Winter’s winds bring winter’s wine - Shaoxing wine｜立冬冬酿，好一杯绍兴酒
Each year, the onset of winter brings the most sacred of times… the perfect storm of Shaoxing’s natural surroundings, its crystalline Jianhu Lake waters, and the wine-making skills of its most dedicated masters. On November 7 - the commencement of this winter - the “curtain will open,” as they say, on a new season of one of the city’s most delectable delicacies.
“Old Shaoxing” lives on throughout the ages, as ancient techniques of yellow rice wine production shine as brightly today as they did from their inception, soaking, steaming, and sifting rice before “potting” and fermentation, setting the journey to wine into motion.
The first day of winter - the day fermentation begins - is one of the most important days of the year in yellow wine’s birthplace of Shaoxing, stretching to spring of the following year, during months of lowered temperatures and clearer waters which inhibit harmful bacteria, ensure optimal fermentation, and guarantee the peak in flavor and enjoyment… its ardent appreciators affectionately dubbing this time of year “wine winter.”
Shaoxing yellow rice wine, with a history reaching back over 2,500 years, still adheres to the ancient methods of its ancestors - with July of the lunar calendar beginning the rice’s fermentation, August introducing yeast, and September seeing every last grain washed with care. Winter - “wine winter,” as it were - is when the real magic begins, yellow wine’s unique, more than 90-day fermentation process beginning on its journey to a delicate taste as fragrant as it is mellow and pleasing to the senses… an experience that only gets better with time.
1999 saw Shaoxing yellow wine become of the the first products in China to be protected under national regional and geographic hallmark guidelines, and was included in the first national intangible cultural heritage protection list in 2006.
One of the three ancient wines of the world, Shaoxing yellow rice wine is, still to this day the most famous, known as China’s “national essence” at home and abroad throughout all four corners of the globe. With a history as long as the ancient city of its birth, its delicious, intoxicating aroma and one of a kind flavor are as much a part of the region as the endless generations behind it. Shaoxing is yellow wine… and yellow wine is Shaoxing.
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图片：高洁
编辑：柯桥传媒集团
翻译：绍兴文理学院外国语学院
终审：柯桥区委宣传部