Yellow wine, or huangjiu, is the Chinese liquor that best represents the autumn season. It's also one of the most versatile drinks, complementing different dishes, both in kitchen preparation and at the table. Unlike Chinese white spirits like Maotai and Wuliangye, yellow wine is a much milder liquor that's fermented rather than distilled. It typically has an alcohol content around 13-15 percent, compared with the fiery 57 percent that white spirits pack. In Chinese, all alcohol, both fermented and distilled, is called jiu, which sometimes confuses foreigners in translation.
Yellow wine has the longest history of Chinese alcohol.
In the "Book of Songs," dating back to 11th century BC, there is a verse that reads: "Rice harvested in October brews the wine for spring."
Yellow wine became the prominent alcoholic drink across China in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. The northern and southern variations of the wine are different in taste. The northern style comes in two varieties: sweet yellow and bitter yellow. Many people prefer the latter because it is similar to the semi-dry yellow wine of the south. Sweet yellow wine is too cloying for many people.
Yellow wines are fermented from a variety of ingredients, including glutinous rice, black rice and millet. Starter cultures include daqu and hongqu.
Brewing traditional yellow wine by hand involves multiple steps: steaming the rice, adding the starter culture, mixing the seed mash with more prepared grain and then aging the wine.
A major factor in the quality of the wine is the quality of water used in the brewing process.
Newly brewed yellow rice wine is strong and sweet, so many prefer the more aged brews that are mellower.
Yellow wine is produced in many regions across China, offering consumers a wide range of options. The most common way of identifying yellow wine is by place of origin, like Shaoxing, Danyang and Jinhua wines.
The most notable yellow wines come from Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province. Indeed, many Chinese simply refer to the drink as Shaoxing wine. The city of Shaoxing hosts the China Yellow Wine Museum, exhibiting the history and culture of yellow wine.
Alcohol consumption is sometimes frowned upon, but many Chinese people believe yellow wine is a healthy drink because of its low alcohol content and high amount of amino acids. In traditional Chinese medicine, yellow wine is sometimes used to enhance the efficacy of remedies.
Yellow wine is perhaps best known as the ideal companion to steamed hairy crabs in the autumn. Its "warmth" is believed to neutralize the "coldness" of the crabs.
