The color red symbolizes good fortune and is commonly seen around Lunar New Year.
James and Marie on the Great Wall.
While wine’s popularity is growing massively in China and around Asia, it still lags behind “baijiu”, the country’s iconic distilled beverage, at Lunar New Year banquets. But the Lunar New Year is becoming one of the most popular events for Chinese, Koreans and other Asian societies to discover new wines from around the world – especially red wines.
Lunar New Year, also known as ‘Chinese New Year’ or ‘Spring Festival’, is a week-long, family-oriented festive holiday, during which large banquets take place. The festival is also marked by decorations in red, such as Spring Festival scrolls and lanterns. The color red symbolizes good luck in many Asian cultures, so these decorations are designed to furnish the events with happiness and fortune. In Chinese, “Hong Huo” (红火) is a word commonly used around New Year that assembles the words “red” and “fire” and means “prosperous”.
This obsession with the color red, combined with greater health awareness, is starting to have an influence on the drinks people pour at their banquets. Every year I receive requests from friends asking for advice on picking red wines as an alternative to baijiu, so they can reduce their alcohol consumption over these big Lunar New Year meals. They have also heard of the health benefits of anthocyanin in red wine, so this is a growing trend.
This year we have picked three red wines that would complement any large New Year meal. They are selected from the winners of our 2019 Top-100 wine lists around the world, and all gained a perfect 100-point score.
It would have been apt to have added a Chinese wine here, but our Chinese wine report is on the way soon, so we will reserve our Chinese wine recommendations until then.
Take a look at our wine suggestions for the Lunar New Year, and tell us what are you drinking to celebrate in the comments.
1. SIRO PACENTI BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO VECCHIE VIGNE 2015
This amazing 100-point Brunello was our Wine of the Year 2019 and top Italian wine that year. The mixture of red and dark fruit with its expressive, ethereal center palate and seamless, satin-like tannins endow the wine with freshness, finesse and great drinkability. The savory character will unwind as the wine ages, which makes it a great companion to dishes like umami-rich mushrooms and sweet-sour kung pao chicken.
2. RIPPON PINOT NOIR CENTRAL OTAGO MATURE VINE 2010
This rich yet fresh and elegant pinot comes from biodynamically grown grapes and offers power, vibrancy and succulence on the mid-palate, meaning it will go well with greasy food while it cleanses your palate. Try Beijing duck, or simply fried peanuts (a simple but must-have Chinese snack for New Year that pairs well with any baijiu).
This rich and full-bodied Chilean 100-pointer showcases a tight tannin framework and immense depth. The muscle on the palate with its firm structure gives the wine an edge that pairs well with dishes with a full spectrum of flavors. Try braised ribs in brown sauce.
Ganbei! (Cheers!)
– Zekun Shuai, associate editor/wine team
