Shaoxing Yellow Wine

Shaoxing yellow wine is a low-alcohol fermented wine made from glutinous rice, wheat starter and Jianhu Lake water. Amber and mellow, it is the most celebrated branch of Chinese yellow wine, with styles such as yuanhong, jiafan and shanniang.

Wine-making here traces back to the Spring and Autumn period, helped by a mild climate and the clear water of Jianhu Lake; the custom of burying wine at a daughter's birth and opening it at her wedding ('Nu'erhong') wove it into local life.

It is traditionally warmed and sipped, especially in winter, alongside fennel beans and salted snacks, and is also used to 'drunken-cure' and braise many Shaoxing dishes.

A warmed pot of aged Shaoxing wine with a dish of fennel beans is the enduring taste of the Xianheng Tavern in Lu Xun's pages.