In late autumn, Tian Jia's one-year harvest has been completed. At this time, the rent and meals are paid, and everything is in an orderly way. Farmers will use the surplus grain to make wine, which will be used for offering sacrifices to gods, ancestors and family banquets on the winter solstice and New Year's Day. The Book of Songs in July sang, "Peel dates in August and get rice in October. To this end, spring wine is used to celebrate the longevity of eyebrows. " The custom of making wine in October has been passed down in this yellow land for more than two thousand years.
The winter wine brewed by Tianjia mostly takes coarse grains as raw materials and medicinal materials as koji, and its purity is low, so it is called "turbid wine" and "miscellaneous wine" by the people. Zhu Jun, a poet in the Song Dynasty, also recorded the trick of brewing winter wine in the Classic of Wine, saying, "Holding an urn as winter mash and making wine in winter makes people hold an urn quickly and taste good." In order to brew a pot of good wine, farmers have to hold jars by themselves.
Besides brewing wine in October, there is also the custom of brewing "wax wine" in December. A record from Shen Chu of Qing Dynasty: "Sioux City is made of wax wine, which is clear in mid-April and has good color and taste." It is said that Suzhou people are used to making wine in late February and will take it out in April next year.
As far as the brewing method of "preserved wine" is concerned, it is recorded in the "Four Seasons" of the Tang Dynasty: "On the twelfth day of the first month (the eighth day of December), take a stone of water, put it in a jar, soak it for three times at the end of the song, and then eat four buckets of rice. On the fifteenth day of the first month of the following year, we should plant three buckets of rice. On February 2nd, there were three buckets of rice. It has been open until April 28. " Unfortunately, although this wax wine is named after it was brewed in1February, it will not be made into drinking until early summer next year, so it is not a "wax wine" to drink in the old winter.
Lu You, a poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, also mentioned "wax wine" in his poem "Tour in Shanxi Village": "Don't laugh at farmers for muddy wax wine, and keep enough chickens and dolphins in good years. There is no way to go because of the winding water flow in the mountains, and a mountain village suddenly appears in the willow-green flower bay. The day of playing flute and drums is approaching, and the villagers are still dressed simply. From now on, if you take the moon leisurely, the staff will knock on the door all night. "
At the end of the season and in winter, the author got lost in Shan Ye and was secretly worried. Suddenly, the road ahead was clear and a village appeared. When the peasants saw the arrival of the guests, they enthusiastically took out the winter-brewed turbid wine, killed the chickens and killed the dolphins, and entertained the guests. The author was moved by the sincerity of the farmer's hospitality, saying that if he rises from now on, he will come to the farmer with the bright moon and get drunk.
Interestingly, according to the description in the poem, it can be judged that the season is around the winter solstice and New Year's Day, so his so-called "wax wine" is actually winter wine brewed in October of the lunar calendar.
In addition to common names such as "turbid wine" and "miscellaneous wine", winter brewing also has nicknames such as "Autumn Dew White", "October White", "Du Maochai", "Zhu", "Danguihuang" and "Rose Red". Among them, the last three may be related to the ingredients added in winter brewing, among which "osmanthus yellow" is probably the "osmanthus winter brewing" that is still very popular in Suzhou today.
Osmanthus fragrans is the city flower of Suzhou, and Guilin is often taken as the scenery in Suzhou gardens. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, people collect and pickle the sweet-scented osmanthus in full bloom, and then they can make seasonal delicacies such as Osmanthus Jelly, sweet-scented osmanthus taro seedlings and sweet-scented osmanthus Yuanxiao. In addition, it is to brew osmanthus winter wine. The current osmanthus winter wine is not brewed by the people themselves, but produced by the winery, so it is more fragrant and pure. Traveling to Suzhou in winter and drinking two cups of seasonal wine can better appreciate the charming flavor of Jiangnan.