Zhao Shanshan, Judge of CISC Int’l Liquor Competition

Baijiu’s popularity is spread across China. It can be found at every banquet and celebration, from wedding receptions to social gatherings. (from: Lorenzo Riccardi)

For connoisseurs, there are many types and varieties classified by their different “fragrances,” or aromas/flavor profiles. These include strong fragrance, light fragrance, sauce fragrance, and rice fragrance. There are a bunch of other classes of fragrance, but those four are the major ones. Some, such as those of the “sauce fragrance” type, are savory in character, with flavors reminiscent of fermented soybean paste or soy sauce.

Despite of the rapid growth in recent years, the leading players such as Kuichew Maotai and Wuliangye didn’t cease the efforts with innovation programs, to connect to younger generation of Chinese drinkers. Part of the initiatives is to borrow the notion of sommeliers and food pairing from wine world.

Sake Education

“Chinese new consumers are after the craftsmanship and culture behind the bottles. Courses are part of the discovery journey, and we rely much on constant tastings or mini fairs to deepen the awareness.”

Zhou Hui, Instructor of SSI (The Sake Service Institute)

Sake is to Japan as wine is to France, and sake has nearly an equally long history. Since 2010, Sake has become increasingly prevalent in China, among young consumers.The sake sommelier courses were primarily developed for overseas market. Often they are English language-based organization created to promote sake education outside of Japan, providing accredited courses and seminars. In China, the leading courses are in partnership with SSI（The Sake Service Institute）or SSA (The Sake Sommelier Association) and WSET.China’s consumers went through a journey from most established big brands to boutique, or family-owned sake breweries. The ever-evolving sake brewing methods, associated with niche craftsmanship, often made the products diversified. Inspired by Champagne or still wines, sake has gone through a new era of innovation, and the market sees new product concepts such as sparkling sake, barrel-aged sake etc.