There is a scene that everyone is familiar with, and that is the bright lights. Under the neon lights, colorful light and shadow danced, and the bottles of elixir and jade liquid behind the wine cabinet were shining seductively under the light.
"It's easy to understand, why is the wine green?"
The words "wine green" or "green wine" frequently appear in the poems of the ancients. At that time, the winemaking process was not much different from today's, but why did the wine in their eyes have a mysterious green color?
In today's market, white wine is clear, rice wine is mellow, and red wine is enchanting, but only green wine is hard to find. It seems that the only thing that can be associated with the word "green" is the bamboo tube wine hidden in the depths of the bamboo forest. What does the ancients say about green wine? And why is it called "green"?
Perhaps, in that distant antiquity, there was a special element incorporated into the winemaking technique, which gave the wine a pale green color after brewing. Or perhaps, in the aesthetic concept of the ancients, green symbolizes life and hope, and they integrated this yearning and expectation for a better life into the wine, so it is called "green wine".
The idiom has become a symbol of urban prosperity, and under the pen and ink of the ancients, that mysterious wine green, a unique and charming existence, flows quietly in those popular poems.
Bai Juyi's "Ask Liu Nineteen"."Green ants are freshly brewed with wine, and the red clay is a small stove. If you want snow in the evening, can you drink a glass of nothing? ”The new green ant wine depicted in the poem contrasts with the small red clay stove, and a warm and quiet picture of drinking on a snowy night jumps on the paper. Green ant wine, as if containing the poet's emotions and expectations, is just waiting to be drunk with his confidants.
Tao Yuanming of the Jin Dynasty "Everyone Travels Together to the Tomb of the Zhou Family"."The song spreads new sounds, and the green wine blooms. ”With Qingge as the new sound, the joy and joy brought by green wine. Green wine, like the grass of spring, brings nourishment and comfort to the poet's soul.
Du Fu drank and enjoyed himself alone in "Drinking Alone into Poetry"."The lights are too happy, and the wine is on a blind date. ”Tell about your intimate relationship with wine. Wine Green accompanies the poet like an old friend, spending lonely time together.
In the Northern Song Dynasty Yanshu's "Qingping Le","Persuade the gentleman to green wine and golden cups, don't be afraid of the silk pipe. ”It reveals the joy and liveliness of the feast. The golden cup of green wine seems to have become the most beautiful scenery at the banquet, attracting people's attention and laughter.
Wang Zhideng's "New Year Feelings" in the Ming Dynasty"The red face is thin, the life is empty, and the green wine is affectionate like an old friend. ”The emotion and nostalgia of the red face and green wine for the passing time. Green wine is affectionate like an old friend, as if it can evoke the memories and emotions hidden in the poet's heart.
Wang Zhen's "Wine Fun" at the end of the Qing Dynasty"White jade bottles are filled with green liquid slurry, and good wine should be left for people to taste. A few Tibetan poplar forests finally drank themselves, still smelling the wine on the empty bottle. ”The green liquor slurry in the white jade bottle is used as an introduction to express the cherishing and nostalgia for the wine. Green wine is as precious as a jade liquid, and I just want to share its wonderful taste with my soulmate.
The words "wine" or "green wine" in these poems all reveal the poet's deep love and praise for fine wine. In their hearts, "wine green" is not only a color, but also a symbol of emotion, culture and life.
In ancient times, wine was born by a serendipitous discovery. It was found that leftover food was unprocessed, moldy and fermented, giving off an attractive aroma, which is the most primitive wine. With the prosperity of agriculture, there was a surplus of grain, and people began to make fine wine from the surplus grain. This was the rise of a large-scale brewing industry.
According to the ancient book "The Book of Rites and the Order of the Month", the way of sake brewing needs to follow six elements. First, it is necessary to have all the raw materials such as rice, which is the foundation of sake brewing. Second, the production of koji is crucial, as it must be fresh and effective as a saccharifying agent for fermentation to ensure the vitality and purity of microorganisms. Third, the firewood used for heating must be clean to prevent odors from tarnishing the purity of the wine. Fourth, the water used to make the wine should also be clear and sweet to give the wine its unique flavor. Fifth, high-quality pottery is the best vessel for holding wine, so as to maintain the mellow and flavor of the wine. Finally, the mastery of the heat and the control of the fermentation temperature are the essence of winemaking.
Among these factors, the most significant influence on the color of the sake is the raw materials, koji and water quality. The original sake is made from rice or wheat, and the natural sake has a warm yellow color.
However, there is one particular ingredient that gives the wine a mysterious green color – and that is the fruit.
Chlorophyll and other ingredients contained in the fruit make it possible for the green color of the wine.
In the Song Dynasty's "Miscellaneous Knowledge of Guixin", a story about fruit wine was recorded. A certain family has a grand pear orchard, and each pear tree is fruitful. One year, there was a bumper harvest of pears, and the number of pears far exceeded that of previous years, so that it was impossible to sell them all. However, the pears tasted so good that the owner was reluctant to waste them, so he stored hundreds of pears in a large urn and sealed them with soil to preserve their freshness.
Half a year later, the owner accidentally remembered the urn of pears, opened the seal and looked, only to see that the pears in the urn had turned into a pool of clear liquid. This liquid is cold and lovely, and it is unusually luscious, and it is an excellent jar of wine. Drink it and it's intoxicating. This is a wonderful example of the ancients using fruits into wine.
When making sake, in addition to the precious raw materials, there is also a crucial element hidden - koji. It is like a magic powder in the hands of the winemaker, quietly affecting the color and flavor of the wine. "Koji mushroom sake brewing" is an ancient technique that has been passed down with endless wisdom.
During the Northern Wei Dynasty, agricultural production technology flourished for a while, especially for wine-making and wine-making skills. Jia Sixian, the author of "Qi Min Yaoshu", is a winemaking giant of this era. In his writings, he devoted a large number of chapters to detailing all aspects of sake making. When it comes to making koji, the selection of raw materials is strict, and each process is meticulous, because different koji will produce completely different elixirs. This is how the koji, which is made from wheat and other grains, has a yellowish color and is made in this way.
In "The Last Will of Yi Ya", the secret of making red wine is recorded: red koji is used to make wine to take its bright color; The addition of spices such as orange peel and agarwood makes the wine full of aroma and endless aftertaste. As a result, if you add green to the koji, the green sake will be fresh and pleasant. In ancient times, the word "wine green" was a blend of poetry and elegance.
Since, since the Qing Dynasty Wu Zhaoren's "Twenty Years of Witnessing the Strange Status Quo" came out, in the thirty-third episode, Yusheng thought about the sentence "Is it good to be red?" Since then, the meaning of "wine green" has begun to undergo a subtle transformation, wrapped in a pejorative meaning. It is difficult for people to associate green wine with mellow wine, it seems to have been dragged into the quagmire, and it has become synonymous with luxury and erosive style together with words such as "flower and wine", "drunken life and dream of death", and "drunken gold fan".