat Duck). The wine was served hot, and
(as last time) with a dried, sweetened and salted plum left in the tiny
porcelain serving cups. N1 liked the plum last time, but this time, in a more
distinguished wine, finds it highly objectionable; “It’s like using Puligny-Montrachet
to make a spritzer!” Even after we have gotten rid of the plums and freshened
our cups, the wine itself is intrinsically evocative of the salted/sweet plum character.
(When we first saw these plums on sale in Hong Kong, we thought they were
sweeties before realising they were really meant for cooking Chinese stews.)
When the wine cools, it has more of a salty tang, as
I’d expect; overall, though, a sweeter rather than a more savoury rice wine.
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