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January 01, 2020

How to determine the age of Huangjiu?

A few days ago, my friend Mr. He said that 500 ml of ten-year-old Huangjiu which was filled in a porcelain bottle only cost 10 Yuan or more in the market. And he thought that the cost of the porcelain bottle was around 10 Yuan. Therefore, he suspected that the Huangjiu was fake.

There is a common understanding that the flavor and taste of Huangjiu will be improved as the years roll on. However, apart from aged Huangjiu, there is also aged white spirits and wine. Not long ago, I saw that 28-year-old French XO was sold at the Hong Kong airport. Huangjiu is one of the three ancient wines in the world. And the age of Shaoxing Huangjiu not only represents the mellow taste, but also contains rich historical accumulation.

So, how to determine the age of Huangjiu? In this regard, I consulted Meng Jiangang, the secretary-general of Shaoxing Rice Wine Association. Mr. Meng introduced that there are mature national standards of determing the age of Huangjiu. According to the relevant standards of Huangjiu, the age of Huangjiu is calculated by the method of weighted average. And at least 50% of the Huangjiu should reach the age indicated in the product.

For example, on the basis of GB/T13662-2008 National Standard of Huangjiu, the age of Huangjiu is calculated according to the year of the fermented wine stored in the wine jar, wine tank and other containers. And the age marked on the sales package label is the weighted average age of mixed wine. In addition, at least 50% of Huangjiu should reach the age indicated in the label.

That is to say, in the 500 ml of ten-year-old finished product, at least 250 ml of wine is aged ten years. In practice, winemakers mix Huangjiu of different ages to make the average age equals the age indicated in the label. For example, a bottle of five-year-old Huangjiu is mixed by 50% of five-year-old Huangjiu, 20% of eight-year-old Huangjiu and 30% of three-year-old Huangjiu. The weighted average age of the mixed wine is just five years.

Then why do winemakers mix Huangjiu? I consulted Qian bin, the director of Gu Yue Long Shan Quality and Technology Center. And he replied that the aged Huangjiu is different from other Aged Wine. The taste of the original Huangjiu from a single year is not necessarily suitable for consumers. Thus, in order to ensure the best quality, winemakers of Gu Yue Long Shan mix the taste of Huangjiu. For example, winemakers will add three-year-old and eight-year-old Huangjiu into five-year-old Huangjiu to make the best taste. Of course, there must be 50% of five-year-old Huangjiu in the mixed Huangjiu. And the ten-year-old Huangjiu and twenty-year-old Huangjiu are made in the same way to ensure the best taste.

However, the experts said that the authenticity of the aged Huangjiu which is made by this method mainly depends on the reputation of the enterprise and the self-discipline of the industry.

Therefore, the aged wine is called the "moral wine" in Shaoxing Huangjiu. However, there are also some small wineries which produce the fake aged Huangjiu so as to pursue high profits.

Qian bin introduced that the mixed aged Huangjiu is produced and developed by the technical departments of the wine enterprises according to the national standards. The original wine is essential. Only based on the high-quality original wine, can we make the mellow aged Shaoxing Huangjiu. So from this point of view, the wine storage capacity of the winery determines the production capacity of aged wine. Several leading enterprises of Huangjiu in Shaoxing have huge wine storage warehouses. For example, there are thousands of jars of Huangjiu in 18 large wine rooms in the central warehouse of Gu Yue Long Shan which covers an area of 308 Mu (equals 2.05 * 105 suqare meters). It is worth mentioning that the central warehouse of Gu Yue Long Shan is the largest wine warehouse in the world. Almost all products of Gu Yue Long Shan are stored in the central warehouse. And most of Huangjiu stored in the warehouse is aged wine. Gu Yue Long Shan has strict requirements on the quality of the original wine and the storage environment.

Mr. Meng believes that the wine age is an important factor affecting the price of Huangjiu products. In order to protect the rights and interests of consumers, maintain the market order, strengthen the supervision of aged wine, with the support of the market supervision department, the Rice Wine Association will report the storage condition of ten-year-old Huangjiu and twenty-year-old Huangjiu, supervise the production process and expose the fake aged Huangjiu and illegal production phenomena so as to clear illegal enterprises away and maintain the image of world high-quality wine producing area.

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