Zhenjiang Baihua Wine

Zhenjiang Baihua Wine

　　Zhenjiang Baihua Wine is a specialty of Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province. This renowned local liquor boasts a complex flavor profile of sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy notes. It is brewed using glutinous rice, fine wheat koji, and nearly a hundred varieties of wildflowers. The wine has a deep yellow hue, a fragrant aroma, and a richly aromatic taste. With relatively high sugar content and low alcohol content, it is believed to invigorate blood circulation, nourish qi, warm the stomach, and dispel cold, making it a tonic for the elderly.

　　Reading the article “Various Aspects of Zhenjiang” on the front page of the Cultural Weekly section of the July 19 issue of the Zhenjiang Daily, I was appreciative and also wished to share a few thoughts regarding the “Baihua Wine” mentioned in the text.

　　The article “Shad Fish from the River and Baihua Wine” states: “Regarding ‘Baihua Wine,’ the Liang Dynasty’s ‘Geographical Records’ mentions: Zhenjiang produces wine, known as ‘Jingqing,’ with the yellow variety called ‘Baihua’ and the black variety called ‘Molu.’” This citation may be incorrect, as the name “Zhenjiang” only came into use during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. How could the ‘Geographical Records’ from the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties have referred to the place as “Zhenjiang”? It should likely be “Jingkou.”

　　Further examination of Volume 4, entry on “Wine,” in Yu Xilu’s Zhi Shun Zhenjiang Zhi from the Yuan Dynasty: “‘Geographical Records’: Jingkou produces wine, known as ‘Jingqing,’ comparable to that of Qu’e (present-day Danyang); it also states that Qu’e produces famous wine, strong and mellow, brewed with water from the Back Lake. Hence Zhu Chen’s poem: ‘Temporarily entering the Xin Feng market, one still smells the fragrance of the old wine.’”

　　Zhu Chen, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote this poem titled “On the Road to Danyang.” The full poem reads: “Temporarily entering the Xin Feng market, one still smells the fragrance of the old wine; embracing a lute, I buy a drink to get drunk, and lie in the slanting sunlight all day.” An interpretation of Zhu Chen’s poem can be found in Lin Hong’s Shan Jia Qing Gong · Xin Feng Wine from the Song Dynasty. The so-called “Xin Feng Wine” is the ancient name for today’s Danyang yellow wine (see Jiangsu Feng Wu Zhi). As for the Geographical Records, it is a Song Dynasty geographical compendium compiled by Wang Xiangzhi.

　　Zhenjiang Baihua Wine features five distinctive characteristics: sour, sweet, mellow, spicy, and rich. It is brewed using glutinous rice, fine wheat koji, and nearly a hundred varieties of wildflowers, and is commonly known as “Jingkou Baihua.” This is noted in the modern compilation Qing Bai Lei Chao · Diet Category · Baihua Wine by Xu Ke: “Among the local products of Wu, there are two types: Fuzhen and Yuan Shao, both overly sweet and ripe, undrinkable. Only Chang and Zhen produce Baihua Wine, which is sweet yet robust, and quite capable of standing out among Shaoxing wines with its unique strategy to claim victory. That produced in Zhenjiang is commonly called ‘Jingkou Baihua.’”

　　The Qing Bai Lei Chao is an unofficial historical text with a broad scope of recorded events from the Qing Dynasty. This account of “Jingkou Baihua” wine is ample evidence of its enduring and far-reaching reputation for its distinctive flavor.