? Why does Maotai-flavor liquor get more fragrant as it ages?

The longer the quality maotai-flavor wine is preserved, the better. As the saying goes, old wine is an old wine, which is often compared to the affection between friends. The longer the time, the deeper.

Since ancient times, wine has always been better, but there are generally two kinds of exquisite wine, one is alcohol and the other is just fragrant words.

To know why the older the wine, the better. First of all, we should understand the main components of liquor and what changes have taken place during storage. Maotai-flavor liquor is introduced here, and Maotai-flavor liquor is the representative. There is little difference between other types of liquor, but the raw materials and techniques used are different.

The main components of Maotai-flavor liquor are ethanol and water (accounting for 98%-99% of the total), and a variety of trace organic compounds (only accounting for 1%-2% of the total) dissolved in them. As the aroma and taste substances of liquor, it determines the style of liquor (also known as typicality, which means that the aroma and taste of liquor are coordinated and balanced, and it is unique.

So, why is the quality Maotai-flavor wine more fragrant as it ages? This is related to the chemical changes when it is stored, that is, to know what chemical changes have taken place in it.

The physical changes of high-quality Maotai-flavor liquor during storage are mainly the hydrogen bond association between water molecules and alcohol molecules, while the chemical changes are slow, mainly including oxidation, reduction, esterification, hydrolysis, condensation and so on. Aldehydes in wine are constantly oxidized into carboxylic acids. Carboxylic acid reacts with alcohol to produce ethyl acetate with aromatic smell.

So that the wine becomes mellow, and this change process is the aging of wine. However, this chemical change is very slow and takes a long time, and the aging of some famous wines often takes decades.

Maybe drinkers will think that the older the wine, the better, right? This is not entirely correct. The aging of wine must meet certain conditions to increase the amount of ethyl acetate. If the jar is not sealed or the sealing condition is not good, and the temperature and humidity conditions are improper, not only will the alcohol run away after a long time, but it will also turn sour and sour into vinegar.

This is because there are acetic acid bacteria in the air. When wine comes into contact with air, acetic acid bacteria will take the opportunity to enter the wine. Under the action of acetic acid bacteria, alcohol will undergo chemical changes and become acetic acid.

Especially beer and fruit wine are more prone to rancidity and vinegar. Maotai, xifeng liquor and Fenjiu are different. Because the content of alcohol in soju is about 50%, alcohol with this concentration has bactericidal effect, and acetic acid bacteria cannot survive and reproduce in soju, so alcohol will not become acetic acid. The high energy ahead needs readers to make up for it themselves.

It takes a lot of time to meet this requirement, but time is the most precious thing in the world, which is why old wine is expensive. Ordinary consumers can't afford it.

For example, at the end of last year, the autumn auction of China aged famous wine by Xiling Printing House came to an end in Hangzhou, and a bottle of 1958 earthen bottle of Moutai became the winner, and the final transaction price reached1456,000 yuan, setting a record for the auction of Moutai in China. A bottle of wine is more than one million, and the scarce resources have created the sky-high price of aged Moutai. It is understandable that things are rare.

As the saying goes, there is a market when there is demand, so we can often see on many e-commerce platforms that liquor advertised for 30 to 50 years only sells dozens to more than 100. Seeing that the sales volume is still hot, it is chilling to watch.

Friends who know the liquor market know how this is possible, especially the high-quality maotai-flavor liquor. Where is the total amount? Scarce liquor is generally used as base liquor and will not be sold separately. After understanding this truth, as ordinary people, we don't need to expect to drink maotai-flavor liquor for decades.

In Maotai Town, there are many wineries that make wine with traditional techniques, and the quality will be reassuring. Generally, 50 yuan can drink good pure grain Maotai-flavor wine; 100 yuan or so, with good taste; You can drink old Maotai-flavor wine around 300 yuan, provided there are reliable channels.