Chinese New Year Day of the Rooster is on January 28, 2017. It is also known as the Female Fire Chicken year. Red is connected to the fire in Chinese tradition. According to chinesefortunecalendar.com, “…Chicken is a Female Metal. Female Metal is related to gold, precious gem or jewelry. That means Chicken implies luxury, beauty, and wealth. Red Fire of 2017 is related to the light bulb. When the light comes on the top of jewelry, Chicken can show more value from its outlook. That implies we will deal with financial events in the year of the Chicken…
Male Metal is connected to air, wind or strong current. Female Metal is connected to fog or slow dirty air. We cannot see our future clearly until the fog disappears. That means Chicken blurs our vision and mystifies our decision. We need to wait for the sun to appear or fog disappear…”
With that said, I don’t want you to be mystified about what wines to drink for Chinese New Year of the Female Fire Chicken, so I searched for wines near and far that have a chicken related theme. Here is what I found.
Chicken Related Wines
BC Wineries
The first winery that came to mind was of course Red Rooster Winery on the Naramata Bench. Every bottle label has a drawing of a Rooster on it, so there should be some red or white wine that you love to enjoy. I’ve enjoyed their Riesling and Gewürztraminer in the past, which I think should go well with many Chinese dishes. One of the cool things that Red Rooster Winery does is give you the opportunity to Adopt a Vineyard Row, where you can attend pruning and harvest, and you get a mixed case of wine. Here is a link to their winery website listing all the Red Rooster wines.
If you are willing to bend the rules a bit, there is also Quails’ Gate Winery in West Kelowna. There is also Wild Goose Vineyard, who makes exceptionally tasty aromatic white varietal wines, and Pinot Noir.
The Rest of the World
There are 2 wineries I found on the chicken theme in the United States. One is called Rex-Goliath Wines in California. The other is Rooster Hill Vineyards in New York state. Rex-Goliath is named after a famous Rooster in the United States. From the Rex-Goliath website, “At the turn of the 20th century, HRM (His Royal Majesty) Rex Goliath was the treasured attraction of a Texas circus. People came from far and wide to behold the 47 lb. bird, billed as the “World’s Largest Rooster.” They note that their wines are bold and fruit-forward just like this big rooster. You can get red, white and sparkling wines from Rex-Goliath. If if you like sparkling moscato, they do make a rose and a red version. I have seen Rex-Goliath wines in BC in the past, but not sure it is currently available. I think these wines would be readily available if you go across the border to Blaine.
Rooster Hill Vineyards has a range of red, white and sparkling wines. They offer Cab Franc, Chardonnay, Merlot and more.
Going across the Atlantic to Europe we have the whole Chianti region of Italy, where their logo is a Black Rooster. Chianti Classico is a region in Tuscany between Florence and Siena in Italy, which produces wonderful red wines from the Sangiovese grapes, sometimes combined with other indigenous or international varieties. 
Why a Black Rooster logo? According to Chianti.com “Legend has it that in 13th century Florence and Siena decided to use a horse race to end their land dispute over Chianti. The meeting point of two knights, who had left respectively from Florence and Siena when the rooster sang at dawn, would mark the new borders of their territories. The Florentines selected a black rooster and kept it for a few days in a box with no food. On the day of the race, when they took the rooster out of the box, he sang much earlier than dawn. Thus the Florentine knight left before the Sienese rider, meeting him only him only 20 km from Siena walls. Since then the black rooster has been the symbol of Chianti: first of the Chianti League in 13th century and then of the Chianti Classico Consortium.“.
The BC Liquor Stores website lists 53 different Chianti wines, along as identifies which stores carry each wine. Here is the link to the BC Liquor store Chianti query. I have tried the Da Vinci, Gabbiano, Antinori Peppoli, Ricasoli Brolio, Rocca delle Macie, and Ruffino Ducale to recommend, but I know on this list there are probably many more that can be selected.
If you would like to learn more about the Chianti region and some of their excellent wines, please read my article on Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Comes to Vancouver.
Enjoy Chinese New Year of the Rooster, and have something to crow about with these wines.
