The Spring Festival is an important traditional Chinese festival and the peak time of the year for alcohol consumption. During the Spring Festival, whether it is a family dinner or a visit to relatives and friends, people are willing to drink in moderation at the rare moment of gathering, or use wine as a gift to convey good wishes and emotions. Different types of liquor, wine, rice wine and other different types of liquor have become more and more common on the table.
In the previous article, we introduced the gift boxes launched by major wine merchants during the Year of the Dragon, in addition to those well-known liquors, you might as well try our unique Chinese rice wine and different types of liquor products. Chinese New Year, drink traditional Chinese wine,In the Spring Festival of 2024, try and drink something different! 
Rice wine: rice wineRice wine is one of the oldest liquors in the world, originating from China, and along with beer and wine, it is known as the world's three ancient liquors. The unique brewing process and raw materials give rice wine an irreplaceable taste and aroma. For middle-aged and elderly people who pay attention to health, if they are not used to drinking liquor with a higher degree and want to drink a little warm and warm wine, then rice wine must be a choice that will not go wrong. 
Guyue Dragon MountainThere are three major factions of Chinese rice wine: Jiangsu and Zhejiang schools represented by Shaoxing rice wine; the Hakka genre represented by Hakka rice wine; The Hubei genre represented by Xiaogan rice wine. Rice wine and rice wine are both traditional Chinese liquors, and the two belong to the same category, but there are some subtle differences. Rice wine is a fermented liquor made from rice, millet, millet, corn, wheat, water, etc., with koji or some enzyme preparations, yeast and other saccharification starter cultures, with an alcohol content of 14%-20%. Rice wine, also known as rice wine, sweet wine, liquor, mash grains, with glutinous rice as the main raw material, is simpler than the brewing process of rice wine, the taste is sweet and mellow, and the alcohol content is generally low. The production history of Shaoxing rice wine is very long, according to the existing written documents for more than 2,500 years. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Shaoxing's winemaking industry was already very common. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, Shaoxing celebrities gathered, and the wind of winemaking and drinking was flourishing. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the rice wine produced in Shaoxing has been listed as a tribute. During the Tang and Song dynasties, Shaoxing's liquor brewing technology entered a comprehensive development stage and became a world-famous "wine town". Up to now, among the many liquor categories in the country, Shaoxing liquor is one of the most award-winning liquor categories. 
Guyue Longshan winemaking is inseparable from the terroir, and the same is true for rice wine. Shaoxing is located on the southeast coast of China, bordering Huiji Mountain in the south, Shaoyu Plain in the north, and about 20 kilometers away from Hangzhou Bay at the mouth of the Qiantang RiverThe stable and humid environmental climate, as well as the microbiosphere in the air that is conducive to winemaking, create the unique flavor of Shaoxing wine. Jianhu water plays a vital role in Shaoxing rice wine, Jianhu water is clear, the hardness is neutral, the salt content and heavy metals are less, and it contains a variety of trace elements necessary for the human body, which can make the structure of Shaoxing rice wine fuller, the taste is more rich, and the taste is mellow and long. 
Nanfu Distillery.
Huadiao wine, also known as champion red daughter red, is also a kind of rice wine, which originated in the Dawenkou culture period of Shandong Province 6,000 years ago, and represents a long history of Chinese wine culture. Among the Huadiao liquor in various places, Shaoxing's Huadiao liquor is the oldest. Legend has it that in ancient times, people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions would brew their own rice wine, in order to make the wine container more exquisite when giving gifts, so they would ask someone to fire a jar carved with dragons and phoenixes, flowers, grasses, fish and insects outside, and the rice wine in this kind of vessel is called Huadiao wine. According to the different storage time, Huadiao wine has three years of aging, five years of aging, eight years of aging, ten years of aging, and even decades of aging. In general,Huadiao wine is soft, orange and bright in color, rich and fragrant, sweet and mellow in taste. 
Nanfu Distillery.
The production of Hakka rice wine is mainly concentrated in Hakka areas such as Heyuan, Meizhou, and Huizhou in Guangdong. The brewing method is relatively simple, and almost all traditional Hakka people brew it. If you want to make very good Hakka rice wine, you will be very particular about the control of fermentation temperature, time and details, just like a well-known proverb in the Hakka region:"Steamed wine and grinding tofu, spear (no) people dare to call the master".。Today, the traditional brewing technique of Hakka glutinous rice wine has been included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of Guangdong Province. On important festivals, such as weddings, full moons, winter solstice, Spring Festival, etc., Hakka people gather together to drink home-brewed rice wine and enjoy a good time together. (Related reading: As soon as I heard about the New Year on the spot, the Hakka people drank a bowl of Niang wine, smiled and said .......)Xiaogan rice wine originated in Xiaogan City, Hubei Province, and has a history of thousands of years. It is made of high-quality glutinous rice produced in Xiaogan as raw materials, and fermented with honeycomb koji inherited from Xiaogan history. Different from Shaoxing rice wine and Hakka rice wine, the yellow-brown color and tasteThe color of Xiaogan rice wine is like white jade, and the taste is sweet because of the addition of honeycomb koji, and the entrance is very sweet. 
LiquorLike rice wine, baijiu is also one of the traditional Chinese liquors, with a rich aroma and mellow taste. The long history and culture have made Chinese people accustomed to using liquor for mealsMany people in the father's generation are fond of a high number of alcohol, so when family dinners, liquor is an indispensable drink on the table. According to the classification of aroma, Chinese liquor can be divided into 12 types. The juniors should do their homework in advance when preparing for the Spring Festival wine, and they can also have a good chat with the elders when drinking the liquor at the table. 
According to archaeological research, baijiu first appeared in the Yellow River valley region of northern China, about 1,000 BC, people used grain as the main raw material for fermentation and brewing, and obtained early baijiu. Over time, baijiu has also evolved and become popular throughout China. People in different regions have developed their own distinctive varieties of liquor according to local climatic conditions, brewing technology and other factors. 01.Sauce-flavored liquor:It is typical of Kweichow Moutai and Sichuan Langjiu, also known as Maotai liquor. It is composed of a mixture of three kinds of sauce aroma, mellow sweetness and cellar bottom aroma, and the aroma composition is relatively complex. It is characterized by outstanding sauce aroma, elegant and delicate, mellow body, long aftertaste, clear and transparent, and slightly yellow color. 02.Aromatic liquor:Sichuan Luzhou Laojiao, Wuliangye as typical representatives. The fermentation raw materials of strong flavor liquor are a variety of raw materials, mainly sorghum, and the fermentation adopts the process of mixed steaming and residue resuming. It is famous at home and abroad for its colorless transparency, elegant cellar fragrance, sweet and refreshing, soft and coordinated, long tail net fragrance and typical style.
Nanfu Distillery is one of the models of strong aromatic liquor, and the Nanfu liquor produced is the liquor that every local person loves to drink and buy. Nanfu Distillery is located in Nanxi District, Yibin City, formerly known as Hengsheng Fu Distillery, which was built in the Ming Dynasty to make wine. In 1951, Hengshengfu, Lisheng and Sino-German distilleries became one of the first distilleries in Sichuan, and was called the 26th state-owned distillery at that time. Nanfu adheres to the century-old winery, skills and ingenuity, adheres to the ancient method of brewing and continues to improve, creating "a craftsman-level good wine with layers of experience".
Nanfu Distillery.
03.Aromatic liquor:Shanxi Fenjiu is a typical representative, also known as Fenxiang liquor. Using sorghum and other grains as raw materials, medium-temperature Daqu made of barley and peas as saccharification starter culture, using steaming and cleaning lees brewing process, solid-state tank fermentation, and steaming liquor, emphasizing "steaming and discharging impurities, cleaning and hygiene, and clearing to the end". It is characterized by pure fragrance, mellow sweetness and softness, natural harmony, and a refreshing aftertaste. 04.Aromatic liquor:It is also known as compound fragrance type and mixed type, which is represented by Baiyunbian in Hubei, Kouzijiao in Anhui, and Langjiu in Sichuan. It refers to the liquor with more than two main aromas, with the style of one wine with multiple aromas, and generally has its own unique production process. The traditional aromatic liquor has the characteristics of both luxiang liquor and thatched liquor in terms of aroma and taste. Among the 12 flavor types, although the market share of the flavor liquor is small, it can also rank fourth after the strong flavor type, sauce flavor type, and light fragrance type, and has a certain audience group. 05.Rice-flavored liquor:It is represented by Guilin Sanhua Liquor, Quanzhou Xiangshan Liquor, Guangdong Changle Liquor, etc., also known as honey flavor type. It is a small koji liquor produced from rice, brewed by the handmade liquor method of biological fermentation, which is characterized by elegant honey fragrance, sweet entrance, refreshing and clean mouth, and pleasant aftertaste. Rice-flavored liquor has a long history, and many experts and scholars have publicly recommended it as the origin of Chinese liquor. The development of rice flavor liquor has faced many limitations, such as: there are accumulations in the liquor, which cannot be as clear and transparent as other aromatic liquors; The degree is lowered, no more than 20 degrees, and some people will even confuse it with rice wine; It needs to use manual brewing, it is not possible to operate on a large-scale assembly line, the output is low, and the popularity is not strong, so it lacks a certain popularity. In recent years, Guangdong Changle Burning has been constantly making self-breakthroughs and reaching more consumers through various marketing methods such as activities. Today, Changle Shochu has won the honors of "National High-quality Liquor", "National Geographical Indication Protected Product", "First Liquor of Guangdong Top Ten Famous Liquors", "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Guangdong Province", "Gold Medal of the 100th Anniversary Retrospective Exhibition of Panama-Pacific International Exposition", and is the representative of China's rice-flavored liquor. 
Chorakuyaki.
Sesame-flavored liquor:One of the two innovative flavors after the establishment of China, with sesame fragrance as the main body, and the strengths of three flavor types: thick, clear and sauce, it is a relatively young category in the ranks of Chinese liquor, but it is also a fragrance type with difficult brewing technology, high brewing conditions and very strict environmental requirements, which can be called the noble flavor type in liquor. The typical representative is Shandong's Jingzhi Baigan and Yipin Jingzhi series. It is characterized by the purity and elegance of the light-flavored liquor, the softness and fullness of the strong-flavored liquor, the elegance and delicacy of the sauce-flavored liquor, and the complex aroma of roasted sesame. 07.Fengxiang liquor:Taking Xifeng wine as a typical representative, it is characterized by clear and transparent, mellow and elegant, sweet and refreshing, and harmonious flavors. The tail net is long. That is, it is clear but not light, strong but not drunk, and integrates the advantages of fragrance and strong fragrance. 08.Drum-flavored liquor:A unique liquor in the Pearl River Delta region, represented by Guangdong Yubing Roasted and Double Distilled Liquor. In the brewing, rice is used as raw material, and the semi-solid and semi-liquid method of small koji and large wine cakes is used, which is fermented while saccharification, and the basic liquor is obtained by liquid distillation, also known as "Zhaijiu", and then added to the fat meat to soak, store and blend. It is characterized by jade and ice, unique drum fragrance, mellow and sweet, and a refreshing aftertaste. 
Jade ice burning.
09.Special flavor liquor:It is represented by Jiangxi's four special liquor and Linchuan tribute liquor. Whole rice is used as the main raw material, without crushing, the whole grain is mixed with fermented rice, so that the aroma of rice is directly brought into the wine, enriching its aroma components. It is characterized by a multi-type and multi-layered fragrance, with a mellow, sweet and mellow taste. 10.Medicinal flavor liquor:Represented by Guizhou's Dong Liquor, large koji and small koji are used together, and a variety of Chinese medicinal materials are added in the brewing process. It is characterized by a strong and prominent medicinal aroma, and the aroma is obviously different from that of other aromatic liquors, with moderate sourness, mellow taste, and long tail taste. 11.Old white dry aroma liquor:Represented by Hengshui Laobaigan, the raw material is high-quality sorghum, the starch content of sorghum is as high as 61%, and the auxiliary materials are rice husks with bright color and no peculiar smell. The so-called "sorghum wine-making fragrance", Hengshui Laobaigan is made by absorbing the characteristics of sorghum raw materials. It is characterized by an elegant aroma, natural harmony, soft and mellow tone, and a long aftertaste. 12.Fragrant liquor:Represented by Hunan drunkard wine, it belongs to one of the two small flavor types. It takes into account some of the characteristics of strong aroma, light fragrance, rice fragrance and small qu fragrant liquor. It is characterized by colorless and transparent, fragrant and elegant, soft and sweet, mellow and delicate; The aftertaste is pleasant, the aroma is rich, and the body is clean.
Chen Taiji.
With the continuous change and upgrading of Chinese consumers' demand for alcohol, the Spring Festival alcohol market has shown a trend of diversification and personalization. This trend not only enriches consumers' choices, but also provides more opportunities and challenges for alcohol producers. In addition to wine, rice wine, and white wine, there are also various new types of alcohol, such as fruit wine, rice wine, and cocktails, which are popular with different consumer groups. With a wide variety of tastes and styles, it also provides a variety of options for family gatherings and friends dinners. This year's Spring Festival, it is better to drink something different to add a touch of novelty to the New Year's table.
Text, ed estela