7 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:I have 2 bottles. This first one made me laugh when I read the label as it's from Taiwan - clearly not the real deal but I've been cooking with it.
The second one is actually from Zhejiang province.
It's made by the same company as the one that @FauxPas purchased at her provincial liquor store and also carries the Pagoda brand. It has characters that @liuzhou mentions:
and they appear both on the paper label and also on the in the ceramic design on the other side of the bottle.
The cork was secured with red ribbons like some of the earlier photos. It was a gift. I'll have to look around more carefully on my next visits to the Chinese grocery. Here in CA, wine and liquor are sold in grocery stores so I'd think it should be possible to get something without salt added, possibly at a higher price to cover the taxes.
Your second one is the real deal - ‘daughter red’ . Does it give any indication of age anywhere? As in my second post? I'm not surprised you have the same brand as @liamsaunt. They are Shaoxing's largest company and also most active in exports. About 15% of their output is exported.
The less said about the Taiwanese fake, the better. It may taste OK, but it ain't the real deal.