Hunan famous liquor
Famous Hunan Liquors
Dear friends:
Hello, everyone! Welcome to taste the famous liquors of Hunan.
As we all know, China is one of the earliest countries in the world to brew alcohol, and has made tremendous contributions to the development of brewing technology worldwide. As a unique substance, the emergence and development of alcohol are closely related to the development of productive forces. When our ancestors were still apes, they discovered that wild fruits contained fermentable sugars, which, under the action of yeast, could produce a sweet and fragrant liquid—this was the earliest natural fruit wine. The ancient legend of "apes making wine" is precisely based on this natural fruit wine.
Alcohol, as an objective material existence in the world, is a changeable spirit. It is hot as fire and cold as ice; it can make people transcendent and broad-minded, brilliant and unrestrained; it can make people forget the pains, sorrows, and troubles of the mortal world and soar freely in a space of absolute freedom; it can also make people act without restraint and bravely sink to the very bottom of the abyss.
In the long river of human cultural history, alcohol is not merely an objective material existence but also a cultural symbol—namely, the symbol of the Dionysian spirit. With Zhuangzi's philosophy as its source, it advocates the unity of self and object, and the unity of heaven and humanity. It promotes "riding on things and wandering" and "the land of nothingness." It would rather be a free turtle wagging its head and tail in a muddy pond than a thousand-li horse striding proudly under human bondage. The pursuit of absolute freedom and the forgetting of life and death, gain and loss, and honor and disgrace—this is the essence of the Chinese Dionysian spirit.
In the kingdom of literature and art, the Dionysian spirit is everywhere, and it has had a tremendous and profound impact on literary artists and their supreme masterpieces. Because freedom, art, and beauty are a trinity—art arises from freedom, and beauty arises from art.
Achieving a state of artistic freedom through drunkenness was an important path for ancient Chinese artists to break free from constraints and gain artistic creativity. Liu Ling, the foremost "drunkard" among the famous scholars of the Wei and Jin dynasties, who was "broad-minded in aspiration and regarded the universe as narrow," wrote in his "Ode to the Virtue of Wine": "Take heaven and earth as a single morning, ten thousand years as a mere moment; the sun and moon as door and window, the eight directions as courtyard and path." "Suddenly drunk, brightly sober—listening quietly, one hears not the thunder; gazing intently, one sees not the form of Mount Tai." This state of the "perfect man" is a typical embodiment of the Chinese Dionysian spirit.
Opening the history of Chinese literature and art, it is also a history of the dance of the Dionysian spirit. "Li Bai—one dou of wine, a hundred poems; he sleeps in the taverns of Chang'an's streets. The emperor calls him to board the boat, but he claims to be an immortal of wine." "Drunk, one becomes a guest; the poem completed, one feels divine." "Looking up and down, each has his aspiration; with wine, poems come of themselves." ("Before one cup is finished, the poem is done; poetry surges toward heaven, and even heaven is startled.") Examples of creating enduring poems while drunk are everywhere in Chinese poetry history.
Not only in poetry is this so; in painting and in calligraphy—the art unique to Chinese culture—the spirit of Dionysus is even more lively and varied. Zheng Banqiao would not easily give his calligraphy and paintings to others, but he could not resist the temptation of fine wine and dog meat; those who sought his works while he was drunk could have their wishes fulfilled. Wu Daozi, the "Painting Sage" known for "Wu's brushwork carrying the wind," would only begin painting after drinking deeply and becoming drunk; painting while drunk, he would finish with a flourish. Huang Gongwang, one of the "Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty," also said, "If not drunk with wine, I cannot paint." Wang Xizhi, the "Calligraphy Sage," wrote the "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering" while drunk, "vigorous, graceful, and strong—unmatched in all generations." Huaisu, drunk, splashed ink and left behind his "Autobiography" that astonished even ghosts and gods. Zhang Xu, the "Sage of Cursive Script," "would, whenever deeply drunk, shout and run wildly, then begin to write," producing his "Four Ancient Poems" with "brushstrokes falling on paper like clouds and mist."
The comings and goings of the Dionysian spirit in the palace of literature and art have ensured that the giant wings of the muse of literature and art have never ceased their passionate fluttering.
What is wine in this world, that it should make people's souls linger and their spirits break with longing?
Recall those days: Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin, using wine to bolster his resolve—heaven and earth changed color, and plants and trees shared his sorrow. Liu Bang went to Hongmen at Bashang; Xiang Zhuang danced with his sword, aiming at Lord Pei. Cao Cao and Liu Bei sat close together, warming wine and discussing heroes—carving up the empire all in a single drink. Zhao Kuangyin "released military power over a cup of wine"—in one night, the realm was secured, and he sat firmly on the dragon throne... "The Plum in the Golden Vase" depicts all manner of human behavior, with "wine, lust, wealth, and temper" revealing the fickleness of the world. In "Dream of the Red Chamber," only after Daiyu and Baoyu warm wine does the fallen blossom drift along the stream by the small bridge. In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," wine contains stratagems and schemes—devising strategies within the command tent to win victories a thousand li away. In "Water Margin," it is all about drinking from large bowls and chewing large chunks of meat—true feelings revealed in wine, righteousness and loyalty preserved in wine... Wine reflects the past, wine illuminates the present—wine is the symbol of history.
Wine also conveys emotions. Ancient literati, knights-errant, and poets were mostly people who cherished, loved, and craved wine. On the Double Ninth Festival, a few good friends would climb high, "brewing wine in the mountains and burning red leaves, writing poems on rocks and sweeping green moss." In summer, they would gather by the stream for "floating wine cups along the winding water"—placing cups of fine wine on the flowing water and letting them drift; the poets would sit in a row along the bank, and whoever the cup drifted to would drink and compose a poem. Su Dongpo had an even more ingenious idea: he would take a boat carrying wine onto West Lake, use lotus leaves to hold the wine, pierce the bottom of the leaf, and suck the wine through the stem along with the fragrance of the lotus, singing the lines: "When will the bright moon appear? I raise my cup and ask the blue sky. I do not know in the celestial palace what year this evening is." Truly elegant beyond the immortals. Cao Cao's "Generous and impassioned, deep thoughts are hard to forget. How to relieve sorrow? Only by Dukang" is majestic and boundless in spirit. Li Bai loved wine: "The dappled horse, the thousand-gold fur coat—call the boy to take them out and exchange them for fine wine, and with you I shall dissolve the sorrow of ten thousand ages." Starting from wine, blending emotion into wine—this is truly an enduring masterpiece, celebrated for all generations.
Although humanity's earliest drinking behavior was accidental, it had an extremely important impact on human health preservation. Wine is warm in nature and pungent in taste; warmth can dispel cold, and pungency can disperse. Therefore, wine can dredge the meridians, promote the flow of qi and blood, relieve numbness and dissipate nodules, warm yang and dispel cold, soothe the liver and relieve depression, and express emotions and ease the mind. For the ancestors under the threat of hunger and cold, this was undoubtedly the best sacred substance for resisting cold and disease. Therefore, the material and spiritual aspects radiating from wine as the center constitute, within the overall scope of Chinese culture, a relatively independent, richly connotative, complete, and vast wine culture system. Thousands of years of brewing technology and craftsmanship continuously improved and enhanced; the colorful wine rituals and customs of different regions and ethnic groups; the various brewing tools and drinking vessels reflecting ancient and modern times; the poems, essays, lyrics, and songs about wine written by literati and poets; the anecdotes and allusions about drinking recorded in various texts; and the endlessly varied drinking games, poetic wine names, and so on—all these constitute a vast and rich treasure house of Chinese wine culture.
Hunan, this ancient land of Chu, with its wondrous mountains and waters and abundant grains, has had an indissoluble bond with wine since ancient times.
From the Chu ci "Summoning the Soul" and the artifacts unearthed from the Han tomb at Mawangdui in Changsha, we can see the use of wine and medicinal wine in the Jianghan and Yuan-Xiang regions during the pre-Qin and Han periods. "Summoning the Soul" writes: "Jade-like nectar and honeyed wine, filled in feathered cups. Pressing out the lees and drinking it chilled, the double-fermented wine is clear and cool." This describes drinking fine wine mixed with some honey, poured into bird-shaped ear cups; the wine pressed out from the lees—how mellow and cool it is. Qu Yuan praised the fine wine of Chu most highly. And in "The Great Summoning," not only is the variety of sweet wines used for summoning souls described, but the raw materials for brewing, the aromatic types of wine, and even the production methods are described.
In the medical prescription monograph "Fifty-Two Ailment Prescriptions" unearthed from Han Tomb No. 3 at Mawangdui in Changsha, there are 35 prescriptions that use wine, of which 5 are wine-based formulations, used to treat snake bites, gangrene, scabies, and other diseases. In the "Methods of Nourishing Life," 6 methods for brewing medicinal wines are also introduced. From this, we can know that the raw materials and methods for making sweet wine in the Changsha area in the early Western Han period were the same as those of the Chu state during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods and the Western Zhou period.
According to the folk legends of the Tujia people in western Hunan, in ancient times a group of Tujia crossed the Dongting Lake, traveled upstream along the Yuan River, and arrived at a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters in the Wuling mountain area. Here there were large trees for building stilted houses and clear springs for brewing "corn liquor," so they settled in this area, clearing land and building homes. The Tujia epic "Song of Hand-Waving: Song of Ethnic Migration" also sings: "...This is the place for long dwelling, this is the place to take root! Everywhere green mountains and clear waters, everywhere birds sing and flowers are fragrant: wild pheasants fly, golden pheasants call, turtledoves sing, beasts leap. White clouds cover the sun, clear springs flow into the caves. Grandsons can establish their foundations, generation after generation multiply and thrive..." From the epic's deliberate depiction and elaboration of birds and beasts, it reveals that the Tujia people still retained traces of the fishing and hunting era. However, when they migrated as a whole clan to "set up camp," one of the first conditions they considered was wine, which naturally became an indispensable important food in the daily life of Tujia villages thereafter.
The Miao epic ancient song of western Hunan, "Ancient Words: Chapter of Later Changes," seems to involve an even older history of wine. The Miao, as an ancient agricultural people, held the ancestral gods and thunder gods in extreme reverence. Therefore, in the "striking the ox" sacrificial ceremony, meat and wine were indispensable. From this, it is not difficult to see that wine arose very early among the Miao people; wine occupies an important position in the beliefs, food customs, and daily dietary customs of Miao villages.
From Tujia epics and legends, Miao epic ancient songs, as well as Chu ci and Han tomb artifacts, we can see that in the Hunan area—the ancient land of Chu and Xiang—sweet wine and yellow wine were already being made in very ancient times. They not only appeared frequently in daily life and sacrificial rituals but were also widely used as "medicinal wine" in medical treatment and recorded in classical texts.
After more than two thousand years of continuous accumulation and innovation, especially the vigorous advocacy and refined craftsmanship since the 1980s, famous liquors such as Wuling Wine, Xiangquan Wine, and Baishaye have emerged, enjoying great prestige both domestically and internationally.
Wuling King Wine
Wuling brand Wuling Wine is a product of the Wuling Distillery in Changde City, Hunan Province. In 1973, it was awarded the title of Famous Hunan Liquor; in 1984, it won the Gold Cup Award at the Ministry of Light Industry Liquor Quality Competition; in 1979 and 1984, it won the title of National Quality Wine and Silver Medal at the Third and Fourth National Wine Evaluation Conferences; in 1988, it won the title of National Famous Wine and Gold Medal at the Fifth National Wine Evaluation Conference; in 1992, it won the Gold Award at the First International Baijiu, Wine, and Beverage Expo in New York, USA.
Wuling Wine is produced in Changde, which has a long history of brewing. Because Changde was called Wuling in ancient times, the wine was named after it. Wuling Wine was already famous long ago. As early as the pre-Qin era, people had the custom of setting up "spring terrace feasts" with wine "to drink together." During the Five Dynasties period, the wine produced by the Cui family tavern in Wuling was the most famous. According to the "Manual of Wine": "During the Five Dynasties, a Daoist named Zhang Yiren wrote a poem 'Presented to the Cui Family Wine Furnace': 'In Wuling city, the Cui family's wine—on earth there should be none, only in heaven. A wandering Daoist drinks a dou, and lies drunk in the deep cave of white clouds.'" The wine became famous through the poem, and more and more people came to buy it, making Wuling Wine's reputation spread even more widely. Granny Cui was later included among the "Famous Winemakers," and the place where she drew water was called Cui Po Well, which also became a brewing heritage site. In the Song Dynasty, the brewing industry flourished, and "Dingzhou White Jade Spring" wine was listed among the famous wines of the nation. During the Xining period, wine tax revenue reached "over fifty thousand strings," making it one of the two major wine-producing regions in Hunan. In the Qing Dynasty, folk brewing was relatively widespread, as in the "Wuling Bamboo Branch Song": "Every village beats painted drums and pours spring wine."
Wuling Wine selects high-quality sorghum as raw material and uses high-temperature qu made from wheat as the saccharifying and fermenting agent. The whole sorghum grains are soaked, rinsed twice after fully absorbing water to wash away impurities and reduce some tannins, laying the foundation for the sweet and mellow quality of the wine. The qu is roasted and the grain is steamed and distilled separately, with temperatures reaching as high as 70°C, and the amount of qu used in the first round is increased—this is the source of the finished product's rich sauce aroma with a slight burnt fragrance. In addition, the processes of separate steaming and distillation, drying-floor piling, and seven steamings and six drawings are employed. The raw wine is then stored for many years, carefully blended, and packaged before leaving the factory. The entire brewing process has its unique features.
Wuling Wine is aged in cellars for over ten years and blended with modern techniques. The wine is slightly yellow, clear and transparent, with a full body, rich aroma, elegant and delicate, smooth and gentle on entry, pure and pleasant, with a long aftertaste and a unique style. It combines the elegance and delicacy of the sauce-aroma type with the mellow fragrance and sweet crispness of the strong-aroma type. Wuling Daqu has a clear and transparent liquid, rich cellar aroma, elegant and delicate, with a clean and refreshing aftertaste. Wuling King Wine is aged in cellars for over 20 years, with an annual output of only ten thousand bottles, making it the finest of Wuling Wines. At the 1995 National Autumn Sugar and Wine Trade Fair auction, a single bottle sold for 98,000 yuan, setting a national record for baijiu. Pu Jie wrote a poem: "A thousand years of clear jade-green Xiang River water, cleverly brewed into fragrant wine called Wuling."
Jiugui Wine
Jiugui Wine is the essence of traditional fine brews of the ethnic groups of western Hunan. It uses high-quality cloud-mist glutinous sorghum, fragrant glutinous rice, and wheat as raw materials, utilizes the three springs at the foot of Jingui Mountain in Zhenwuying in the Wuling Mountains, fully absorbs the essence of folk brewing techniques and Xiangquan wine-making craftsmanship (the unique techniques of premium base wine, old cellar fermentation, and medicinal qu saccharification), integrates Moutai's high-temperature qu and piled fermentation, and adopts the mud-cellar continuous-residue aroma-enhancement method of Sichuan-style strong-aroma wine, among other strengths. Through breakthrough innovation, it has been brewed into a rare fine wine with distinctive personality and style characteristics: clear and transparent color, rich and fragrant cellar aroma, elegant and harmonious sauce aroma, mellow, sweet, and soft taste, full body, and clean, refreshing, and long aftertaste. The content of aroma- and flavor-contributing acids, alcohols, esters, and aldehydes is rich and in harmonious proportion. It has both the characteristics of light aroma and the features of strong aroma, as well as the charm of sauce aroma. After being sealed and stored in cellars or karst caves for natural aging, its fragrance becomes elegant, fragrant, and delicate, exhibiting richness; its taste becomes pleasant, soft, and full, exhibiting harmony. It has become a typical representative of strong aroma with sauce, sauce not dominating, and a combination of strong, sauce, light, and rice aromas. It has been praised by domestic wine experts as the sixth major aroma type after China's five major baijiu aroma types of sauce, strong, light, rice, and mixed—the mixed aroma type of rich fragrance—and has become a supreme fine product of careful research and development.
The packaging, designed by the famous western Hunan-born painter Huang Yongyu, is a purple clay ceramic bottle shaped like a tied-mouth gunny sack. The packaging is novel, generous, simple, and elegant, and the wine name is witty and innovative, making it a treasure among wines. The wine is renowned far and wide for its unique quality, bottle, and name, and has been highly praised by political figures, wine experts, and international friends. In 1988, it won the Gold Award at China's First Food Expo; in 1989, it won the Silver Award at the First Beijing International Expo; in 1993, it won the highest honor Gold Award at the Seventh Bordeaux World Professional Wine Expo in France; in 1994, it won the Gold Award at the Brussels International Expo in Belgium and the Gold Award at the Beijing Asia-Pacific International Trade Expo; in 1995, it was certified as a "World Famous Brand Consumer Product" by the World Famous Brand Consumer Products Recognition Committee. It became the only banquet baijiu served to heads of state and distinguished guests at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference. It was also presented by the conference as a national gift to the heads of state and government leaders of the participating countries.