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Is it the fragrance of roses, or the sting of thorns? A notorious Tinghua wine has taught us a vivid lesson.
First, take root
"Baby, look how beautiful this bottle of Tinghua wine is, let's drink happily, enjoy the moon and taste the fragrance of flowers!" Mr. Li took the crystal clear wine bottle in his hand and said to his wife. His wife gave him a blank look: "You have been deceived again!" This kind of wine with more than 50,000 bottles is used to show off wealth, how can there be any rare floral fragrance?"
Mr. Li was a little embarrassed, he was bewitched by the advertisement of listening to Huajiu. In the circle of friends and WeChat public account, listening to flowers and wine can be seen everywhere, boasting that it can make people "drunk with flowers and bursts of fragrance", only this one, no other semicolon. On a whim, he spent a lot of money on the Internet to buy a bottle.
Mr. Li is not alone, a small distillery in Yibin, Sichuan Province, has also set off a national craze for collectible liquor. This small workshop, called "Yibin Tinghua Liquor Industry Development Co., Ltd.", has a registered capital of only 14.7 million yuan, and has only been established for more than 10 years, but it was once unlimited.
With superb network marketing skills and exaggerated gimmicks, Tinghua Liquor quickly spread among the middle class people across the country and became synonymous with "high-end liquor". For a time, social platforms such as WeChat groups, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu were full of listening to flower wine.
In the past few years, listening to the flower wine has continued to amplify the sound and won a lot of eyeballs. Some netizens joked: "You can get drunk to death in the flowers when you drink this wine." Its marketing claims to be "picking the finest flowers from all over the world, and extracting the aroma through dozens of processes before it can be used in wine". The taste is said to be "soft and luscious, rich and fragrant".
In addition to the hype marketing concept, the packaging and price of Tinghua Liquor are equally striking. Some wine bottles are gorgeous and dazzling, inlaid with diamonds and gold, and the price is hundreds of thousands of yuan; Some are presented in clear glass bottles and are decorated with colorful flowers.
Second, behind the aroma of wine
Behind the famous floral fragrance, there is a hidden mystery. On March 15, 2023, the CCTV 3.15 Gala, known as the "authoritative release", finally lifted the mystery of listening to flower wine. It turns out that this small distillery simply does not have any claims of having an exclusive floral process. They are just ordinary white breweries, and the original liquor base liquor used is purchased from other well-known liquor companies. As for the so-called "intoxicating floral fragrance", it is just a small amount of flavor artificially added.
This is undoubtedly an illegal act of suspected false advertising. In addition, the company also has a variety of illegal marketing behaviors such as forced bundling and harassment of users, and has been sued by many well-known liquor brands. Tinghuajiu's official website, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu accounts were suspended, and related products were removed from e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and JD.com. The former Internet celebrity wine brand was completely banned in this way.
3. Defuse the bubble
In fact, in recent years, there have indeed been many overheated phenomena in China's liquor market, and listening to flower wine is only the tip of the iceberg.
Baijiu is the "national drink" of Chinese and has always had a huge market demand. However, with the vigorous development of the liquor industry, there have also been many counterfeit and shoddy speculators who have grandstanding. They ignore the essence of the product, only know how to create gimmicks, hype up marketing concepts, and drive up the price of products.
Some commentators say that the reason why Tinghua wine was once so popular is precisely because of the hype of this concept marketing. A large number of middle-class people have a higher level of spiritual and cultural pursuit after their material life has become more and more affluent. The heart desires "elegant taste", and Tinghua wine just gives the concept that meets expectations: unique craftsmanship, intoxicating floral aroma, and extraordinary taste...... The unreal concept and the high price make people even more fascinated by it.
This marketing model is undoubtedly harmful to the rights and interests of consumers, and it is also a destruction of the order of the entire liquor market. Only by restoring the original source and supporting it with real technology can the wine industry be stable and far-reaching.
Take the century-old brands such as Laojiao and Moutai as examples, don't their good names stem from their perseverance in the spirit of craftsmanship? Moutai's "wine fragrance is refreshing, mellow aftertaste is endless"; The old cellar's "aging cellar dregs, the entrance is ice fresh and fresh"; These are not gimmicks, but a true portrayal of the essence of the product.
It seems that listening to Huajiu has taught us a vivid lesson: the market will always keep its eyes open, and the pseudo-concept of honey will sooner or later be replaced by truth. Dispel sores and stop scabies, and the aroma of wine is auspicious.
4. Where to find the fragrance of flowers?
As consumers, of course, we pursue floral wines, but they are not ethereal conceptual floral aromas, but originate from the natural aroma of plant ingredients in the medical brewing process.
For example, Jijiu Huadiao, that is, millet, beans and mineral water and other raw materials are fermented together, and finally a snow-white sugar hop grows, and its flowers are rich and fragrant, which are taken from the flower itself, rather than any additives.
These are the true scents of natural brewing.
Dating back to the long history of winemaking in China, botanical ingredients have always been a key component. Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, there have been records of different flavors of wine such as "grain" and "stinging". During the Warring States period, "kale moromi" became a high-quality liquor for the aristocracy, with herbs such as mugwort leaves and chrysanthemums added.
In the Tang Dynasty, the wine-making process was unprecedentedly developed, and there were famous liquors such as "osmanthus mash", "chrysanthemum wine" and "pepper leaf wine" all over the country.
Fifth, look for traces of flowers
Nowadays, the winemaking process that integrates floral elements has spread all over the land of China, each with its own characteristics. For example, Guangxi brews authentic passion fruit wine, and fresh passion fruit is added during the brewing process to exude a burst of fruity aroma. Chongqing's famous osmanthus liquor is brewed with the best sorghum, and the fragrant osmanthus is integrated into the liquor, which has a sweet and delicious taste. Yunnan is the hometown of wine-making plants, and the locals brew dozens of kinds of flower wines such as rose wine, chrysanthemum wine, jasmine wine, etc., which are fragrant and pleasant, and the flavor is unique.
In general, natural floral and herb-flavored wines can be roughly divided into three categories: first, flowers and herbs are directly immersed in the liquor to extract the fragrance; the second is to add flowers and plants during the brewing process to make it completely integrated with the wine; The third is to brew the fragrant puree of flowers and plants into the wine. Either way, it needs to be carefully crafted and meticulous in order to make a fine floral wine. On the other hand, the practice of adding flavor to listening to flower wine is just an expedient measure, the taste is the same as chewing wax, and the fragrance is swept away.
Sixth, the fragrance will last for thousands of years
While pursuing the sublimation of wine, people should also cherish the inheritance of traditional craftsmanship, so that the fragrance of floral wine can be passed on for thousands of years.
In recent years, the mainland has intensified the excavation and protection of intangible cultural heritage winemaking technology, so that many local flower wines can be fragrant for generations.
For example, the "osmanthus vinegar" in Meixian County, Shaanxi Province, which originated in the Tang Dynasty, has the status of an intangible cultural heritage masterpiece. Its brewing process is to soak the fine osmanthus in aged vinegar, and the two aromas blend and penetrate, and finally form a unique flavor with a rich fragrance.
Another example is the "Qinhua Barley Wine" in Qinxian County, Shanxi Province, which is a unique combination of authentic barley rice wine and fragrant flowers such as roses and moon seasons. Frankincense, rose, chaoyang, wine, three spices, pottery and glory.
The continuous inheritance and development of floral liquor not only highlights the long-standing winemaking culture of the Chinese nation, but also adds unique sentimental connotations to modern life. In the face of the torrent of the times, we should inherit the classics and cherish the roots.
VII. Conclusion
Through this turmoil, we re-examined the development process and cultural origin of Chinese flower wine. The natural brewing process is the foundation of the survival of floral wine, and it is difficult to last long in the bubble of any enthusiastic concept marketing.
May the floral wine be brewed more than once, and the aftertaste will hit people and make people intoxicated. This intoxicating fragrance is not a false gimmick, but the crystallization of traditional Chinese wisdom. Let us work together to protect the intangible cultural heritage of Chinese brewing culture and go to this intoxicating fragrant feast.
Finally, we sincerely welcome everyone to leave their own opinions and experiences on the content of this article, and discuss the prospect and development of floral wine together. #听花酒微信公众号被停止使用, Taobao JD.com has removed all of its products from the shelves#