Yidu Rice Wine

Yidu Rice Wine

　　If you visit Yidu Town in Yongchun County as a guest, the hospitable locals will offer you a cup of rice wine that is delightful in color, aroma, and taste, leaving you enchanted. Yidu Rice Wine boasts a long history and widespread fame, with its brewing techniques known to all. Though it’s fine wine, it comes without branding or bottling—people store it in earthenware jars, sealing them tightly with a “sandbag,” and the longer it ages, the more mellow the wine becomes. This richly flavored rice wine has been savored by the people of Yongchun for decades, even centuries...

　　 Rice Wine Brewed for a Millennium

　　 Yidu Rice Wine has a long and storied history, dating back over 1,000 years. Historical records state that during the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song Dynasty, Chen Guang, a successful scholar from Yidu who resigned from his official post, retreated to Daishan Rock. Zhu Xi, who passed the imperial exams in the same year, visited him multiple times. The two recited poetry and composed verses together on Daishan, often enjoying rice wine to spur their creativity. Zhu Xi once praised Daishan as “the foremost peak under the moon” while composing poems under its influence. This indicates that the people of Yidu were already making rice wine before that time.

　　 To talk about rice wine, we must start with red wine, as there is a beautiful legend behind it. In a long-ago era of peace, people lived in abundance and contentment. Back then, Yidu was called Bixi, and the mountains along the Bixi River were home to kind and hardworking folk. A scholar who taught school enjoyed traveling and exploring nature, often bringing along a food pouch prepared by his wife for his mountain adventures.

　　 One day, while hiking, he gathered many delicious wild fruits, satisfying his hunger, and then accidentally left his food pouch in a sunlit cave. Months later, when he returned to climb the cliffs, he found the forgotten pouch. Upon opening it, he saw that the rice inside had turned slightly red—not moldy at all—but emitted a rich, never-before-smelled fragrance. Delighted, he brought the pouch home, where his clever wife was equally astonished. Being skilled at making steamed buns, she drew inspiration from the fermentation of flour to experiment with fermenting rice.

　　 So, the scholar’s wife steamed a bucket of rice, boiled a pot of water, and after cooling, poured it into a vat. She then mixed in the rice from the pouch evenly and sealed the vat. Sure enough, the rice inside began to ferment, gradually turning red and emitting a fragrant aroma. Within a month, they could scoop out clear, ruby-red red wine. After half a lifetime of careful experimentation, the couple invented primitive techniques for making red yeast, red wine, and rice wine, which they passed down to their descendants. Generation after generation, people came to enjoy red wine and rice wine, gradually mastering brewing methods and medicinal uses, forming a distinctive folk wine culture.

　　 During the Qing Dynasty, Yidu established Huangban Outpost, and Huangban Street (now Old Street) began to prosper. On market days, farmers and merchants from nearby Zhangping, Datian, Dehua, and Anxi would bring local specialties to trade here. At that time, several taverns opened on Huangban Street, selling wine stored in small earthenware jars, distributing it to the surrounding four counties and gaining widespread renown. The brewing techniques of Yidu Rice Wine also improved over time. From crafting red yeast and selecting raw materials to the “distillation” method and storage practices, people refined their methods through repeated trials, producing rice wine that was crystal-clear and richly aromatic.

　　For a long time, rice wine became an essential beverage for locals. After a hard day’s work, drinking a cup of warm wine in the evening could relax the muscles and invigorate the body. Rice wine also held unique medicinal value—traditional doctors often used it in remedies for internal and external injuries or back pain. Local women drank rice wine for a few days to “release qi” after childbirth, followed by a month of red wine to “replenish qi.” Red wine and rice wine were also indispensable seasonings for stir-frying and soup-making...

　　 The Brewing Process Is Delicate and Intricate

　　 Making good rice wine starts with high-quality red yeast, which nowadays is produced by only two households in Yidu. It’s said to be a closely guarded family secret, not shared with outsiders. It’s made from a combination of mold and rice, with steamed rice placed in a cellar and mixed with mold. After specific timing, temperature, humidity, and procedures, the grains of rice turn dark red, forming red yeast. People trade rice for yeast, still using volume measures, with both sides carefully “deliberating” the conversion rates.

　　 The main ingredients for brewing rice wine are rice, red yeast, and cold boiled water. High-quality rice wine is typically made with glutinous rice, which most farming households have. After processing, the glutinous rice is steamed and then spread out to dry on bamboo trays. Mountain dwellers benefit from nature’s gifts, tapping into mountain springs gushing from rocky crevices and channeling this natural “mineral water” into their homes for daily use. As the glutinous rice cools, they boil a pot of “mineral water” and let it cool for later use.

　　 The glutinous rice, red yeast, and cold water are mixed in precise proportions and sealed in large jars. In rural homes, you’ll often see rows of large jars neatly arranged, with the glutinous rice inside quietly fermenting, bubbling with a clear, ruby-red glow. Over time, the ingredients in the jar meld together, the color deepening from clear red to dark red, and finally to a deep crimson.

　　 The fermentation period generally lasts 20 to 30 days (the speed varies with seasonal temperatures). Experienced brewers can judge the fermentation stage just by looking and tasting. Then, a wine cup is pressed into the jar, and the clear, ruby-red, richly fragrant red wine filters into it. The red wine is then ladled out and transferred into jars.

　　 After a few more days of fermentation, it’s time to “distill the wine.” Mountain folk craft their own “distillation pots,” shaping wooden blocks into a barrel that’s narrower at the top and wider at the bottom, with a pot fitted on top filled with cold water that needs frequent changing as it heats up. During distillation, the ingredients from the large jar are poured in batches into a large pot and heated, with a “distillation pot” tightly covering the top. The heat must be well-controlled—the alcohol in the pot vaporizes, rises, and condenses upon hitting the bottom of the distillation pot, then flows out continuously through a tube as fine, crystal-clear rice wine. This rice wine is sparkling, sweet, refreshing, and fragrant.

　　 Fine Wine Sustains a Family

　　 The techniques of brewing rice wine have been passed down through generations, and now every village in Yidu has several major rice wine producers. Huang Ji from Huangsha Village, a famous revolutionary base area in Yongchun County, is a typical example. His family’s brewing expertise is inherited through generations, though no one can say exactly which generation started. In the past, fellow villagers borrowed his family’s “distillation pots,” known for producing abundant and mellow wine.

　　 Huang Ji’s mother, now in her 70s, has lost count of how many sacks of grain she’s milled—by stone or machine—for brewing, and how many batches of wine she’s made. But she says not a single jar of her family’s brew has ever gone bad. Now, with the younger generation taking over, the elderly woman has more leisure time. When others face brewing challenges, they often come to her for advice, which she shares willingly without holding back any secrets. When families prepare red or rice wine for postpartum recovery, they often invite her to guide them, and she happily serves as an “advisor,” even checking in to ensure the wine doesn’t sour.

　　Huang Ji’s home is lined with jars of all sizes, and the fragrance of wine wafts through the air, intoxicating even without a sip. Every day, the couple starts their morning with cleaning, then plans their tasks. After breakfast, they usually steam glutinous rice and boil water. At noon, they either ladle red wine or distill rice wine. In the afternoon, they mix various ingredients into jars and carefully label them. The rest of the time is spent preparing pig feed—Huang Ji’s family keeps four to six pigs year-round, which grow especially plump on the “distilled wine” mash, ready for market in a few months, providing a considerable income from selling the pigs. The couple stays busy all day, and even with daily baths and fresh clothes, they still carry a faint “wine scent.” Because their wine is high quality and widely sought after, customers often come directly—buying loose wine or transporting it in bulk. The Huang family makes a living selling rice wine and even supports their son’s university studies in Beijing.

　　 A Rich and Diverse Wine Culture

　　 Yidu Rice Wine has become a local specialty, and red yeast is too. People from nearby towns often come in person or send relatives and friends to Yidu to buy red yeast, saying that wine fermented with Yidu’s red yeast is uniquely delicious—clear, mellow, and full of flavor.

　　 Since nearly every household keeps rice wine (or buys loose wine if they don’t brew their own), drinking a few cups during festivals or when hosting guests is inevitable. Over time, this has naturally fostered generations of skilled drinkers in Yidu, as well as straightforward, hearty, and bold locals. From a young age, people here learn to appreciate wine, valuing its quality over quantity—a tradition rich in folk wine culture.

　　 Take toasting, for example: the host usually starts by toasting distant guests first, then closer ones, offering three cups total to show sincerity. Guests with a strong drinking capacity may return the toast as a polite gesture of reciprocity. Toasting also enlivens the dining atmosphere, with various styles such as “drinking through the ranks” or playing finger-guessing games.

　　 People can also judge a person’s upbringing, character, and social awareness based on their drinking demeanor, speech, tolerance, and style. There’s even a perceived link between physical strength and drinking capacity—strong men are usually good drinkers, capable of great physical labor with remarkable endurance.

　　 Every household in Yidu keeps rice wine, and everyone can share some wine-related culture or customs.

　　 Thanks to rice wine, life in Yidu becomes all the more flavorful.