Shaoxing Yellow Wine Brewing Technique

Shaoxing wine-brewing traces back to the Spring and Autumn period in written records. Fertile land, a mild four-season climate and the fine water of Jianhu Lake gave the city ideal brewing conditions. The technique entered the first national ICH list in 2006 (item VIII-60).

Brewing follows the seasons: the yeast starter is made in the seventh lunar month, the wheat starter in the ninth, and steamed rice in the tenth; formal brewing runs from around the 'Great Snow' solar term to the following spring, fermenting over eighty days, with 'eastern' and 'western' schools shaped by workshop and method.

Shaoxing wine is the foremost representative of Chinese yellow wine, carrying the watertown's brewing wisdom and folk customs such as 'Nu'erhong'; its long cycle and complex craft have lately put hand-brewing under preservation pressure.

The craft and its history can be explored at the China Yellow Wine Museum and brewing bases around Dongpu and Guyue Longshan in Shaoxing.