The Wine Reference🍷 SupportGuizhou: Baijiu (sauce aroma)
The town of Maotai in Guizhou province is home to Kweichow Moutai, China's most famous baijiu.
How it's made
Made with solid-state fermentation in pits and many rounds of distillation over about a year, then aged for years in clay jars.
Local red sorghum is cooked and fermented in the solid state with a wheat-based starter called qu, in stone-lined pits. The grain is distilled, re-fermented and distilled again in many rounds over about a year, with each batch kept separate.
History
Spirits have been made around Maotai on the Chishui river for centuries, and Kweichow Moutai became China's best-known baijiu after it was served at state banquets in the 20th century. Guizhou is now the heartland of the sauce aroma style.
Ageing and label terms
The spirits from each round are aged separately in clay jars, usually for several years, before a master blender combines them. Labels mostly show brand, aroma type and strength rather than an age.
Styles
Sauce aroma (jiangxiang) is the signature style, savoury and rich; other Chinese styles include strong aroma from Sichuan and light aroma from Shanxi.
Rules and protected names
Moutai and the Maotai area have Chinese geographical-indication protection. Baijiu is usually bottled at about 50–55%.
How to serve and classic cocktails
Served at room temperature in tiny glasses and drunk in one go after a toast, often several times through a meal. Bartenders outside China sometimes use small amounts in sours and highballs.
With food
Made for rich Chinese banquet food: braised pork, spicy Sichuan and Guizhou dishes, roast duck and cured meats.
Good to know
Baijiu is the world's most-consumed spirit by volume, though little is drunk outside China. The aroma is intense, so it is worth tasting slowly at first.
Producers
- Kweichow Moutai
- Xijiu
Bottles to try
Kweichow Moutai Flying Fairy
Intense soy, roasted grain, ripe fruit and earthy funk.
Strength: 53% · Age and cask: Aged in clay jars for several years before blending
China's most famous baijiu, made in Maotai town from sorghum and wheat in long solid-state fermentations. The grain goes through many rounds of fermenting and distilling over about a year, creating the 'sauce aroma' style.
Serve: Neat at room temperature in tiny cups, with a meal
Guizhou Xijiu Junpin Xijiu
Savoury soy and roasted grain with dried fruit, honey and a long, earthy finish.
Strength: 53%
Xijiu is made in Xishui on the Chishui river, just upstream from Maotai, in the same sauce aroma style of many fermentations and distillations over a year. Junpin is its top-selling premium bottling.
Serve: Neat at room temperature in tiny glasses
More anise & others regions
Explore all spirits in the interactive guide
The Wine Reference newsletter
New wines, stories and career guides, one email a week at most.
Over 18s only. Unsubscribe any time with one click. Your email is stored securely by Kit and never shared.
Support The Wine Reference
This guide is free, with no paywall. If it helped you choose a bottle, you can buy me a glass and keep it growing.
🍷 Buy me a glass