Comments for Tasting Room Confidential

Comment on If Chinese Can’t Drink Wine, Where’s The Market? by mk

mk — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:49:24 +0000

I got some input last night from a Chinese woman who was drinking red wine and admitted to feeling flushed. She said wine is not part of Chinese dinner culture. At a big meal everyone focuses on the food and chowing down, during which time there is not much table conversation going on. She theorizes that if they were drinking wine, they might sit back and talk more, but no. She said this is why Chinese restaurants have such pathetic wine lists – hardly anyone orders.

As for the whiskies and cognac, she said those are knocked back purely for the buzz by people who can presumably handle it. I wonder if there is a different reaction for grape-based wine and cognac as opposed to grain-based liquor and beer.

The other thing I wonder is, if those with mixed descent are able to handle wine/liquor better, especially if they have some Irish drinking genes.

Thanks for your comments!

Comment on If Chinese Can’t Drink Wine, Where’s The Market? by ruth kozak

ruth kozak — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:39:49 +0000

I don’t think that is entirely true that they don’t drink, as I know Chinese people who drink wine. And in fact, once I was invited with my husband toa Chinese New Years party here and the tables were graced with expensive bottles of whiskey that were were being consumed freely. And what about the saki that Japanese drink? It’s wine distilled from rice.

Comment on If Chinese Can’t Drink Wine, Where’s The Market? by Jen

Jen — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:22:16 +0000

That’s an interesting question! It’s hard to say. Ben and I were discussing this and we think there has to be a market cap at some point. I’ve definitely visited homes where there are bottles of Chivas Regal, Johnnie Walker, and random Australian wines sitting in a dusty glass cabinet, so if we can think about more than one bottle a person, with a rising preference for wine versus hard liquor…don’t really know the answer to this one. At least a billion? As many businessmen there are in China?

I’d like to think of a Chinese drinking culture that one day privileges taste over alcohol content. You’re right; in a country where the manifold regional tastes and differences are savored, wine is sadly neglected. One day, maybe? Japan has that phenomenon where whenever this one popular wine manga mentions a vintage from Napa Valley, it gets sold out because all the Japanese fans order it so they can try it while they’re reading the manga. I wonder if we need to do something similar with Chinese comics!