Why does Moutai get its name?

Maotai liquor was named after it was produced in Maotai Town, Guizhou Province, but this town was originally called Cao Mao Village instead of Maotai Town.

In the Tang Dynasty in the history of China, liquor distillation technology appeared almost simultaneously in the northwest and southwest border areas. Later, during the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, it was located in Bozhou (now Zunyi), less than 100 km east of Dafang County. This common brewing technology is used to make wine.

In the 20th year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty (1600), the Zhu Ming Dynasty launched a war to quell the rebellion of Bozhou Tusi Yang Yinglong. Zunyi's agriculture suffered a collapse. Moreover, before and after, more than 200,000 officers and men flocked to drink and feast, and the consumption of Bozhou liquor increased sharply.

The relatively concentrated wine-making workshop owners in Maotai Village were forced to adopt the method of fermentation and distillation for several rounds, during which some new raw materials were mixed in order to make full use of the starch content in fermented grains and save sorghum and wheat with insufficient sources.

So a set of "multi-round mixed sand fermentation steaming and baking" Moutai production basic technology was produced in Maotai Village Winery. Since then, various generations of winemakers here have successively created "stacking technology" to fully ferment the new raw materials mixed between rounds; Some winemakers pour the inferior wine distilled for the first time back into wine and fermented grains to make it fragrant in the second fermentation.

Therefore, the "sand-returning process" of Moutai production was produced. After that, there are techniques such as high-temperature koji making, using a lot of koji, stepping on koji in Dragon Boat Festival, throwing sand on Chongyang, aging and so on.

The production technology of Maotai liquor, which originated around twenty-eight years of Wanli in Ming Dynasty, was improved for more than one hundred years in the early years of Qing Qianlong, resulting in a unique wine body and a great reputation.

Since the late Qing Dynasty, Maotai Village has been changed to Maotai Town because of its increasing popularity and population.

Extended data:

Maotai liquor is made of wheat, fermented for eight times and stored for two or three years before leaving the factory. Its unique sensory indicators are: white wine is colorless and transparent, mellow and sweet when drinking, without suspended matter and precipitation, outstanding aroma, elegant and delicate, full-bodied, long aftertaste and lasting fragrance in empty cups.

The trademark of Moutai was originally printed in woodcut, but the word "Kweichow Moutai" was written in a petal-shaped pattern in regular script. Later it was changed to continuous history paper lead printing. Trademark naming: Cheng Yi pub is "Shuangde brand", Ronghe pub is "Maisui brand" and Hengshi pub is "Shan Ying brand".

1952 was changed to "workers and peasants". 1954 is divided into two trademarks: the domestic brand is "Golden Wheel Brand" (also known as "Gongnong Brand") and the export brand is "Tian Fei Brand". During the Cultural Revolution, it was once changed to "Sunflower Brand", and then it was restored to "Golden Wheel Brand" and "Flying Brand", which have been in use ever since.

References:

Baidu encyclopedia-Moutai liquor