The relationship between Jiafan Jiu and Huadiao Jiu

A few days ago, Qiu Wenjun, the general manager of Shaoxing Gu Yue Long Shan Base Wine Company, came to my office to talk about attending the first Base Wine Auction of Shaoxing Handmade Huangjiu in Hangzhou. During our conversation, a call was made to Mr. Qiu. [The wine is named Jiafan Jiu in your auction materials. However, people nowadays are unfamiliar with Jiafan Jiu. What's the relationship between Jiafan Jiu and Huadiao Jiu?" asked the head of an auction company.

"Huadiao Jiu is Jiafan Jiu exactly. The wine was originally called Jiafan Jiu. And Huadiao is a kind of wine jar with beautiful paintings. People put high-quality Jiafan Jiu into Huadiao Jiu jar. Jiafan Jiu is therefore called Huadiao Jiu later." Mr. Qiu replied. And it took him about five minutes to explain. After hanging up the phone, Mr. Qiu smiled and said to me: "Many people today are unfamiliar with Jiafan Jiu. But back in the 1980s and 1990s, how popular it was!"

After listening to the dialogue, I couldn't help thinking that Jiafan Jiu was very popular formerly. However, why is it called Huadiao Jiu nowadays? Perhaps because the era of mere subsistence has already gone and the wine name [Jiafan (adding rice)" which is significant formerly is out of date now. And it's more noble to call it Huadiao Jiu which manifests the exterior decoration of Huangjiu. Later, I posted my feelings on Moments and the article refreshed memories of many people.

He Zhongli, a Shaoxing elite and an old professor of Zhejiang University, wrote a long comment on my Moments: Up to now, among people over 50 years old, Jiafan Jiu is more famous than Huadiao Jiu. According to my childhood memories (70 years ago), there was no significant difference between Huadiao Jiu and Jiafan Jiu. People sealed the mouth of Huadiao Jiu jar with clay and painted various colorful pictures on the jar mouth and body, which made the wine jar beautiful and elegant. The Huadiao Jiu jar thus became a work of Art. And there is no painting on the Jiafan Jiu jar.

On the matter of the relationship between Jiafan Jiu and Huadiao Jiu, I also consulted Qian bin, a provincial brewing master and the director of Gu Yue Long Shan Quality and Technology Center. And he introduced the varieties of Shaoxing Jiu in detail to me. He said, [According to different brewing methods, Shaoxing Jiu can be divided into four categories, namely, Yuanhong, Jiafan, Shanniang and Xiangxue. Among them, Jiafan Jiu, as the best-selling Shaoxing Jiu, is added with more glutinous rice and wheat starter during brewing, so it is called Jiafan Jiu. Because of the high concentration of mash and the high alcohol content of the finished product, the wine is very mellow and is commonly known as `Rouzihou`. The orange and clear wine is fragrant, fresh, sweet and mellow. Distinctively, the wine can be stored for a quite long time and will be more fragrant as the years roll on."

According to the introduction, it takes at least three years to make Jiafan Jiu mature, and the alcohol content is about 18 to 19 degrees. Jiafan Jiu, which accounts for 90% of the total sales volume of Shaoxing Huangjiu, is favored by Chinese and foreign drinkers and is a kind of typical semi-dry Huangjiu.