Sanhua wine, chili sauce and tofu milk are representatives of Guilin's traditional local specialties, known as guilin three treasures. The first treasure of the Three Treasures of Guilin is the Three Flowers Wine. Sanhua wine is a representative of Chinese rice-flavored liquor and is known as the king of wine.
The "Chinese Wine Codex" mentions that before humans can brew wine, the apes on both sides of the Li River pick flowers and fruits to make "ape wine". It seems that the Li River is one of the birthplaces of wine. According to the records of Guilin City, guilin had famous wines such as Ruilu and Osmanthus wine in ancient times. Among them, Ruilu was also a tribute wine drunk by the Emperor of the Song Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty poet Song Zhiqing wrote in his poem "The Third Day of March in Guizhou": "The old customs of the prosperity of Shi'an, the song of the boiling river in the city." Guilin was also known as Shi'an County in the Han Dynasty, and the poem tells the scene and custom of "drinking and falling into the city" when people traveled to youth on the third of March. The Song Dynasty poet Lü Yuan has a poem: "The scenery of the River is like a Qiantang, and there is a new fragrance of all things", which describes the grand situation of thousands of households on both sides of the Li River drinking wine. Zhou Qufei of the Song Dynasty recorded in the book "Lingwai Dai Answer": "There is no prohibition on liquor in Guangyou, and liquor is sold at the side of the road in various places, and it is especially prosperous in Jingjiang... Pedestrians buy a big white for fourteen dollars." It can be seen that liquor in the Song Dynasty was popular in Guilin.
The history of Sanhua wine brewing dates back to the Southern Song Dynasty. Originally brewed by the "Shisi Gong Chef", it was later introduced to the folk, and professional brewing workshops appeared at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and during the Republic of China, workshops spread throughout Guilin. As for why it is called "Three Flowers", there are different opinions. One theory is that because it is steamed three times during brewing, it can be shaken to flood countless bubble flowers, the quality is good, the hops are fine, and there are several layers, commonly known as "three boiled flower wine", referred to as "three flower wine". Another theory is that when shaking the bottle, only Guilin Sanhua liquor will bloom crystalline hops on the surface of the liquor. This kind of wine into the altar to pile flowers, into the bottle to pile flowers, into the cup also to pile flowers, so the name "three flowers wine".
Guilin Sanhua wine has a long history, in ancient times, it was called "Ruilu", fan Cheng, who came to Guilin as an official in the Song Dynasty, praised it after drinking, "it is the magic of wine", which shows that it is highly evaluated.
As the saying goes, "Water is the blood in wine, rice is the meat in wine, and koji is the bone in wine." Sanhua wine has a unique flavor and is widely loved by people. This starts with its "flesh, flesh, and bone." Good wine must first have a good spring. The Li River, especially the underground spring water gushing out from the deep pool at the bottom of elephant trunk mountain, has a pure and sweet texture, no strange smell of debris, and contains trace minerals, providing sanhua wine with excellent "blood in wine"; Secondly, the fine rice in the Li River Basin has large and full grains and a starch content of up to 72%, which is the ideal "meat in wine"; In addition, the koji made of koji liquor herbs produced in the suburbs has a strong aroma and is the unique "bone in the wine" of Sanhua wine.
The reason why Sanhua wine is of high quality is not only related to the use of clear and clear, no strange impurities of the Li River water, high-quality rice, selected wine koji, but also because of the unique storage conditions composed of guilin's warm caves in winter and cool in summer, which makes the wine more mellow and aromatic. It is said that after the sanhua wine is brewed, it is generally put into a ceramic cylinder, stored in the Stone Mountain Cave, and after one or two years, it becomes aged, making the wine more mellow and aromatic, and then it is packed into the factory.
Won the reputation of wine, in addition to drinking, Sanhua wine can also be used for medicinal purposes, cooking dishes, etc., so it is widely sold, sales are also large, in the old days with small winemaking and many people made a fortune. Therefore, Guilin folk legend goes by the flow: "If you want to be rich, shochu grinds tofu." During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Guilin's population increased sharply, and the level of consumption was high, especially after the fall of Hong Kong in 1941, the import volume of foreign liquor was greatly reduced, the source of alcohol was difficult, and all industries replaced the use of alcohol with Sanhua liquor. As a result, Guilin's winemaking industry has developed rapidly, there are more than 40 Sanhua distillery lees factories alone, plus more than 100 concurrently operated, only In niwan Street (now the east bank of Jiefang Bridge Along the River Street) there are as many as Six or seven antaiyuan, Zhu Changxing, Luo Yongzhen, Heng Jixiang and so on, and Antaiyuan's Sanhua wine is the most famous.
After 1949, the state brought together outstanding winemakers from various folk wineries to establish the Guilin Distillery in 1952 (later renamed Guilin Beverage Factory, changed to Guilin Distillery in 1987), following the traditional technology and continuing to brew "Sanhua Wine".
In 1957, guilin sanhua wine was rated as the first at the national xiaoqu wine appraisal meeting; In 1963, at the national wine appraisal, it was rated as a national quality wine and won a silver medal; In 1979, at the third national wine appraisal meeting, it was once again rated as a national high-quality liquor, and was rated as a representative of rice-flavored liquor, which was highly praised as "honey fragrance and elegance, soft entrance, refreshing taste, and pleasant aftertaste". Nowadays, Guilin Sanhua Wine enjoys a high reputation in Liangguang, Shanghai, Wuhan, Beijing, Tianjin and even Hong Kong and Macao, and is known as "Guilin Moutai".
Guangxi Guilin Sanhua Wine is famous throughout the country, it is made of tens of millions of osmanthus flowers from Guilin, so its taste is particularly mellow and intoxicating.