Types of Chinese Wine in Diagrams
Drinking with One Heart
Drinking Customs on Festivals
Wine |
China is one of the three ancient countries in the world and has thousands of years of history to brew wine. Today, China is also famous for its masterly technology and distinctive style of wine and is more renowned for the long history and profound culture. The world people gradually realized the great value of wine culture of China as the rapid development of Chinese wine since the foundation of China. In China, the word for alcohol "jiu" is used to mean all types of alcoholic beverages, from "pijiu"(beer) to liquors (just called "jiu") to grape wine ("putaojiu"). The origins of the alcoholic beverages from fermented grain in China can not be traced definitely. The distilled drink was not popular until the 19th century. Traditionally, Chinese distilled liquors are consumed together with food rather than drunk on their own. The wine can be generally classified into two types, namely, yellow liquors (huangjiu) or clear (white) liquor (baijiu). The yellow liquor is fermented wine that is brewed directly from grains such as rice or wheat. Such liquor contains less than 20% alcohol due to the inhibition of fermentation by ethanol at this concentration. This wine is traditionally pasteurized，aged, and filtered before their final bottling for sale to consumers. Yellow liquor can also be distilled to produce white liquor or baijiu. White liquor (baijiu) are also commonly called shaojiu, which means "hot liquor" or "burned liquor", either because of the burning sensation in the mouth during consumption and the fact that they are usually warmed before being consumed, or because of the heating requirements for distillation liquors of this type typically contain more than 30% alcohol in volume since they have undergone distillation. There are a great many varieties of distilled liquors, both unflavored and flavored. |
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Famous Chinese Liquors and Wines
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- Feng Jiu
- Feng Jiu-- this wine was dated back to Northern and Southern Dynasties (5500 A.D.). It is the original Chinese white wine made from sorghum. Alcohol content by volume: 63--65%.
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- Zhu Ye Qing Jiu
- Zhu Ye Qing Jiu－this wine is Fen Jiu brewed with a dozen or more of selected Chinese herbal medicine. One of the ingredients is bamboo leaves which give the wine a greenish color and its name....
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- Mao Tai Jiu
- Mao Tai Jiu－ this wine has a production history of over 200 years. It is named after its origin at Mao Tai town in Guizhou province. It is made from wheat and sorghum with a unique distilling...
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- Gao Liang Jiu
- Gao Liang is the Chinese name for sorghum. Besides sorghum, the brewing process also use barley, wheat etc. The wine was originated from Da Zhi Gu since the Ming Dynasty. Nowadays, Taiwan is a...
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- Wu Jia Pi Jiu
- A variety of guo liang jiu with a unique selection of Chinese herbal medicine added to the brewing. Alcohol content by volume: 54--55%.
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- Da Qu Jiu
- Da Qu Jiu - originated from Sichuan province with 300 years of history. This wine is made of sorghum and wheat by fermenting in a unique process for a long period in the cellar. Alcohol content by...
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- Yuk Bing Shiu Jiu
- A rice wine with over 100 years history. It is made of steamed rice and stored a long period after distillation. Alcohol content by volume: 30%.
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- Shuang Jing and San Jing Jiu
- Shuang Jing(double distillation) and San Jing(triple distillation) Jiu-two varieties of rice wine by distilling twice and three times respectively. Alcohol content by volume: 32% and 38--39%...
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- San Hua Jiu
- San Hua jiu (三花酒, lit. "three flowers wine")- a rice wine made in Guilin with allegedly over a thousand year history. It is famous for the fragrant herbal addition, and the use of spring...
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- Fujian Glutinous Rice Wine
- Fujian Glutinous Rice Wine - made by adding a long list of expensive Chinese herbal medicine to glutinous rice and a low alcohol rice wine distillation. The unique brewing technique uses another...
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- Hua Diao Jiu
- Hua Diao Jiu - a type of yellow wine originates from Shaoxing, Zhejiang. It is made of glutinous rice and wheat. Alcohol content by volume: 16%.
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- Meiguilu jiu
- Meiguilu jiu (lit. "rose essence liquor"): a variety of gaoliang jiu distilled with a special species of rose and crystal sugar. Alcohol content by volume: 54–55%.
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