The shelf life of Shaoxing Huangjiu

Recently, many runners who participated in the 2018 Shaoxing International Marathon said that they were very happy to visit Shaoxing by participating the event. They not only enjoyed the most beautiful track in this thousand-year-old city, but also tasted delicious Shaoxing Jiu. In addition, they bought a lot of Huangjiu of Gu Yue Long Shan, but they wonder that if these Yellow Wine has a shelf life? If so, how long? And how to save it?

For these problems, I immediately consulted Qian bin, a provincial brewing master and the director of Gu Yue Long Shan Quality and Technology Center. And he replied, [The shelf life of Huangjiu depends on the alcohol content, and the preservation method of Huangjiu depends on the different materials of wine jars and bottles. What`s more, the preservation environment is also very important."

He also told me that because the national standard stipulates that the shelf life needn`t be marked on the package of the wine with the alcohol content greater than 10 degrees, Gu Yue Long Shan marks the [best before" instead of the shelf life on the package. For example, Huadiao Jiu which is filled in the glass bottle shall be best enjoyed within five years.

However, some consumers often confuse the best drinking period with the shelf life. In order to clear up misunderstanding, Gu Yue Long Shan held a special meeting in 2017, and deleted the [best before" on the package of the dry and semi-dry products with the alcohol degree greater than 10 degrees.

The alcohol content of products of Gu Yue Long Shan is generally between 12 to16 degrees, so there is no [best before" on packages for the most part. However, for products with the alcohol content less than 10 degrees, the national standard stipulates that the shelf life must be marked out. Thus, Gu Yue Long Shan usually mark [three years" in the [shelf life" section.

Huangjiu, as a kind of brewing wine, is a special product of China and plays an important role in the three major brewing wines (Huangjiu, wine and beer) in the world. After thousands of years of development, the members of the Huangjiu family have been increased. And there are various wine names. People usually name the wine according to its origin, such as Shaoxing Jiu, Jinhua Jiu, Danyang Jiu, Jiujiang Fenggang Jiu, Shandong Lanling Jiu, Henan Shuanghuang Jiu, etc.

And people also name the wine according to the taste, such as dry Huangjiu, semi-dry Huangjiu, semi-sweet Huangjiu and sweet Huangjiu. For example, Jiafan Jiu (Huadiao Jiu) is a kind of semi-dry Huangjiu, Shanniang Jiu is a kind of semi-sweet Huangjiu and Xiangxue Jiu is a kind of sweet Huangjiu.

Director Qian also said that although there is no shelf life on packages of Huangjiu with the alcohol content greater than 10 degrees. Consumers should drink the semi-sweet Huangjiu and sweet Huangjiu as soon as possible. Because there is more sugar in sweet wine, the color is easy to get darker and the wine will taste bitter after a long time. Thus, it is generally better to drink it within two years.

It is better to store Huangjiu in a cool, dry and ventilated area. The temperature shall be above 4 ℃ and below 15 ℃, and shall be stable. The dry humidity and ventilation conditions shall be good. In this way, the wine aging can be promoted and the loss can be reduced.

In addition, the best way to store Huangjiu is putting it into the pottery jar and seal the jar mouth with clay. This kind of ancient packaging method is good for wine aging and can make the wine more fragrant.

Finally, Huangjiu should be stacked stably, and should not exceed 4 layers generally. What`s more, winemakers should change positions of pottery jars once a year. The central warehouse of Gu Yue Long Shan is the largest wine warehouse in the world. The warehouse uses pottery jars to store Huangjiu and is managed by specially assigned personnel. Therefore, the flavor and taste of wine will be improved as the years roll on and the wine won`t spoil often.