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Name and fame

In 1915, Shaoxing Wine won a gold medal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, a key global event held in San Francisco, the United States. Since 1988, Shaoxing Wine has been used at state banquets for visiting VIPs from the outside world. Over the past 20 years, Shaoxing Wine has appeared in many important events. The wine was presented at banquets to entertain guests for the Beijing Olympic Games, Shanghai World Expo, G20 Summit in Hangzhou, and the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen.

Shaoxing huangjiu's rich colors make it easily recognizable, from very light gold to deep chocolate brown. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Categories

Broadly speaking, Shaoxing Wine presents four categories of rice wine, namely: Yuanhong, Jiafan, Shanniang, and Xiangxue. Yuanhong is named partly after the color of the liquid. It is dry, with sugar content no greater than 1 percent. Jiafan is a semi-dry wine, with sugar content between 1 percent and 3 percent. It is called Jiafan because steamed rice is continuously fed into a fermenting mixture up to three times, which produces a sweeter wine. This category is favored by many people and it is traditionally used for ceremonies such as child birth, engagement, and funerals. Shanniang is a semi-sweet wine, with sugar content between 3 percent and 10 percent. Its specialty is characterized by vintage Yuanhong used partly to brew the wine. Xiangxue is an extra-sweet wine with sugar content equal to or greater than 20 percent.