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Rice Wine
How Pearl Red Chinese rice wine is made
Our Chinese rice wine making process is traditional and proudly undertaken by hand. At the same time, Pearl Red embraces modern food safety management and technologies to maintain the integrity of the alcohol. Fully embodying our dedication to craftsmanship, we ensure that each process is meticulously accomplished. We are proud to share with you the tradition and key steps of our Chinese rice wine making process.
The reaped rice plants are divided into two parts. Rice is the raw material for winemaking and rice husks and straws are used as fuel for the smoking and boiling. The latter serves as a means of sterilisation so as to lengthen the storage time, and expel the coldness in the wine, making it more beneficial. It also gives the wine a unique aroma of smoke, which makes the wine more mellow bodied. After the boiling, the wine becomes darker and darker in color and gradually turns to amber if stored at room temperature. The wine remains light golden and retains the fragrance of blooms, fruits and honey if stored at a lower temperature.
The process undertaken to separate wine from fermented grains in raw wine utilises hand-made traditional bamboo baskets. Pearl Red sticks to this natural practice instead of adopting the machine press. With a basket put in the middle of raw wine, the wine as a fluid naturally penetrates down. This allows the wine to be clearer and more transparent, so as to shorten the settling time, and better preserve the flavour.
For sufficient fermentation and richness in flavour, the fermented grains should be exposed to as much air as possible. Therefore, winemakers conduct drilling by hand in each wine vessel, to ensure the full conversion of starch in the fermentation process.
Chinese fir steaming container
Pearl Red insists on using the traditional Chinese fir container for rice steaming, during which the rice will take up the natural fragrance of the wood and maintain proper moisture and looseness. The wood-fragrant rice allows the wine to have a richer aroma. After the rice is spread out and it cools down, it is then blended with self-made Jiu Qu and stored in a clay vessel to go through the fermentation process.
Purity is a primary concern
Pearl Red adheres to strict rules for the whole process. From inspection of the container and air environment during the winemaking to the prefilling filtration, we monitor our wines constantly. This ensures the safety of every drop of the wine as well as perserving its flavour. We also believe that this purity and monitoring minimises the possibility of head-aches connected with drinking rice wine and spirits.
In the case of Pearl Red Tomorrow, our winemaking process also involves mixing the wine with ginger juice. To make the ginger juice, we mix minced ginger with our base rice wine that has been stored for more than a year. The ginger juice is stored in a clay vessel for more than two years. During that time, it requires stirring on multiple occasions and any ginger skin floating on the surface is removed.
When the ginger juice is ready, it is mixed with base wine in a corresponding ratio. After further filtration, the wine is finally ready to be bottled. Heating the wine gives Pearl Red Tomorrow a golden lustre. The colour gets darker the longer the wine has been stored. The completion of the process of mixing with ginger juice gives Pearl Red Tomorrow an agate-like colour.