Is Maotai Town as mysterious as everyone says? Can't you produce Maotai-flavor wine without Maotai Town?

The key points that affect the quality, style and characteristics of liquor, such as sauce flavor, aroma and fragrance, are closely related to their brewing environment, climate, water quality, soil and other factors, which is the same as the concept of "Shi Feng" of liquor. Here, the editor analyzes the "micro-environment" characteristics of Maotai Town and talks about why Maotai-flavor liquor can't be produced without Maotai Town.

First of all, Maotai flavor has three elements: unique geographical environment, red tassel sorghum and brewing process characteristics. Let's talk in detail!

1. Location: Maotai Town is located in the river valley on the east bank of Chishui River, about13km west of renhuai city City, Guizhou Province, China. The elevation of Daloushan near here is above 1000 meters, but it is only over 400 meters in the area of Maotai Valley. Maotai Town is located at the foot of Hanpoling, on the hillside of Maanshan, with low terrain. The longitude and latitude are 10622 "east and 275 1" north.

2. Soil conditions: The strata in Maotai Town are composed of sedimentary rocks, mostly limestone and dolomite, followed by sandstone, graptolite and clay rock, purple conglomerate and fine sandstone mixed with red gravelly soil rock. The geological and geomorphological structure of Maotai Town has been formed for more than 70 million years. Due to the influence of altitude and soil-forming parent materials, purple soil is widely developed in Maotai area after weathering of rocks. This kind of soil is generally about 50 cm thick and has moderate acid and alkali.

3. Water quality characteristics: the Maotai section of Chishui River runs through the territory from south to north along the axis of Maotai syncline. Maanshan in the east and Baofeng Mountain in the west. This river flows from the southwest along Maotai Distillery to Zhuwangtuo at the end of the town. Along the lower Dongshan Mountain, it was blocked by Huangkong Cliff Mountain, turned north, and reached the Yangtze River. The uniqueness of the water flow here is that when the rainy season comes every summer, both surface water and groundwater flow into Chishui River through the red beds on both sides of the river, and the river becomes clear and turbid. After the rainy season, these rivers pass through the soft porous soil with high permeability.

4. Climatic characteristics: it is warm in winter and less hot and rainy in summer, belonging to the humid monsoon climate zone in the middle subtropical zone, with the annual average temperature of 17.4, the highest temperature of 40 in summer and the hot season lasting for half a year. The frost-free period in winter is long and the temperature difference is small, with an average annual frost-free period of 359 days. The annual rainfall is only 800-900 mm, and the sunshine time is high in Guizhou Province, which can reach 1400 hours a year. Hot, little wind, high temperature, low terrain, surrounded by mountains and below 500 meters above sea level form a special microclimate, which is suitable for the formation and reproduction of brewing microorganisms.

5. Historical formation: According to historical research, a painted pottery hip flask and a lacquer ear cup with Zhu Hui lei pattern collected by Guizhou Provincial Museum indicate that there were wine-making and drinking activities in Guizhou at least during the Western Han Dynasty. The special climate and geological structure of Maotai Town, coupled with the long-term large-scale brewing industry, make countless microbial strains floating in the air around Maotai Distillery. It is known that there are more than 100 kinds of microorganisms that directly affect the quality of Moutai. In the long-term brewing process of Moutai, these microorganisms have formed a unique natural ecological environment on which the microbial ecosystem depends through optimization, evolution and survival of the fittest.

6. Brewing process: In essence, we make wine according to the maotai-flavor process. Let's take the representative Maotai as an example:

(1) Maotai-flavor type with different alcohol concentrations;

(2) Red tassel sorghum was used as the main raw material, and the ratio of grain to koji was1:1;

(3) The fermentation tanks are mostly stone pits, which are stacked in a cool hall for open-air fermentation before entering the pits;

(4) High-temperature koji-making, high-temperature accumulation and high-temperature distillation processes are adopted, eight times of accumulation and fermentation are carried out, and sand is recycled for multiple times.

7. Tasting characteristics: pure color, crystal clear, slightly yellow; Smell the sauce rich and fragrant; The taste is mellow, exquisite and elegant, mellow and quiet, with a long aftertaste; It integrates three special flavors: sauce flavor, cellar bottom flavor and mellow sweetness.

To sum up, Maotai Maotai-flavor liquor is really inseparable from Maotai Town.

Strictly speaking, Maotai refers to Tian Fei Maotai, but broadly speaking, all the wines produced in Kweichow Moutai Town can be called Maotai. Three families are drunk in the wind next door, and open a bottle of thyme in the rain. Maotai, with its impressive mellow aroma, was named "Four Famous Wines in China" with Shanxi Fenjiu, Sichuan Luzhou Qujiu and Shaanxi xifeng liquor at the first national wine tasting on 1952. It wasn't until 1979 that the third tasting session officially named Maotai-flavor, Fen-flavor, Luzhou-flavor and Rice-flavor. Maotai-flavor liquor in Maotai Town has a unique flavor and its own system. When we discuss the source of Maotai or Maotai-flavor charm, we can't avoid one place, Maotai Town, the first wine town in China.

Maotai Town, located on the Chishui River, has always been a famous town in northern Guizhou. In ancient times, there was a portrayal of "Sichuan salt returned to Guizhou and Qin merchants gathered in Maotai". Maotai Town is the holy land of Maotai-flavor liquor in China. The liquor industry in the area is prosperous, and it is known as "the first liquor town in China". Maotai Town has produced fine wine since ancient times. Sima Qian recorded in Historical Records that he made a special trip to South Vietnam in 135 BC to get this wine for Chang 'an to offer and Emperor Wu to drink. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Maotai Town's wine industry was prosperous and famous.

Maotai Town is very famous, and Moutai is even more famous. Many people once wanted to copy Moutai, but practice has proved that without Maotai Town, Moutai could not be produced. 1958, President Mao Zedong proposed to "make him 10,000 tons" of Moutai, hoping to let the people drink good wine. 1975, Premier Zhou Enlai once again put forward the proposal of "10,000 tons of Maotai" at the first session of the Fourth National People's Congress. As a result, the project of "Guizhou Moutai production test in different places (pilot test)" was officially born. Many maotai elites moved pits, pit mud, raw materials and equipment from maotai intact, using the same technology, but unfortunately failed to successfully replicate the taste of maotai. Moreover, Maotai's neighbor Langjiu has done experiments. With the same raw materials and technology, the quality of liquor produced in other areas is incomparable to that in Chishui River Basin.

Experts and scholars believe that the reason why you can't brew wine with the same taste as Maotai when you leave Maotai Town lies in the core producing area of 7.5 square kilometers in Maotai Town. The comprehensive effects of water, soil, climate, temperature and microorganisms in the core producing areas make Moutai unrepeatable.

As a symbolic product of chinese national geography, Moutai is deeply rooted in Maotai Town. It uses local sorghum, skillfully uses seasonal changes, and openly captures a variety of microorganisms in its special environment to participate in fermentation, and finally forms a mellow and sweet wine. Just like the previous experiment, you can move to Chishui River, red tassel sorghum, pit pool, pit mud, raw materials, equipment and even technology, and you can copy them, but you can't move the climate conditions, ecological framework and 7.5 square kilometers of core production areas of Maotai Town. The unique balance of hydrology, climate, soil, producing areas and microorganisms is the key to brewing good wine in Maotai Town. In other words, it is impossible to brew the same wine as Maotai without Maotai Town.

Chishui River is an ideal water source for brewing, and is known as "wine river". The strata in Maotai Town are composed of sedimentary rocks with moderate acidity and alkalinity. The temperature and climate in Maotai Town are suitable for microbial growth, and the sunshine time is high in Guizhou Province, which can reach 1400 hours a year. Hot, little wind and high temperature are very beneficial to the habitat and reproduction of microorganisms brewing Moutai. It is these conditions that make Maotai Town have the unique conditions to breed high-quality Maotai-flavor wine.

Just as authentic Yanghe Daqu is inseparable from Yanghe Town, authentic Wuliangye is inseparable from Yibin. It is the unique producing area of Maotai Town that makes Kweichow Moutai have the characteristics of "outstanding maotai flavor, elegant and delicate, mellow body, long aftertaste and lasting fragrance in empty cups", which makes the reputation of maotai-flavor liquor resound at home and abroad. This is the strength of the producing area, and it is also the charm of Moutai as a symbol product of chinese national geography.

(Author Zhou Jincheng, wine industry researcher, Ouyang Liqian, expert assistant of China wine think tank)

I think this is an out-and-out story that fools laymen and has no scientific basis. The reason for this is the following：

If the environmental climate in Maotai Town is really so mysterious, why can't thousands of Maotai-flavor wineries in Maotai Town brew Maotai-flavor wine? This is enough to show that the environment, climate, water and soil in Maotai Town have little or no significance to Maotai-flavor liquor.

Experts who really know wine will never say such a naive argument that "Maotai-flavor wine can't be produced without Maotai Town". Even in Maotai Distillery, they dare not say that they can produce the same maotai-flavor wine as Maotai. This further shows that the environment, climate, soil and water in Maotai Town have no dependence on Maotai-flavor liquor.

The earth's environment, climate, water and soil are closely related to the sun. The earth is spherical, so we can see that the same latitude is irradiated by the sun, but different latitudes are different. The latitude of the earth determines the environment, climate and water and soil in a certain area. The longitude of the earth is of little significance to the environment, climate, water and soil, because the earth rotates on its own, and the total amount of light in each longitude is similar. So the environment, climate, soil and water are mainly determined by the latitude of the earth. Real experts don't take the longitude of Maotai Town seriously, only the latitude seriously. If the coordinates reach the latitude and longitude, then every place in the world can't be copied. Therefore, those who flaunt the latitude and longitude of Maotai Town and get the most treasures are ignorant jokes.

And the earth environment at the same latitude as Maotai Town is much more, all around the earth, with similar environment, climate and soil. Some are better than the environmental climate and water and soil in Maotai Town, while others are not as good as those in Maotai Town. However, microorganisms have wide adaptability to environment, climate, water and soil. For example, temperature, many microorganisms can grow and reproduce well in the range of 0.40 degrees, especially in the range of15 35 degrees. The adaptation range of microorganisms to humidity is no better than this.

Why are there different liquor flavors such as Maotai-flavor, Luzhou-flavor and Rice-flavor in the same Chishui River basin? It is enough to show that the water quality of Chishui River has no unique influence on wine making.

I tell you from my personal experience that more than 99% of the flavor and taste of liquor are determined by koji, that is, saccharifying koji (except Luzhou-flavor liquor, which is also performed in pit mud pool). Any kind of pure grain liquor, every drop of wine is made of grain and distiller's yeast, and water can't be a drop of wine, nor can it be the aroma of wine. The role of water in the brewing process is equivalent to the role of water in human life, which eventually turns into sweat and urine, and becomes waste water and distiller's grains to be discarded together.

According to the verification of most online reports, the Guizhou Provincial Science and Technology Commission organized the identification of maotai liquor from different places on June 20th. 1985. Members of the appraisal meeting were: Yan Dongsheng, then vice president of China Academy of Sciences, member of Chemistry Department (letter evaluation), Fang, then member of Biology Department of Chinese Academy of Sciences, then leader of the national liquor industry, head of the evaluation team of the National Liquor Evaluation Committee, Cao Shushun, a member of the evaluation team of the National Liquor Evaluation Committee, Xiong Zishu, a famous brewing expert, then Ji Keliang, an engineer of Kweichow Moutai Distillery, then Shen, then vice president of the Liquor Professional Association of China Food Industry Association, and then a special expert of Zunyi City and renhuai city Liquor Industry Association, Maotai. Finally, the appraisal committee gave the evaluation of Yidi wine tasting as "clear color, yellowish transparency, outstanding maotai flavor, elegant, mellow and delicate, obvious maotai flavor at the entrance, long aftertaste, slightly bitter, elegant and lasting empty cup, basically with maotai style". It is concluded that the quality of identified liquor is close to the level of Moutai liquor in the market, and there are a lot of reliable test data and materials to explain it.

In June of the same year 165438+ 10, according to the conclusion of the appraisal meeting, the Guizhou Provincial Science and Technology Committee officially wrote "Agree with the appraisal opinion". So far, the "Guizhou Moutai production experiment (pilot)" has been a complete success.

Welcome to pay attention to Yuan Ye Brewing and read the wine culture of China with you.

Scientists have proved that two identical leaves can't grow on a tree. I even think that in the whole nature, even two identical things are not born by one mother. Therefore, if you leave Maotai Town, you can't make maotai-flavor wine. In a narrow sense, it is impossible to brew the same wine as Maotai Town outside Maotai, or it is impossible directly.

But in a broad sense, I feel that the phrase "Maotai-flavor wine can't be brewed without Maotai Town" is more or less full of the taste of "Wang Po selling melons and boasting herself". Let's look at two examples of wine. Let's talk about Guifei wine first. This kind of wine, which comes directly from Moutai and is farthest from Maotai Town, is more influential and well-known than many local products in Maotai Town, both in terms of consumer reputation and market share. Langjiu, which is just across the river from Maotai Town, is even worse. It can be said that all the wineries in Maotai Town add up to less beautiful and eye-catching results. Nowadays, it is arrogant to put forward the loud slogan "One of the two Maotai-flavor liquors in China". Although this propaganda of Langjiu has been ridiculed, development is the last word, and people are just getting better and better than many wineries in Maotai Town.

Objectively speaking, without Maotai Town, the taste and flavor of Maotai-flavor liquor could not be brewed, which is a practical conclusion drawn by experts and scholars. The base wine brewed in this special environment in Maotai Town, Guizhou Province is the base wine of many wineries in China, and it is also an indisputable fact in the industry. Now, Yanghe, Jin Jiu and other big wineries directly invest and build factories in Maotai Town. All these phenomena show that the quality of Maotai-flavor liquor in Maotai Town is very good, and it is really impossible to brew authentic Maotai-flavor liquor without Maotai Town.

In this regard, my opinion and suggestion is that since the Langjiu and Zhenjiu not produced in Maotai Town can be successfully recognized by consumers, the wines produced in Maotai Town should be developed. Don't rest on your laurels and think that "Maotai-flavor wine can't be brewed without Maotai Town" is great, so we should sum up our study. How to transform and develop from resource advantages and environmental advantages to overall competitive advantages is, in my opinion, the correct and necessary direction for maotai-flavor liquor production enterprises in the future. Otherwise, it is still fragmented. Even if you stand on the tuyere, you will only be blown away by the other side, and you will not reach the scale and momentum, and you will be useless in the end. ...

Maotai, a specialty, is not called Maotai if it can be produced in other places.

Maotai liquor is called national liquor because its quality cannot be copied. Although raw materials and production technology can be replicated, the unique climate conditions, water quality, soil and microbial community in Maotai Town cannot be replicated.

The soil in Maotai Town is purple sand soil, which has good permeability, moderate pH, rich in carbon and nitrogen compounds and trace elements, and is suitable for long-term reproduction of microorganisms. Maotai Town is close to Chishui River, and the foggy and hot weather in summer is conducive to the fermentation of wine materials and the generation of microorganisms in wine materials. Chishui, used in Maotai Town, has good water quality and is suitable for brewing. Luzhou, Sichuan also uses the water from Chishui River, and the wine quality is also very good. The grain used in Moutai is red tassel sorghum cultivated in local purple sand soil, which is also a reason. In a word, the technology, various natural conditions and historical precipitation of Moutai production are inseparable and indispensable.

Hey, isn't it true that all valuable products are over-packaged?

For example, my family has a stove, a well and an acre of land.

Through the above conditions, I sell spicy chicken online. My chicken grew up eating Cordyceps. Pepper absorbed the sun and moon brilliance at latitude 38.66, including rapeseed oil, and was selected as the most suitable environment for crop growth by rapeseed oil experts. Do you think it's expensive for me to sell you 260 a catty?

Answer the question: What's the difference between any winery and salted fish without old wine? In Maotai Town, there are many wines that taste better than Tian Fei, but you need to find out for yourself whether you want to save face or drink.

People who often drink Moutai know that Moutai is very scarce and cannot be copied. But few people know what causes this. Wendong will introduce our Maotai to you today. What's so special about Moutai?

There are many raw materials for liquor brewing, mainly cereals and potatoes, such as sorghum, corn and sweet potatoes. Generally, sorghum is the main high-quality raw material, and corn, wheat, glutinous rice, rice and other miscellaneous grains are properly matched. Sorghum is the best raw material for brewing, because sorghum is the most fragrant wine, and only sorghum skin contains tannin. The wine made from corn is the worst, because the wine made from corn is particularly strong. Corn alcohol is mainly used to make ethanol gasoline.

Maotai-flavor liquor is made of sorghum. Moutai only uses a waxy sorghum produced locally in Maotai Town. Different from sorghum in Northeast China, red tassel sorghum has a high starch content and a glassy cross section, which is very beneficial to the repeated baking of Moutai.

Red cherry sorghum has a thick skin and is rich in 2%-2.5% tannin, which is good for the heart and blood vessels in red wine. Maotai liquor is rich in certain polyphenols, which can treat diabetes, colds and other diseases without hurting the liver. The unique flavor of Moutai is related to these trace substances, and it is also stipulated that pesticides should not be used in the local cultivation of red tassel sorghum, which is truly green and healthy and different from other wines.

Moutai is brewed with water from Chishui River. Chishui River is known as the "wine river", with purple sand shale formed 70 million years ago on both sides. The high content of sand and gravel in soil is very beneficial to the infiltration and filtration of water sources and the dissolution of beneficial components in red beds.

The water here is rich in minerals and beneficial microorganisms. The water here has been appraised by the state and is first-class drinking water. What's more commendable is that under the conditions of modernization and western development, Chishui River has become the only unpolluted first-class tributary of the Yangtze River and one of the few unpolluted rivers in the world today.

Maotai liquor is one of the few products that have passed the green food certification in China liquor industry. Besides half of it is a gift from nature, it is also inseparable from Maotai's unique brewing technology. The basic techniques for brewing Maotai-flavor liquor are koji-making in Dragon Boat Festival, sand-spreading in Double Ninth Festival, 1 year production cycle, 2 feeding, 9 cooking, 8 fermentation and 7 wine-taking. Three heights and three lengths.

Maotai liquor has a strong sauce flavor and a mellow entrance. It will be very refreshing the next day and will not have a headache. Brewing technology and environmental protection requirements are very high. Not the water of Chishui River, not the humidity of Maotai Town, not the temperature.

Maotai liquor is exquisite in materials and special in technology, but do you know? Residents of Maotai Town will not buy Maotai, but will choose to buy loose grass with a taste close to that of Tian Fei.

I have been engaged in the liquor industry, and I am committed to discovering more liquor with high price. Welcome the majority of drinkers to pay attention to private chat!

It may be the local water and soil environmental factors.

Maotai's maotai flavor is the highest grade in the world of liquor, and maotai flavor is the inevitable choice for liquor to drink in the end. Good things are unique, and they are the result of the right time and place. Man is only the last factor. He can only use, protect and learn from nature. Moutai is a gift from nature, creator!

Weather or place, which one is missing, things are destined to be average. Even in Maotai Town, there is a core area, soil and water, and a microclimate, which is destined to create the king of liquor, Feitian Maotai. After drinking it, I can't bear to throw away the bottle.

Maotai left Maotai Town and tried wine in different places, which is now "Zhen wine". This kind of maotai-flavor wine is also loved by drinkers, and it has the main maotai-flavor and strong reputation. Its delicate taste is still not as good as Maotai.

At present, there are many maotai-flavor liquor manufacturers in maotai town, and it is easy to find maotai-flavor liquor in retail stores in large and medium-sized cities across the country, with prices ranging from high to low. Some of these unknown sauces really come from Maotai Town, and some are under the banner of Maotai Town. You may not find the exact address.

So many people say that what you drink is not Maotai, but Maotai Town, which is worthless. It seems that even the real wine in Maotai Town is divided into high and low grades, not as long as it is a good maotai-flavor wine in Maotai Town. It is undeniable that the production technology of Maotai is second to none in the world.

Maotai has the right time, the right place and the right people.

As we all know, Maotai Town is located in the low-altitude valley of Chishui River, which can form a microclimate itself. Summer is hot and windless, which is an excellent condition for microbial formation. The formation of maotai's main maotai flavor comes from this microorganism-rich air condition. Without this condition, Maotai must not be Maotai.

According to reports, Moutai itself has more than 100 kinds of microorganisms, but there are still unknown microorganisms that constitute the main flavor of Moutai. To put it bluntly, the complex and diverse microorganisms contained in the air of Moutai participated in the high-temperature fermentation of Moutai, and finally formed its unique maotai flavor. Without this microclimate, it is possible to brew Maotai, but it is impossible to brew Maotai.

The surface sandstone of Maotai Town, where Chishui River flows, has strong permeability, easy dissolution of minerals and excellent water quality. Chongyang Xiasha, Chongyang uses water. At this time, Chishui River has changed from turbid in midsummer to clear. This river is also called the most fragrant wine river. Where to brew good wine, the water quality will not be bad, and we must talk about it!

Red tassel sorghum, a specialty of Maotai Town, can be purchased from different places, and the original team of Maotai Distillery can also be built from different places one by one, but without the microclimate of nature, it will lose its purest lineage, just like oranges were born in Huainan and oranges were born in Huaibei.

1, the unique water source Chishui River. Water is the bone of wine. It is often said that one side of the soil and water will support one side. Chishui River, which flows through Maotai Town, is a gift from heaven, because the water in Chishui River provides a prerequisite for brewing Maotai-flavor liquor.

2, the unique raw material red tassel sorghum. Due to the unique geographical environment of Maotai Town, the sorghum planted is also different. Because this sorghum is crimson when it matures, the locals call it "red tassel". This kind of sorghum has a thick shell and sorghum rice is delicious. Red tassel sorghum, a special raw material, provides an important raw material basis for brewing maotai-flavor wine.

3. Unique climatic environment. The air humidity and temperature here provide excellent conditions for the proliferation of microbial communities. As long as you walk into Maotai Town, you will smell more and more fragrant wine from far and near. In fact, this wandering air, with different smells flowing, is a microbial spirit that can be smelled without the naked eye. These microorganisms have a very important contribution to the formation of maotai flavor.

With these conditions, Maotai Town has an important foundation for brewing Maotai-flavor liquor, so there are hundreds of wineries in Maotai Town, all of which can brew Maotai-flavor liquor. Many families can make wine, and they are all micro-wineries. There are also some wineries in other places that make Maotai-flavor wine. Maotai Town has no conditions and it is difficult to make good Maotai-flavor wine.