Maotai-flavor liquor, also known as Maoxiang liquor, is represented by dozens of famous Chinese and foreign liquors, such as Maotai liquor, Guotai liquor and expensive liquor, and belongs to Daqu liquor. Its sauce flavor is outstanding, elegant and meticulous, mellow, with a long aftertaste, clear and transparent, and its color is yellowish.
Maotai-flavor is the main flavor, slightly burnt (but not prominent), delicate, complex and supple, without prominent aroma. Ester-flavor is soft, elegant and harmonious, and ester-flavor is followed by sauce. The sauce-flavor is long, and the fragrance remains in the cup, while the fragrance remains in the empty cup (Moutai has the saying of "deducting the cup every other day"), which is stronger than the fragrance, moderate in bitterness and low in alcohol content. The standard evaluation of Maotai-flavor liquor is: colorless (or yellowish) transparent, without suspended matter and precipitation, with outstanding sauce flavor, elegant and delicate, elegant and lasting fragrance in an empty cup, soft and mellow entrance, long aftertaste and acceptable style.
We extract some basic knowledge from the vast knowledge ocean of Maotai-flavor wine to interpret it, so as to meet the needs of people who care about Maotai-flavor wine.
Although the consumer group of Maotai-flavor liquor is not as big as Luzhou-flavor liquor, its position in people's minds and its influence in social, political and cultural life are much greater.
History of Maotai-flavor Liquor
According to historical records, Maotai had a history of brewing in the local area more than 2,000 years ago during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the history books called it "gourd sauce" wine. According to historical records, the spread and development of Maotai-flavor liquor can be traced back to Han, Jin, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China.
In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, the technology of Maotai liquor in which Daqu participated in saccharification, fermentation and distillation was mature and the society was developing. The technology of Moutai is also constantly improving and perfecting, and the gradually formed Moutai technology is still fully used today. Later, experts in China liquor industry concluded that Kweichow Moutai liquor technology is the most distinctive Daqu maotai-flavor liquor technology, and it is a model for human beings to apply microorganisms to China liquor-making field. It is a precious cultural heritage of the Chinese nation.
19 15, Moutai won the gold medal in Panama World Expo, which is world-renowned. Once/kloc-won the international gold medal 0/4 times, and won the gold medal in previous national famous wine competitions, which sold well all over the world. It was rated as a famous wine in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th national wine tasting in China and won the Golden Shield medal. It can be said that Maotai-flavor liquor is famous for Maotai, but Maotai-flavor liquor is not famous for Maotai.
Origin of Maotai-flavor Liquor
The birthplace and main producing area of Maotai-flavor liquor is Renhuai, Guizhou Province and its affiliated Maotai Town. Maotai Town has the necessary conditions for producing Maotai-flavor liquor, including the geographical conditions for producing Maotai-flavor liquor-27 51'north latitude, 0/06 22' east longitude and 4 15 meters above sea level, which is a typical river valley. Geological conditions-water and red soil of Chishui River; Climate conditions-warm in winter and hot in summer with little rain; Raw material conditions-"red grain" sorghum and brewing process conditions-ancient traditional brewing process, etc. Without the above basic conditions, Maotai Town could not brew Maotai-flavor wine. In other words, if you leave Maotai Town, you will not be able to brew pure Maotai-flavor liquor. Therefore, Maotai-flavor liquor can only be original and original, and it can't be copied, nor can it be copied in different places.
On July 18, 2004, the relevant state departments awarded Renhuai the honorary title of "China Wine Capital", and Maotai Town, as the soul and heart of China wine capital, was presented to the world.
chapter five
At present, there are three main technologies adopted by maotai-flavor liquor production enterprises.
(1) Traditional Maotai-flavor technology of Daqu: using high-quality sorghum as raw material (not broken or broken by 20%), using wheat to make high-temperature Daqu as saccharifying and fermenting agent, secondary feeding and high-temperature accumulation, a fermentation pit made of strips, after nine times of cooking, eight times of fermentation and seven times of wine extraction, it is produced by special technology of high-temperature koji-making, high-temperature accumulation, high-temperature fermentation and high-temperature wine flowing. This technology has outstanding sauce flavor, elegant and delicate, mellow and harmonious, long aftertaste, lasting fragrance in empty cups, and the yield of raw materials reaches 25-28%.
(2) Maotai-flavor technology of bran koji (crushed sand): Maotai-flavor distilled liquor is a high-temperature Daqu made of crushed sorghum and wheat, with saccharifying enzyme (or dry yeast) as saccharifying starter, which is fermented in a fermentation cellar built of stones or directly piled on the ground according to a certain proportion, and then fermented, distilled and blended. This technology has the advantages of short fermentation time, short storage period, fast capital turnover and 40~50% higher liquor yield than traditional Daqu maotai-flavor technology, which is widely used by many small and medium-sized maotai-flavor liquor manufacturers. However, compared with high-quality Daqu Maotai-flavor liquor, there is still a certain gap in liquor quality.
(3) The original wine produced by traditional Daqu and bran koji (crushed sand) was used as the base wine and blended in different proportions. This technology has been adopted by many maotai-flavor liquor production enterprises.
Chapter vi
Grade of Maotai-flavor liquor
People who have drunk Maotai-flavor liquor and people who are used to drinking Maotai-flavor liquor all have this feeling: Maotai-flavor liquor is fragrant but not bright, low but not light, mellow and elegant, not strong and not light, with a long aftertaste, and the aroma will last for a long time after being poured into a cup overnight. An empty cup is more fragrant than a real cup, which makes people have endless aftertaste.
Smell the fragrance-once the bottle is opened, the room is full of fragrance. Take a few drops and rub them in the palm of your hand for hours to smell the fragrance, that is, "leave the fragrance in an empty cup", and the fragrance will last for a long time.
Look at its color-look at the color, the yellower the wine, the older it is, the better the hanging cup, the better the hanging cup, and the hops should be uniform in size and durable.
Taste the taste-the tip of the tongue feels five flavors (bitter, spicy, sour, astringent and sweet). A cup of throat feels a warm current rising from the stomach and slowly rushing to the throat, feeling slightly spicy (this feeling will disappear after a few drinks). Finally, the tongue root is sweet and mellow, that is, the aftertaste is long.
Chapter VII
Brewing of Maotai-flavor Liquor
So, how is Maotai-flavor liquor brewed? In addition to the necessary local external conditions such as geography, climate, temperature, water quality, sorghum and distiller's yeast, it can only be brewed through the traditional brewing process of ancient method.
The production process of a bottle of Maotai-flavor wine: in the first year of Dragon Boat Festival, "koji making" and Chongyang "Xiasha". After putting the "sand" in the cellar for a month, it will be "fed twice" and then enter the cellar again. In another month, you can cook wine for the first time. After six rounds, the production of base wine ended in September of the following year. The base wine boiled for seven times should be stored separately for three years, and then stored with the wine for one year, until the unique sauce flavor is born and the heavy feeling of holding the cup is born, before it can be filled out of the factory. At this point, it was five years later. In other words, it takes at least five years for Maotai-flavor liquor to leave the factory. Maotai-flavor liquor will not volatilize, and the older it is, the more fragrant it will be. It is not surprising that we have seen maotai flavor aging in the market for 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years and 50 years.
In short, there is a production cycle once a year, including secondary feeding, nine cooking, eight cooling, eight fermentation, seven wine taking, and then four years of cellar storage. As can be seen from the above technological process, brewing Maotai-flavor liquor is an exquisite art, and it is a wonderful flower in the history of brewing in China and even in the world.
In a word, the brewing of Maotai-flavor liquor strictly follows three traditional ways: 1. Unique "seasonal production"? ; Second, the distinctive "long-term aging"; The third is the ingenious "high temperature brewing". This is the reason why Maotai-flavor liquor has low output, high grade and high price.
Chapter VIII
The value of Maotai-flavor wine
Maotai-flavor liquor not only has drinking value, but also has health care value and collection value that other liquors do not have.
1, health value-can cure diseases and strengthen the body.
Medical research has proved that excessive drinking is harmful to the liver and can lead to alcoholic liver disease. However, the employees of Kweichow Moutai Distillery have almost never suffered from liver injury, especially those who drink more than half a catty every day. In fact, the main indexes of liver in physical examination are normal.
From 65438 to 0997, Guiyang Medical College joined seven authoritative scientific research institutes in Beijing and Shanghai to form a research group to study this phenomenon. Four years later, in 200 1 year, the research group selected 99 workers who had been drinking maotai liquor 10 for more than 0 years and 33 non-drinkers for comparative follow-up analysis and pathological examination. The results showed that none of these 99 people had liver fibrosis and cirrhosis except 1 who had a past history of hepatitis. In addition, the research team's experiments on mice also reached the same conclusion. In fact, Moutai liquor, like other liquors, can cause fatty degeneration of liver, but because of its special brewing technology and brewing environment, it is rich in various nutrients, which can effectively inhibit the proliferation of hepatic stellate cells and the production of collagen, which is the pathological basis of liver fibrosis and prevent the occurrence of liver fibrosis.
The most convincing conclusion is that experts from Zunyi District Hospital made a summary of their experience in 1993. The subjects, aged between 34 and 54, were all heavy drinkers, and their drinking history exceeded 10 years, with the longest being 37 years. However, the physical examination found that there were no liver lesions except 1 patient who continued to drink alcohol because of untreated hepatitis. There was a man who had drunk Moutai for 35 years, and his total consumption exceeded 2 tons. No alcoholism, fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis were found.
Why does Maotai-flavor liquor have such an effect? According to the current research results, there are several reasons:
First, the process is special. As a poet said: Maotai liquor is a liquid monument formed by concentration, kneading and sublimation, which perfects the essence of Liang, absorbs the soul of wheat and captures the feelings of earth and air.
Secondly, Maotai-flavor liquor has less volatile substances and more nonvolatile substances, which is less irritating to human body and beneficial to health.
Thirdly, maotai-flavor liquor has high acidity. Western medicine also believes that vinegar is good for health, and Taoism and Buddhism also attach great importance to the nourishing effect of acid. Therefore, drinking Moutai is beneficial to protect the liver and treat stomach diseases, diabetes and colds.
Fourthly, the phenolic compounds in Maotai-flavor liquor are the most. According to Zhou Henggang, a liquor expert, the phenolic compounds in Moutai are three to four times higher than those in other famous wines.
Fifthly, the alcohol concentration of Maotai-flavor liquor is scientific and reasonable. The alcohol concentration of Maotai-flavor liquor is about 53%(v/v). According to scientific determination, when the alcohol concentration is 53 -55 degrees, the combination of water molecules and alcohol molecules is the strongest. Therefore, the traditional alcohol concentration of Maotai-flavor liquor is very scientific and reasonable.
Sixth, Maotai-flavor wine is a natural fermented product. Among all liquors, Maotai-flavor liquor has the most aroma components and trace elements, and the most abundant types. The technology of Moutai is very scientific and reasonable, and the products are completely blended with alcohol cores of different rounds, different flavors, different alcohol degrees and different wine ages. The ingredients and their ratio are scientific and reasonable, which makes the wine body very delicate, elegant and harmonious.
Seventh, there are liver-protecting substances in maotai-flavor wine. A considerable part of some medicines and health products used by people are the products of microbial fermentation.