Buying Rice Wine in Europe: Drinking Wine vs Cooking Wine

Most rice wine on European shelves is made for cooking. With three words on the label and a few minutes in the right shop, you can find a bottle worth drinking.

Where to look

• **Asian supermarkets** in European cities are the easiest place to start. Look in the drinks aisle, not next to the soy sauce.
• **Specialist shops and Chinese wine importers** carry older and rarer bottles.
• **Online retailers** often have the widest choice of ages and styles, including aged Huadiao in ceramic jars.
• **Chinese restaurants**, especially those from Zhejiang and Shanghai, sometimes serve huangjiu by the jug. Ask for it warm.

Read the label

Many bottles are "cooking wine" (料酒, liàojiǔ), with added salt or spices. They are made for the kitchen, not the glass. For drinking, look for three things:

1. **The place:** 绍兴 (Shàoxīng). Shaoxing wine is a protected name in China. 2. **The style:** 加饭 (Jiāfàn) or 花雕 (Huādiāo) are the easiest to start with. 元红 is dry, 善酿 semi-sweet, 香雪 sweet. 3. **The age:** an age statement such as 三年 (three years), 五年 (five years) or 十年 (ten years). Older wines are darker and more complex.

The back label also shows the alcohol (酒精度, usually 14–18%), and often the sugar class: 干型 dry, 半干型 semi-dry, 半甜型 semi-sweet, 甜型 sweet.

Names to know

The best-known Shaoxing producers include Guyue Longshan (古越龙山), Kuaijishan (会稽山) and Tapai (塔牌, "Pagoda"). All three make everything from everyday wines to long-aged reserves, and their bottles are among the easiest to find in Europe.

Beyond Shaoxing

If you find a red-qu wine from Fujian or a millet wine from Shandong, try it. They are rarer in Europe, but they show how different Chinese rice wine can be.

Bottle or jar?

Everyday huangjiu comes in glass bottles. Aged wines are often sold in decorated ceramic jars, which make beautiful gifts. The wine inside is the same kind of wine: check the age and style on the label rather than judging by the jar.

Storing it at home

Unlike table wine, huangjiu bottles are stored upright, in a cool, dark place. It is an aged, partly oxidised wine, so it keeps for weeks after opening if you close it and keep it in the fridge. Once it loses its aroma, use it for cooking.

Your first bottle

Choose a Shaoxing Jiafan or Huadiao with an age of five years or more. Warm it gently, pour it into small cups and serve it with a savoury dish. That is the classic introduction.

In one sentence

Skip the salted cooking wine: look for Shaoxing, a named style and an age, and start with a five-year Huadiao.