Sugariness Rice Wine
"Marvelous, wonderful! What a mellow and sweet wine with a lingering aroma. It's a true name brand of the East", a Japanese expert on wine poured out these praises after tasting the yellow rice-wine. Shaoxing boasts 2,500-year history in wine-brewing. According to "The Spring and Autumn Collection", local people brewed rice wine as early as in the Spring and Autumn Period. The story of the River Toulao(river poured over with wine) is a good proof. In AD 473,the ruler Gou Jian of the State of Yue was about to lead an army to a battle with the State of Wu for redressing the ten-year long humiliation of defeat. On the day of departure, he poured the mellow wine his countrymen offered him into a river and, together with the rank and file, he set on drinking. Deeply moved, the army fought with heart and soul, and won an enormous victory. From this legend, we get the name Toulao for a river, which is located nowadays in the south of the city proper. In the Southern and Northern dynasties, yellow rice-wine was an article of tribute and, during the Tang and Song dynasties, brewing technique went sophisticated day by day and the fame of yellow rice-wine spread far and wide. At the Southeast Asia Expo of 1910,at the Panama-Pacific Int'l Expo San Francisco of 1915 and at the West Lake Expo Hangzhou in 1925,Shaoxing wine came away either with a super award or a gold medal. Since the establishment of new China, it has been among the top eighteen Chinese wines and liquors, and at each national appraisal, it is honored with a gold quality award. In 1985,it won the gold medal at a wine and liquor contest held in Madrid, Spain. The basic ingredients include choice white non-glutinous rice and top wheat with water from the lucid Jianhu River. With different complimentary materials and different brewing techniques, we are able to obtain Jiafan,Yuanhong,Xiangxue and so on, each with a unique flavor and all being top beverages. The rice wine can also be used in dishes to heighten the flavor. Traditional Chinese medicines steeped in Shaoxing wine possess ideal curative effects. The wine is exported to some 30 countries and regions, and its export volume has been at the top of all the exported rice wines in China.
Source：绍兴市政府