Celebrating a Great Year for Long Jing with Shaoxing Wine

As to other green teas, due to consistently cold weather this year's harvest of high-altitude green tea has been delayed. What is available is off-the-chart expensive and disappointing. After a couple of days cupping bad tea, I had enough. What do you do when you can't find good tea? You drink wine, of course! Chinese imitations of Western wine still need a LOT of help, so I went looking for wine that the Chinese are good at, Shaoxing rice wine. I toured the famous Shaoxing Wine Factory in Zhejiang Province, around two hours from where long jing is grown, and was delighted to be treated to a tour of the factory floor and some of the impressive lineup of Shaoxing wine at the Kuaijishan Shaoxing Wine Co. I had an opportunity to taste Shaoxing wine ranging from newly brewed to 100 years old. Then I had a wonderful Shaoxing-style dinner. Don't think my tea trips are just about tea!