Historical Origin of Moutai:
Historical Origin Editor: As one of the world's three most famous wines and one of China's three most famous wines, the "Mao Five Swords", Moutai has a history of more than 800 years.
In 1915, he won the gold medal and certificate at the Panama International Exposition. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Moutai liquor won many awards and was sold all over the world. It was known as "the world's famous liquor and the "light of the motherland".
Moutai Town Moutai Town Moutai has a long brewing history and unique brewing methods. Determined by comprehensive factors such as craftsmanship, superior intrinsic quality, profound brewing culture, as well as the incomparable role played in China's political, diplomatic, and economic life in history, and its traditional and special status in the Chinese wine industry, it is the result of three generations of great men. It is the result of the deep love and long-term market test and cultivation.
It is said that in the ancient days of Dayu, the Pu people, the indigenous residents of Chishui River, were good at making wine. "Jiujiu". "Zunyi Prefecture Chronicles" records: Goji Sauce is the beginning of wine.
Sima Qian recorded in "Historical Records": In the sixth year of Jianyuan (135 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered Tang Meng to come out After traveling to Nanyue, Tang Meng drank the goujiang wine produced in the Nanyue Kingdom (today's Renhuai County where Maotai Town is located). He brought the wine back to Chang'an and presented it to Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu drank it and found it "sweet" and left a "sweet taste". There is a legend that Meng of Tang Dynasty drank the homemade sauce to make Yelang.
This became the beginning of Moutai liquor going out of the mountains. Since then, it has been famous as a tribute to the imperial court.
After the Tang and Song Dynasties Moutai gradually became the tribute wine of successive dynasties and spread overseas through the Southern Silk Road. In the Qing Dynasty, the liquor industry in Maotai Town flourished, and famous wines such as "Maotai Chun", "Maotai Shaochun" and "Tongsha Maotai" became famous. .
"Huamao" is the predecessor of Moutai liquor.
The earliest historical record of Moutai liquor that can be found is the "Ren Huai Cao Zhi" written in the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty. , the book records that "the wine production in Maotai Village in the west of the city is ranked first in Guizhou"
In the 43rd year of Kangxi (1704), "Gesheng Shaofang" officially named its wine. Maotai Liquor.
According to the "Jiu Zunyi Prefecture Chronicles" of the Qing Dynasty, during the Daoguang period, "there were no less than 20 Maotai houses, and the cost of food was no less than 20,000 shi."
" In the 23rd year of Daoguang (1843), Qing Dynasty poet Zheng Zhen praised Maotai as "the best wine in the country of Guizhou people".
In the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), Huang and Bai The Peasant Rebellion Army and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Shi Dakai general Li Fujian's rebel army fought against the Qing army in Maotai. Maotai town was razed to ruins, and all the wineries in the town were destroyed in the war, and the brewing of Maotai liquor was interrupted. /p>
In the second year of Tongzhi (1863), Hua Lianhui (also known as Tuanwu), a salt merchant from Tuanxi, Zunyi, went to Moutai on official business. In order to satisfy his grandmother’s request to drink Moutai, he found the old wine. He bought an abandoned winery and resumed brewing Moutai.
At first, Moutai was only used as a home-brew for one’s own consumption or as a gift to relatives and friends. It was not until 10 years later that due to increased demand from all parties, Hua started to make Moutai. Lianhui expanded its production scale and officially sold the product as a commodity, naming it Huisha Mao Liquor. The winery was called Chengyi (also known as Chengyu) Shaofang. At that time, there were only two pits with an annual output of 1.5 to 2.5 tons. , distributed by Yonglong Yuyan, operated by Hua Shi, and sold in Maotai and Guiyang.
After Hua Lianhui's death in the late Qing Dynasty, Chengyi Winery was successively operated by his son Hua Zhihong and his grandson Hua Wenqu. , until it was taken over by the government in 1951.
In the fifth year of Guangxu (1879), after Chengyi Winery, the second Maotai Winery-Rongtaihe Shaofang appeared. It was jointly opened by Shi Rongxiao, Sun Quantai and Wang Lifu, the big landowners in Renhuai County.
Soon after the operation, Sun Quantai withdrew his shares on the grounds that Shi Rongxiao's accounts were unclear, and Rongtaihe Shaofang was renamed Ronghe Shaofang. .
Its scale is smaller than that of Chengyi, with only two pits and an annual output of 1 to 1.5 tons, all of which are sold locally.
After Wang Lifu's death, around 1919, The Shao Fang was exclusively run by Shi Rongxiao's grandson Wang Zesheng (Shi Rongxiao's surname was Wang and he was the adopted son of the Shi family).
Wang Zesheng was later run by his son Wang Bingqian until 1929. After Yi and Ronghe, a third Maotai distillery, Hengchang Distillery, appeared in Maotai Town. It was founded by Guiyang businessman Zhou Bingheng.
After the establishment of the factory, although there were 17 pits. However, due to insufficient working capital, the annual output is only a few thousand kilograms.
In 1938, Hengchang Winery was merged into Daxing Industrial Company organized by capitalist Lai Yongchu. In 1941, Zhou Bingheng sold Hengchang Winery to Daxing Company in order to compensate his son Zhou Fuchang for losing more than 20,000 silver dollars. Lai Yongchu, the factory was renamed Hengxing Winery.
Before 1915, the output of the two Maotai distilleries was only about 10,000 kilograms. Since winning the Panama International Exposition, demand has increased significantly. The output of the two Maotai distilleries has more than doubled, and with the addition of the new The output of Hengxing Winery is more than 25,000 kilograms of wine every year.
In 1931, the Sichuan-Guizhou, Sichuan-Dian and Guizhou-Guizhou highways were opened to traffic, and the number of merchants passing through Guiyang and Zunyi increased.
After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, due to the relocation of the National Government to Chongqing, the capital, and the large number of coastal industrial and commercial enterprises moving to Guizhou, the sales of Moutai liquor further expanded. The three distilleries all actively expanded production, and the annual output increased to More than 40,000 kilograms.
According to statistics, in 1947, the three wineries had nearly a hundred workers, 41 pits, and produced more than 60,000 kilograms of wine: Chengyi Winery 21,000 kilograms; Hengxing Winery 32,500 kilograms ; Ronghe Winery 7,000 kg.
The sales area expanded to Shanghai, Chongqing, Changsha, Guangzhou, Hankou and other places. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Lai Yongchu brought 300 bottles of Moutai to Hong Kong for trial sales. They were immediately sold out. Moutai has since entered the international market. .
Before 1949, the production of Maotai liquor was in decline, and there were only three distilleries, namely: "Chengyi Distillery" funded by the surname Hua, known as "Huamao"; "Rong Maotai" funded and established by the surname Wang. He Winery" is called "Wang Mao"; "Hengxing Winery" funded by Lai is called "Lai Mao".
In 1951, the government merged three private breweries, Chengyi (Huamao), Ronghe (Wangmao), and Hengxing (Laimao), through redemption, confiscation, and takeover, and implemented the three-in-one brewery. Policy—The state-owned Moutai Distillery was established.
In 1996, Moutai liquor craftsmanship was determined to be a state secret and protected.
In 2001, the traditional craftsmanship of Moutai liquor was included in the first batch of national material cultural heritage.
In 2006, the State Council approved the inclusion of "Moutai Traditional Brewing Technique" into the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists and declared it a world intangible cultural heritage.
On February 14, 2003, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine approved the implementation of regional product protection for “Moutai”.
On March 28, 2013, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine approved the adjustment of the protected name and scope of the "Moutai" geographical indication product.
Since September 2001, Moutai Group has applied for the "National Liquor" trademark 9 times but was rejected. On June 12, 2019, Moutai Group announced that it would stop using the "National Liquor Moutai" before June 30. "trademark will be officially renamed "Kweichow Moutai" starting from June 29.
On September 17, 2019, Moutai Group was rejected in the “State Banquet” trademark dispute.
The historical origin of Fenjiu:
Fenjiu is an ancient historical wine in my country, produced in Xinghua Village, Fenyang City, Shanxi Province. Exactly when the name Fenjiu originated remains to be further verified, but as early as more than 1,400 years ago, the name "Fenqing" existed here.
According to the "Book of Northern Qi", Gao Zhan, Emperor Wucheng of the Northern Qi Dynasty, wrote from Jinyang to Xiaoyu, King of Kangshu, Henan, saying: "I drank two cups of Fenqing. I advise you to drink two cups in Ye." "Beishan Wine Classic" records. "Dry wine was produced in Fenzhou in the Tang Dynasty", and "Jiu Ning Ji" states that "Ganlu Hall in Fenzhou was the most famous in the Song Dynasty", all of which are referring to Fen wine.
Of course, there was no distilled wine in my country more than 1,400 years ago, and the "Fen Qing" and "Gan Niang" recorded in historical data were all rice wines.
After the Song Dynasty, due to the advancement of alchemy technology, distillation equipment was invented for the first time in our country. A steel pot for distilling wine from the Jin Dynasty unearthed from Qinglong County, Hebei Province in 1975 can prove that distilled wine existed in my country at least during the Song Dynasty. my country's liquor, including Fenjiu and other famous liquors, all evolved and developed from rice wine.
After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, liquor production in the north developed rapidly and gradually replaced rice wine production. At this time, Xinghua Village Fenjiu was already a distilled liquor and became famous in the world.
Quality Characteristics of Maotai Liquor
Moutai Liquor is the originator of Chinese Daqu Maotai-flavor liquor. It has clear and transparent color, outstanding sauce aroma, mellow and fragrant aroma, elegant and delicate, soft entrance, It is refreshing and sweet, full-bodied, long-lasting aftertaste, and long-lasting in the empty cup. People call Moutai's unique aroma "Maoxiang", which is a typical Chinese sauce-flavor style.
Moutai liquor is pure, transparent, mellow and fragrant. It is composed of three special flavors: sauce aroma, cellar bottom aroma and mellow sweetness. There are currently more than 300 known aroma components. . Maotai liquor has many aroma components. Some people praised it as "the flavor is drunk three times next door, and the bottle is opened ten miles after the rain."
Moutai is fragrant but not bright. No spices are added during the brewing process. The aroma components are all naturally formed during repeated fermentation. Its alcohol content has always been stable between 52° and 54°, and it once had the lowest alcohol content among famous liquors in the country for a long time. It has the characteristics of not having a sore throat or headache, eliminating fatigue, and calming the mind."