Chapter 29 Talking about Shaoxing Old Wine

A few days ago, I had a drink with some friends at a Sichuan restaurant "Mei Jie Lian". Among them was Mr. Lu Fengchu.Mr. Lu has been in the capital for a long time, and he is eighty years old. Of course, all the provinces in the interior are ready to taste the fine wines. He suddenly asked a question. He heard that Shaoxing wine is the best when it is stored for two years. If it is too old, it will lose its fragrance. There is Shaoxing wine from the Puli winery more than ten years ago. Ask me if I can still drink it?I said: "The characteristic of Shaoxing is that it gets better with age and is not bad for a long time. If you change the container, there may be precipitation. Filter it with fine gauze and drink it moderately. I guarantee that it will be more mellow and palatable than the old Huadiao sold in the market. In Shaoxing, the land of production in the Mainland, everyone says that you can eat old wine without being famous, so you can think about it halfway.” Because they drink Shaoxing wine, everyone talks about the source of Shaoxing wine.

According to the records of "Wuyue Spring and Autumn", as early as more than 2,000 years ago, Goujian, the king of Yue, brewed fine wine to offer to the king of Wu. It is said that Wu Zixu's army drank it and piled altars into mountains; Hence the name.Emperor Liang Yuan of the Southern Dynasties also mentioned in his writings that when he was a young student, he "had a piece of sweet wine stored in Yin Ou" by his side. It can be seen that Shaoxing wine entered the ranks of tributes more than 1,400 years ago.Lu Fangweng, a famous poet in the Song Dynasty, lived in Shanyin in his later years and never left poetry and wine, saying that "home is everywhere in his hometown", which shows that Shaoxing's wine making has been very developed in the Song Dynasty.

Shaoxing old wine is brewed with refined white glutinous rice, wheat flour and Jianhu water. As the saying goes: "Where a famous wine comes from, there must be a famous spring." It is extremely suitable for wine making (the four distilleries of Banqiao, Taichung, Puli, and Hualien under the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Bureau all produce Shaoxing wine. However, for several years, according to the evaluation results of Chinese and foreign circles, the Puli distillery still has the best reputation and natural production. The technical experience of wine is different, and the Puli winery has a clear and fragrant well water, which is also the main reason).However, not only must there be a good spring of sweetness, but also the hard work of master craftsmen with excellent skills and experience, and the control of the right time, in order to brew Shaoxing wine with outstanding aroma and fragrance.

Due to the different brewing methods, Shaoxing wine can be divided into Zhuangyuanhong, Nvnuhong, Zhuyeqing, Taidiao, Huadiao, Shanniang, Xiangxue and Jiafan in terms of varieties.The green bamboo leaves are light in color and light in taste, warm and refreshing. Bihuchun in Hangzhou was famous for its green bamboo leaves.As for the Zhuyeqing of Shanxi Baijiu and the Zhuyeqing of Chiayi Distillery Baigandi, the former became popular after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, while the latter became popular in the 1970s.The author Qianjiu, I have never drunk Zhuyeqing with baijiu base in the mainland!The term "jiafanjiu" may sound like "Huansheng" to the gentlemen in Taiwan, but it is actually the most outstanding kind of Shaoxing wine.Jiafan is made by adding glutinous rice to Shaoxing in addition to a certain water ratio. The Jiafan wine has a particularly mellow texture and a sweet and delicious taste.

Some foreign friends come to visit and think that we have several kinds of wine, which are indeed above the standard. Unfortunately, some fruit distilled wines have not been studied well, and they feel that they are not very used to drinking them.I think the wineries in Taiwan that brew Shaoxing wine don’t need to be new and different, but study hard. If they can brew wines such as Zhuyeqing and Jiafan, it will not only reduce the pressure on Shaoxing wine production, but may also be helpful in increasing profits.All the friends at the same table agree, I think this will not only require a large increase in capital expenditure, but also increase revenue, so why not do it!If the lotus adopts it, I think we may have new products such as bamboo leaf green and rice wine in the near future.