There has always been a saying in the liquor industry that “30% brewing and 70% storage”. Aged wine is the essence of time!
Wine becomes more fragrant with age. We have said this many times. But not all liquors get better with age.
Chinese liquor has many flavors. Different liquors have different craftsmanship, and their suitable storage times are also different. Liquor that has been stored for too long is not suitable for drinking directly.
So do you know how long is the best storage period of different flavor liquors?
Sauce flavor type: 10-30 years
What is the hottest wine in the Chinese liquor market currently? That must be Moutai. In recent years, Moutai has promoted the popularity of sauce wine and , and more and more wine lovers have begun to drink sauce wine.
Maotai-flavor liquor is one of the Chinese distilled liquors. The entire production process has one production cycle per year, including two feedings, nine cooking times, eight fermentations, and seven wine extractions. Freshly distilled liquor is called new liquor. Generally, newly brewed Maotai-flavor liquor needs to be at least 5 years old before it is sold.
The taste and flavor of Maotai-flavor liquor have a lot to do with later storage. The newly brewed new liquor has a bad taste, some spicy and uncoordinated flavors. It needs to be stored for a period of time, and the liquor will be reduced through a series of changes during storage. Spicy and stimulating, it can also add some trace components of fragrance to make the liquor body more harmonious, mellow and mellow. This process is called liquor aging.
Although the storage time of Maotai wine is longer than that of other aromatic liquors, this does not mean that the longer the storage time of Maotai wine is, the better. Generally speaking, Maotai wine is best in an environment with good sealing. Storage time is 10-30 years.
Kunsha sauce wine has been stored for about 30 years. It is yellow in color with green in it, soft and mellow, and has a fragrant and sweet aroma. The state has reached its peak, and if it continues to age, the benefits will be minimal and the aroma and taste will fade.
Strong-flavor type: 5-10 years
Although sauce wine has been popular in recent years, strong-flavor liquor still accounts for half of my country's liquor market. At present, the market share of strong-flavor liquor is still over 70%.
Compared with sauce-flavor liquor is rich, light-flavor liquor is light and elegant, and strong-flavor liquor is just in between the two. After fermentation in old cellars or artificially cultivated old cellars, ethyl acetate is produced. , this ingredient has a high fragrance content, prominent aroma, and soft taste, making it easier for consumers to adapt.
Most of the common strong-flavor liquors on the market are 52 degrees. Excellent strong-flavor liquors are "colorless and transparent, with elegant cellar aroma, sweet and refreshing, soft and harmonious, and long tail aroma". Its representative products include "Wuliangye , Luzhou Laojiao , Yanghe ” and so on.
The brewing process of strong-flavor liquor is not as complicated as that of Maotai liquor, so the storage time is not nearly as long as that of Maotai liquor. Generally speaking, if the sealing degree is good, the best shelf life of strong-flavor liquor is about 5-10 years.
When a bottle of strong-flavor liquor is stored for 3, 5, or 10 years, there will be certain differences in taste:
After three years of storage: colorless or slightly yellowish and transparent, rich cellar aroma, obvious aged aroma, soft and sweet. , clean and refreshing aftertaste, long aftertaste and aftertaste;
stored for five years: colorless or transparent and slightly yellow, rich in cellar aroma, elegant and mellow, full-bodied, soft and sweet, clean and refreshing in the mouth, long aftertaste and aftertaste. , the compound aroma of cellar aroma and aged aroma is harmonious and beautiful;
stored for ten years: colorless or slightly yellowish and transparent, rich cellar aroma, outstanding aged aroma, elegant and delicate, mellow and soft, sweet and refreshing, long aftertaste and aftertaste. The wine is full-bodied and has a beautiful and harmonious complex aroma.
After more than ten years, the flavor substances in the wine will evaporate too much, the taste and aroma of the wine will become lighter and lighter, and the quality will gradually decline.
Light fragrance type: 3-5 years
China's three major mainstream fragrance types, in addition to sauce fragrance, strong fragrance and light fragrance. The radiation area of light-flavor liquor is vast, and light-flavor liquor can be brewed from south to north.
According to the definition of aroma, light-flavor liquor uses grains such as sorghum as raw materials, medium-temperature Daqu made from barley and peas as saccharified starter, and adopts steamed and clear brewing technology, solid-state vat fermentation, and clear distilled liquor, emphasizing that " Pure fragrance, clear to the end", a typical slag cleaning process.
Unlike strong-flavor liquor and sauce wine, which are relatively stable during storage, the quality of low-alcohol liquor such as light-flavor liquor changes greatly during storage. The aroma components change the original balance as the alcohol content decreases, making the wine Acids increase and esters decrease. During the storage process of light-flavor liquor, the total acid and gradually increased, the total esters gradually decreased, and then stabilized in the later period.
Therefore, compared with sauce-flavored and strong-flavored liquors, light-flavored liquors should not be stored for too long, and the storage time must be grasped.
It is recommended to drink low-alcohol light-flavor liquor as soon as possible, preferably within 3-5 years, because light-flavor liquor pursues "cleanness" and does not need to be stored for too long. If the storage method and storage environment of highly fragrant wine (above 52°) are appropriate, there will be no problem in storing it for more than ten years or even twenty or thirty years.
rice-flavor type: 1-3 years
rice-flavor liquor is a traditional liquor with a long history in China. It is a distilled liquor with rice as the main raw material. Its fragrance is soft, elegant and pure, the entrance is soft and the aftertaste is pleasant, giving people a simple and pure aesthetic feeling.
Compared with other aromatic liquors, rice-flavored liquor has a lower alcohol content and is not suitable for long-term storage. Its optimal storage period is 1-3 years. If the time is too long, lipid substances will hydrolyze, which will lead to The problem of bland taste.
According to the liquor selection standards, the currently recognized aroma types in the liquor industry can be divided into 12 types. In addition to the sauce aroma, strong aroma, light aroma, and rice aroma mentioned above, there are also Jianxiang, Fengxiang, sesame aroma, and soybean aroma. , special fragrance, medicinal fragrance, old white dry fragrance, rich fragrance.
Different fragrance types have different optimal storage times. Generally speaking, the more complex the process and the higher the degree of time, the longer the suitable storage time.
However, the actual optimal storage period of liquor is closely related to the storage environment and storage method. No matter what type of liquor it is, it should be stored in a closed, dry, and cool place.
