Red, Red Wine

Now, I happen to have a Chinese American friend. Therefore, I happen to know something about Chinese people and alcohol consumption. If not for Stephanie Chow and the approximately three times in our lives I've witnessed her drink, I wouldn't know why there were so many red, red faces at the Park Lane Hotel last Saturday.

I like wine. Wine is good. It goes well with my other favorite thing: food. We like wine enough that we stocked up before departure and had eight cases shipped with us. We were allowed fifteen, I think, so we were actually conservative. Of course wine is available here. But we didn't pay to ship the stuff, so why not bring our favorites?

Acquiring a taste always starts somewhere. Mine began primarily in Spain where I would mix orange soda with $3 red wine from VIP's, the equivalent of 7-11, down the street. Eventually, I gave up the orange soda (but, by the way, this is still a very refreshing option on a nice summer night - try it). Paul started to have the occasional glass also. Then we decided to get married in Tuscany. Well, first we decided to get married; then we decided to do it in Tuscany. That's probably where the love affair blossomed. So our favorites became Italian wines. A few years later, we visited Napa Valley where our favorites became California wines. We liked it so much we were back in the same spot nine months later with a stop in Sonoma also. I'm looking forward to trying France so that my next favorite phase can be French wines. Or Australia, or Argentina, or wherever they make good wine.

So what's the wine scene in one of the swankiest and money-powered cities in the world? As if they prepared for our arrival, the 40% wine duty was officially abolished the week after we arrived. Not only does that mean lower prices (theoretically) but more variety from different countries should be on the way.

From my reading, it seems that the wine market was almost non-existent here just 10 to 15 years ago. Cognac was the thing. Then back in the 90's when medical research showed that red wine could be beneficial, the Chinese hopped on board. As more Hong Kongers traveled, they discovered France, and started at the top with the best of the French stuff, namely Bordeaux. Of course, like my youthful days in Spain, they would mix it (eek!) with Sprite until their tastes also advanced.

Now there are hundreds of wine shops and events around the city and a range of wine is sold even in most supermarkets and 7-11's. There's a decent selection but some areas are better represented, like Australia and South America, than California or Italy. Prices in restaurants are usually inflated more than they are in U.S. restaurants, so that hurts, especially when they charge for a glass what you know costs more than a bottle for a particular wine.

Here's the fun part. Always on the lookout for culture (o.k., wine), I read about an event called Le French May, an annual offering of all things French: cinema, art, food, wine, etc. We went for the "Everyday Bordeaux" wine event at a nearby hotel which hosted a selection of 100 affordable wines from Bordeaux available for the tasting. The majority of the tasters were Chinese.

Apparently, they don't let a little thing like a red face get in the way of enjoying wine. About 50% of Chinese people genetically lack an enzyme that processes alcohol properly. The typical reaction is a flushed face. So, although it looked a little like a Communist gathering with all the bright reds, it was just some people drinking. It was pretty lively by the end.

That was our "culture" for the week.