One of the ‘Twelve Fangs’ of Zhou Zhuang, with a history of over 170 years, not only sells wine but also personally produces rice wine.
Since ancient times, Zhou Zhuang has been 'a town serving neighboring states, surrounded by water on four sides, close proximity for travel, requiring boats and (a type of paddle)', the developed waterways gave Zhou Zhuang boundless water town romance, shaping the picturesque Jiangnan scenery of small bridges and flowing water, and nurtured a unique and rich wine culture.
Yuan Feng Shun Wine Shop is located on Zhen Feng Culture Street in Zhou Zhuang Ancient Town, established during the Qing Dynasty's Dao Guang reign, and has a history of over 170 years, it is a famous old store in Zhou Zhuang, one of the 'twelve (neighborhoods)', and it still produces and sells wine, a typical front shop back (neighborhood) architectural pattern with blue tile, wooden window, and carved pillars and paintings, antique and charming, with the fragrance of wine permeating, exuding the alluring Wu wind charm.
Once you enter the shop, on the left is the counter, selling various of 'Yuan Feng Shun' wine shop's produced yellow wine and rice wine, and on the right are tables and benches for customers to enjoy drinking.
Yuan Feng Shun Wine Shop still maintains traditional wine-making techniques. The courtyard behind the counter is the processing place for making wine, displaying many wine jars. The wine shop's most famous product is yellow wine, known as 'Wan San Yellow Wine', because legend has it that in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, the richest man in Jiangnan, Shen Wan San, cultivated his home in Zhou Zhuang, using Zhou Zhuang's water to brew wine for the water town, yellow wine was a must-have for banquets, and when leaving Zhou Zhuang by sea, he always took yellow wine with him to dispel homesickness, to open doors for friendship, and to increase wealth.
Besides yellow wine, Yuan Feng Shun Wine Shop's rice wine is also renowned throughout the world. Among them, 'Ten Month White' rice wine is the most famous, referring to rice wine brewed in the tenth month of the lunar calendar, 'the color is white like a lotus flower, the taste is fragrant like jasmine' sweet, soft, mellow and rich in aroma.
Wine making is divided into nearly ten processes, such as soaking rice, steaming rice, spreading rice, putting rice in jars, opening the (a type of basket), pressing rice, making clear, and cooking wine, and fermenting in jars. On that day, we experienced making rice wine at Yuan Feng Shun Wine Shop. First, we soaked rice, which seems simple but has a lot of attention to detail, depending on the season, the timing also changes, otherwise this first process will affect the quality of the wine.
Steaming rice used a (charcoal stove) and I and Yuan Bao specially observed the, we added charcoal and kindled the fire, steaming the rice until it was 80% cooked, the color of the rice grains began to change from white to translucent, when the smoke curled up and the fragrance of rice filled the air, that meant the rice was cooked, yes, this is the experience shared by the wine shop master.
The steamed rice smelled fragrant and Yuan Bao couldn't help but sneak to eat the rice at the spreading rice step, he almost couldn't stop eating it,
The wine shop master beside him laughed heartily and was also very happy, look, even three-year-old children love the taste of their rice,
While spreading rice, he sprinkled rice (rice starter) and with a wooden spoon, he evenly mixed it open, at this time, the winter rain was still drizzling, water droplets fell from the eaves like broken lines, we were listening to the rain and mixing rice while in the courtyard, then put it in small jars with pores, waiting for it to ferment, to make our own bowl of sweet rice wine.
