Converting the Chinese into wine drinkers, one at a time

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My Chinese mom-in-law ("maya") drinks beer. Sometimes Shaoxing wine, when pops-in-law is here. They drink Shaoxing sweetened with dry fruit, ever since they poured it to Rona when she was a kid. Ironically, maya doesn't really like sweet - she likes bitter.

She didn't grow up on proper red wine. The other day, Kathy O. (a friend) made this luscious chocolate raspberry cake for A.C.'s birthday party, and they gave me a chunk of that gorgeousness to take home. Chinese generally don't like rich, sweet, decadent desserts (just go into any Chinese bakery to see what I mean). I had some Super Tuscan left over from the Oasis visit the day before. I forced maya to have a bite of the cake and a sip of the wine. You should have seen expression on her face. Shocked: "it's not sweet", and then "gen hao chi" ("delicious!"). The 2006 Badia di Morrona "Taneto" Toscana (Super Tuscan), a blend of Syrah, Sangiovese, and Merlot, tasted exactly like chocolate and raspberries - it was like a liquid twin of the cake, with refreshing tartness balancing off the sweetness in the cake.



I think I got a convert. One down, 1.3B (Chinese) to go!

P.S. The recipe to this wonderfully moist cake is here.

Comments

enochchoi said…
Such a sweet son-in-law ;)
September 24, 2010 at 9:13 AM
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