KEEPING THE SPIRIT ALIVE
The town of Baisha has been making wine since the time of the Ming Dynasty, and a young liquor brand is making serious efforts to keep the tradition going
Awine cluster that integrates Chinese white spirit production, culture and tourism is taking shape in southwestern Chongqing municipality’s Baisha town.
Wang Hechuan uses a pottery bowl to collect some colorless liquid trickling down from a long bamboo chute at Lyuxi Winery in Baisha, a one-hour drive from downtown Chongqing.
He then tells us to look at the bubbles on the surface, which disappear in a few seconds.
“You can estimate the alcohol content of the wine by observing them (the bubbles),” says Wang.
They all point to the alcohol content.
“For example, the more consistent the bubbles, or the more quickly they disperse, the higher the alcohol content,” he says
Wang has been in the brewing business — which dates back the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) — for more than four decades.
The town has long been a thriving wine brewing site thanks to its weather.
In addition, the sorghum grown locally, in soil rich in selenium using water from the Lyuzi River, has a natural sweet taste that makes for very good wine.
More than 300 wineries used to line the Caofang street, roughly 20 minutes from Lyuxi Winery, in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
And in 1915, the street was home to roughly 230 wine workshops, altogether producing 5 million liters of liquor a year.
Now, Lyuxi is the only one of those time-honored facilities that has survived the passage of time.
“Wine produced here gives off more fragrance and carries a sweet aftertaste,” says Wang, who began learning about traditional winemaking from the age of 17.
Wang, who was designated an winemaking expert in 2011 under Chongqing’s intangible cultural heritage program, does everything the old-fashioned way, from wine brewing to the tools he use.
“I try to ensure that the wine retains the flavor of the Ming Dynasty,” he says.
All the equipment, including the distiller, the condenser, the ventilation box and the fermentation bucket are made either of wood or bamboo.
“Wood absorbs more of the microorganisms, which increases the wine’s fragrance during the brewing process,” says Wang.
Workers in gray garments are busy stirring the steamed sorghum with steel forks, taking it out with bamboo winnowing fans, or sweeping the floors at the winery.
“Everything is done manually,” says Wang.
The whole process has 10 steps and is a continuous cycle, which calls for intensive work.
For instance, winemakers need to soak the sorghum in water and raw wine in a pool for a night right before they get off work.
Then, they boil the soaked sorghum steam in the morning before placing it on a perforated bed to cool.
Fermentation then follows, usually taking five to 20 days.
Many of the steps in the winemaking process rely on experience.
“Microorganism fermentation is not mechanical and has to be tweaked a lot based on fluctuations in the weather and temperature,” says Wang.
“So, the production process in summer is different from what we do in winter,” he adds.
One needs to control the time taken to ensure consistent quality.
The winery now produces four tons of wine daily.
Winemaking at Lyuxi got a shot in the arm in 2016, when Jiangxiaobai, an emerging Chinese distillate spirit brand that has become a hit with young Chinese consumers, bought Lyuxi Winery out.
Since then, Jiangxiaobai has not only injected money into Lyuxi’s traditional production and operations, but also taken other steps to revitalize the brand, like building a replica of Caofang street, to remind visitors what wine business looked like in the old days.
Separately, Jiangxiaobai also entered Lyuxi wines into international competitions like the Spirits Selection by Concours Mondialde Bruxelles in Belgium, where it received the gold prize in 2017.
These moves have put Lyuxi wine back on the map, and annual sales more than doubled last year compared with the year before.
“Our wine produced using ancient methods has gained ground since Jiangxiaobai’s efforts, especially in Chongqing,” says Wang.
Lyuxi Winery is one part of Jiangxiaobai’s plan to create a liquor town and promote a wine culture in Baisha.
“Culture is key in the wine business,” says Tao Shiquan, who founded Jiangxiaobai in 2012.
Meanwhile, Jiangxiaobai’s wine is produced at Jiangji Distillery, a few minutes’ drive from the Lyuxi Winery.
And the wine is made using a lowtemperature and long-term fermentation method, which is an innovation based on the Lyuxi method.
The wine appeals to young consumers, most of whom are not fans of Chinese white liquor.
The lightness and smoothness of the liquor sets it apart from it older counterparts, most of which are stronger, says Tao.
“It (the Jiangxiaobai’s wine) satisfies the needs of new-generation consumers, especially those who don’t have a stomach for alcohol.”
The new brand raked in one billion yuan ($145.4 million) in sales last year and now accounts for half of the country’s wine market.
At the moment, Jiangxiaobai plans to invest 3 billion yuan to develop a wine town, says Tao.
“And we’ll strive to make the town a national AAAA scenic spot,” he adds.
There, visitors will not only get to wine and dine, but also learn everything about the liquor industry, from the top to bottom.
As of now, a red-skin glutinous sorghum plantation for local wine production is up and running right in front of the Jiangji Winery.
The plantation covers an area of 2,000 mu (133 hectares) and looks like a red sea.
The red-topped plants are a hybrid, says Liu Jiuyu, a farm technician.
And the yield is approximately 400 kilograms per mu, about 50 kg more than the regular variety.
Among the other plans for the wine town is a museum on sorghum, besides a restaurant, a homestay and tavern, says Liu.
A liquor museum will be in place by 2019, as part of the wine town.
For now, Wang is working with three apprentices.
“My hope is they carry forward the craftsmanship left by (our) ancestors,” he says.