Day 52: Liangzhou Winery

Our first destination on our last day of this tour was Liangzhou Winery located in Leitei Park. This location was chosen for the winery because of the accessibility of water and for a region with great historic and cultural significance.

We saw a storeroom for baijiu which contained many hundreds of flasks of the white wine, ranging from one-to-eleven years of age. The smell of the wine was strong, and a sample proved the high quality of it.

Next we saw a processing room for hongjiu, red wine, which incorporated much Italian machinery. Again, the volumes were staggering and the scent intoxicating. We learnt that they are looking for three types of partnerships: an international tastemaster, experts, and export partners to introduce their wine to other countries.

Next we were taken to a historic Buddhist shrine to Ancestor Zhou. Here we burnt incense and bowed in reverence.

We also saw a museum on the history of the region and of Liangzhou Winery, including an ancient poem extolling the virtues of the wine of the region. There were many interesting relics: stone carving, earthen pottery, paintings and sculptures. A brief but interesting visit!