Qibao Old Wine

Qibao Old Wine

　　Located in the ancient town of Qibao in the southwestern suburbs of Shanghai, there is a north-south Ming and Qing dynasty old street lined with “old shops” featuring vermilion panel doors on both sides. The taverns and teahouses are furnished with traditional eight-immortal tables, long benches, long-spout bronze kettles, and square bamboo chopsticks. Famous old-Shanghai snacks from Qibao such as square cakes, old wine, and pickled meat are all displayed on the shelves. Other newer offerings like Beijing candied haws and Old Street glutinous rice balls are also quite good.

Opposite the Old Street glutinous rice ball shop is a liquor store called Qibao Wine Workshop. The Qibao Old Wine Workshop mainly uses the original formula and brewing techniques of “Qibao Daqu,” utilizing earthen fermentation pits and distillation pots. It sources sorghum and wheat bran as raw materials, blends them with high-quality yeast strains, and processes them through fermentation, distillation, and aging before the wine is ready for sale. The workshop operates with a storefront in the front and production in the back, allowing visitors to witness the entire brewing process firsthand. The wine is brewed and sold on-site, truly embodying the idea of “old bottle, new wine.” The brewers were formerly workers at the Qibao Winery. Qibao Old Wine is entirely handmade. As soon as you step into the shop, you can smell the aroma of the fermenting mash, which wafts from their distillation stoves—newly brewed wine is produced every day at noon. Once the old wine touches your mouth, it slides down your throat like a thread, almost too quickly to linger, and leaves no harsh burn behind.