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Showing hints of Asian traits
March 13, 2011, Sunday
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A visit to Gubei offers the opportunity to experience neighboring Asian cultures. The strongest cultural influences are from the Japan, Korea, China's Hong Kong and Taiwan. Last week while meeting with two Shanghai Daily colleagues, we collectively pondered a creative way to highlight the diverse cultures of Gubei. With some discussion and reflection, I proposed that it would be illuminating as well as fun to associate the characters of the communities in Gubei with various styles of wines. Can wines help us better understand people and embellish our cultural understanding of the fascinating mix of Asian cultures in Gubei? At very least we decided it would be a deliciously thirst-quenching endeavor.
To simplify matching these Asian cultures with wines, I picked two words that accurately reflect a key aspect of these cultures. Then I picked a specific style of wine that typifies these qualities as well as harmoniously matches with the most popular dishes of these cultures.
Japan - homogeneous & minimalist
Chablis is certainly homogeneous as many consider this wine from the northern most reaches of Burgundy to be the purist and most unadulterated expression of the Chardonnay grape. Its restrained ripeness and limited use of oak certainly fit minimalistic requirements.
Chablis offers no extras, only the most fresh and singular of the world's most popular white wine grape.
And there's a reason why Japan is the largest Asian market for this intensely fresh white - it's perfectly suited to sashimi and sushi as well as Japanese seafood, pork and chicken dishes.
Korea - fiery & creative
Exhibiting typically fiery peninsular characteristics along with a thriving modern creative culture, the Korean people have a natural partner in wines made with the Granacha or Grenache variety.
This originally Spanish grape is known for its spicy nature and diverse and creative styles.
Whether you savor Spanish Granacha or French Grenache wines, they will offer you an insight into some of the characters that make Korea special. With an innately spicy nature, Granache wines pair well with Korean BBQ meats and are not easily overwhelmed by the spicy side dishes.
Taiwan - friendly & flexible
Taiwan people are some of the most friendly and approachable in the world. The mix of aborigines, Hakka, Fujian and other mainland ethnic groups make this one of the most diverse of Asian cultures.
One key aspect in the success of Taiwan has been its ability to adapt quickly, a skill also shown by the Marlborough wine region in New Zealand.
The region's Sauvignon Blanc wines in particular have made a reputation being exuberant, lively and friendly while having great flexibility in food pairing including some of Taiwan's signature seafood and mountain pork dishes.
Hong Kong - structured & sophisticated
The British influence on this Chinese city is unmistakably reflected in the structure of society as well as the sophistication of the people. The wine that perfectly reflects these qualities is Bordeaux which shares some historic parallels because for almost 400 years it was also ruled by the British. The Brits even gave their own name to the red wines of Bordeaux calling them Clarets. The 1855 Bordeaux Classification is an excellent, if not totally fair, example of a wine class system while the firm tannins of a good Claret exemplify structure.
To simplify matching these Asian cultures with wines, I picked two words that accurately reflect a key aspect of these cultures. Then I picked a specific style of wine that typifies these qualities as well as harmoniously matches with the most popular dishes of these cultures.
Japan - homogeneous & minimalist
Chablis is certainly homogeneous as many consider this wine from the northern most reaches of Burgundy to be the purist and most unadulterated expression of the Chardonnay grape. Its restrained ripeness and limited use of oak certainly fit minimalistic requirements.
Chablis offers no extras, only the most fresh and singular of the world's most popular white wine grape.
And there's a reason why Japan is the largest Asian market for this intensely fresh white - it's perfectly suited to sashimi and sushi as well as Japanese seafood, pork and chicken dishes.
Korea - fiery & creative
Exhibiting typically fiery peninsular characteristics along with a thriving modern creative culture, the Korean people have a natural partner in wines made with the Granacha or Grenache variety.
This originally Spanish grape is known for its spicy nature and diverse and creative styles.
Whether you savor Spanish Granacha or French Grenache wines, they will offer you an insight into some of the characters that make Korea special. With an innately spicy nature, Granache wines pair well with Korean BBQ meats and are not easily overwhelmed by the spicy side dishes.
Taiwan - friendly & flexible
Taiwan people are some of the most friendly and approachable in the world. The mix of aborigines, Hakka, Fujian and other mainland ethnic groups make this one of the most diverse of Asian cultures.
One key aspect in the success of Taiwan has been its ability to adapt quickly, a skill also shown by the Marlborough wine region in New Zealand.
The region's Sauvignon Blanc wines in particular have made a reputation being exuberant, lively and friendly while having great flexibility in food pairing including some of Taiwan's signature seafood and mountain pork dishes.
Hong Kong - structured & sophisticated
The British influence on this Chinese city is unmistakably reflected in the structure of society as well as the sophistication of the people. The wine that perfectly reflects these qualities is Bordeaux which shares some historic parallels because for almost 400 years it was also ruled by the British. The Brits even gave their own name to the red wines of Bordeaux calling them Clarets. The 1855 Bordeaux Classification is an excellent, if not totally fair, example of a wine class system while the firm tannins of a good Claret exemplify structure.
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