Macheng Old Rice Wine

Macheng Old Rice Wine

　　 Macheng Old Rice Wine is mainly produced in areas such as Muzidian and Dongxicheng in the eastern mountainous region of Macheng City, hence it is also known as Eastern Mountain Old Rice Wine. It is brewed from glutinous rice and specially made wine yeast, featuring a clear color, sweet taste, and rich texture that is gentle on the stomach. According to laboratory tests by relevant authorities, this wine contains a variety of amino acids and vitamins, offering high nutritional value, and also has the functions of strengthening the spleen and stomach, relaxing tendons, relieving pain, and dispersing blood stasis. When combined with traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, it can also help treat rheumatism and paralysis. As a result, it is highly favored by the general public.

　　From the Tang Dynasty, when Huangzhou Prefect Du Mu passed through Macheng’s Qiting and left the verse “May I ask where the tavern is? A cowherd points to Apricot Blossom Village,” to the Northern Song Dynasty, when the great poet Su Dongpo sang praises of “Sour wine tastes like pickled soup, sweet wine like honeyed juice. For three years in Huangzhou City, I drank only the dregs,” literati throughout the ages have lauded Macheng Old Rice Wine. During his three-year tenure in Huangzhou, Su Dongpo visited Macheng many times, drinking and composing poetry with his friend Chen Jichang. The “sour wine” and “sweet wine” mentioned in Su Dongpo’s poems refer to Macheng Old Rice Wine. Brewed and passed down through generations, cherished and praised for a thousand years, Macheng people brew and drink it themselves, finding joy in their own way. For centuries, the mountain folk of Macheng have considered roasting by the fire and sipping Old Rice Wine as signs of favorable weather, national peace, personal happiness, and boundless joy. A folk rhyme circulates: “Old Rice Wine and Fire Pit—next to the Emperor, I’m the happiest.”