What is the spirit of originality of Huangjiu ?

"Making wine is like educating people. We should pour patience, sweat, painstaking effort, skill, responsibility and feeling into it." When the sealing wine of 2020 of Gu Yue Long Shan was in the process of going public, we had the honor to interview Xu Yuezheng, the master of wine making and the national inheritor of Shaoxing Huangjiu brewing technology.

What is good wine? The whole process of brewing good wine is related with people. And brewing good wine depends on the inheritance of skills from generation to generation, and on the perfect combination of the spirit of originality, feeling, morality and responsibility.

What is the spirit of originality? It is a focus on a craft, which purely springs from interest and love. And it is craftsmen`s enthusiastic pursuit of quality.

Weather is influenced by seasons. Land is influenced by climate. There are skillful craftsmen and clumsy craftsmen. And there are good materials and bad materials. Brewing Shaoxing Wine is an art. Every drop of Shaoxing wine contains the painstaking effort and sweat of brewers. Choose one job and devote the whole life to master one skill. The life creed of brewers is being persistent and pursuing perfection.

The spirit of originality can be found indeed.

Shaoxing wine is made by hand. The Chinese yeast is made in Lunar July, the wheat starter is made in Lunar August and the artificial yeast culture is made in lunar September. On the Beginning of Winter, the brewing process starts. And the sterilization starts on the Beginning of Spring of the following year. Then, the wine is boiled and filled into jars which are then sealed by mud. The meticulous brewing process is conducted once a year. Any problem in any step will affect the quality.

In summer, winemakers cut willow-leaved smartweed under the scorching sun, roll the rice flour and willow-leaved smartweed powder, introduce old Chinese yeast into new Chinese yeast, put mixed Chinese yeast into vats to ferment, and dry Chinese yeast in the sun. winemakers should be very careful in the process of making Chinese yeast.

In autumn, winemakers smash wheat, mix wheat starter, shape wheat starter and pile wheat starter. Wheat starter is prepared for winter brewing. At the same time, in the pollution-free raw material base of Gu Yue Long Shan, craftsmen collect and select the best glutinous rice, which is the best raw material for wine making. The starch content of the high-quality glutinous rice is high. In addition, the protein and fat content of the rice is low. The wine which is made from the rice tastes pure and good.

On the Beginning of Winter, winemakers soak rice, steam rice, put raw materials into vats, and mix raw materials to ferment. Each step needs to be completed by hand. And at the same time, each step needs to be checked by the eye, ear, nose and mouth. The brewing skill of Huangjiu is taught by the mouth and heart. And the key points are controlled by brewers with the heart.

As we all know, the key step of winter brewing is mixing raw materials. Winemakers should pay attention to subtle changes in the fermentation process. To be specific, winemakers should listen to the sound of the mash in the wine vat to judge the intensity of fermentation, smell the taste to analyze the purity of wine, taste the fermented mash to distinguish the harmony degree of acid, fresh, sweet, bitter, spicy and astringent flavor, sense the temperature inside and outside the wine vat one by one, and mix raw materials according to circumstances.

In order to produce good wine, winemakers often stay in the workshop all night, and they never slack off in details. At the beginning of spring of the following year, the sterilization starts. Then, the wine is boiled and filled into jars which are then sealed by mud. Winemakers race against time to seal the jars and send wine to the central warehouse for storing and aging before summer. The central warehouse of Gu Yue Long Shan is the biggest wine warehouse in the world. In May and June of each year, winemakers will move wine jars with great patience to make the temperature and humidity of each jar balanced.

[After we master a skill, we can comprehend the laws of heaven and earth if we practice further." Master Xu said that transforming a grain of rice into a drop of mellow wine is not only a process of transformation, but also a process of communicating with lives because winemakers put in a lot of effort. There is no shortcut for growth. It is a journey accompanied by bitterness and happiness. And it requires persistence and perseverance to do simple things repeatedly and do repetitive things with heart. The process of wine making is painstaking. However, winemakers will be happy when the product is recognized. The long-term adherence to quality is painstaking. However, consumers will be happy when they enjoy wine.

The older the wine is, the more mellow it is. The harder people work, the faster they progress. This is a unchangeable rule for winemakers. The spirit of originality of winemakers of Gu Yue Long Shan is keeping practice, getting rid of impulse, and focusing on wine making with awe.

In To the Spirit of Originality, Li Zongsheng said, [No matter how noisy the world is, craftsmen are absolutely quiet and stable. I will take the materials given by nature seriously, then I will get a return."

Integrate the spirit of originality into details and realize innovation by inheriting skills. Nowadays, the mechanization degree is very high, but Gu Yue Long Shan still insists on brewing by hand. Because the company is well aware of the truth that only the quality of Huangjiu is good, can the company develop further.

Integrate the spirit of originality into Huangjiu and brew good Huangjiu day after day to make the whole world fragrant.