Mizhi Rice Wine

Mizhi Rice Wine

　　Mizhi Rice Wine

　　Rice Wine: During every Spring Festival, families in northern Shaanxi brew their own rice wine. As they stay up to see in the New Year, every household boils the rice wine, drinks heartily, and chats merrily. But this rice wine has long remained unknown to outsiders—until He Jingzhi enthusiastically praised it in his poem “Back to Yan’an”: “Each sip of rice wine holds a thousand words, sending waves across the Yangtze and great rivers.” Only then did rice wine reveal its charm to the world, gradually becoming one of the representative local delicacies.

　　A folk song from northern Shaanxi goes: “Baijiu is really just millet water—it first goes to your arms, then to your legs.” Rice wine is the general term for a type of folk liquor made primarily from hulled broomcorn millet (commonly called soft millet or soft yellow millet), through processes such as soaking, fermentation, and sealing. Depending on ingredients and brewing techniques, it comes in various types such as yellow rice wine, sweet wine, clear wine, and thick wine. Rice wine carries the fragrant aroma of millet, has a bright yellow color, and tastes sweet and sour, smooth and mellow, with a lingering fragrance of starter culture. It is highly nutritious, helps reduce greasiness and warm the stomach, and suits all ages. It is usually made in cold weather and can be used as a medicinal tonic or cooking wine. The *Wuqi County Annals* record: “The seventh day of the seventh lunar month is when rural households gather wine starter. On that day, mugwort and other herbs (such as Fritillaria) are collected from the mountains, wheat is ground into flakes, and starter blocks are formed and left to ferment naturally for use in making yellow rice wine in winter.” Since it is home-brewed, methods vary from household to household, resulting in unique flavors—hence neighbors and relatives often exchange the wine as gifts to share and enjoy, adding a rustic charm. At weddings and banquets, rice wine plays an indispensable role, commonly referred to as homemade wine. When drinking, rice wine is served before baijiu (also called fiery wine). “Bring out the steaming rice wine—we treat our friends the same,” sings a blessing in a Shaanxi folk song, as the aroma of the wine wafts delightfully. Among rice wines, yellow rice wine is considered the finest, while thick wine, with its simpler brewing process, is the most common.