A journey through southern China, where centuries-old rice spirit traditions are finding a new life. By Terry Squadrito
This year we celebrated 17 years of Squad, so it felt like a good time to reflect on the experiences that have shaped the way Matthew and I see the world. Beyond the products lining our studio shelves are the people, places and traditions behind them.
One of those moments took me to Xingning, in southern China.
I first met Justin Zhang back in 2017. Our conversations kept returning to history, Hakka culture and the art of making Chinese rice wine and spirit. What I liked about Justin was his desire to carry thousands of years of tradition into a new era.
The conversation eventually led me to the Zhang family’s distillery. Spread across some 120,000 square metres, the scale took me by surprise. A thoroughly modern operation, yet many of the practices inside preserve the old ways.
People often fixate on the finished bottle, but the most fascinating part is the generations of rice wine and spirit-making knowledge passed down through the Hakka people. It reminded me of a saying I heard there: “In the West they plan for the next ten years. In the East we plan for the next hundred.”
Xingning, in Guangdong Province, is a stunning part of the world. Emerald hills stretch as far as the eye can see, with tea plantations carved into the landscape like cascading steps. Locals call them the Honeycomb Mountains. Tucked amongst them sits Pearl Red Winery and Distillery.
If you know me well, you’ll know the conversation usually turns to food.
Thankfully, my Sicilian roots prepared me for regional Chinese cooking. Rustic meals served in abundance, a smorgasbord of offal, small birds, baby deer and frogs. The younger and fresher, the more prized. Challenging for the eyes, perhaps, but incredibly comforting once you got past the crunch of tiny bones. Everything was fresh and delicious, washed down with quality baijiu, also made by the Zhang family and enjoyed from arguably the tiniest glass in the world.
Throughout Hakka country, Shénlóng, the Spirit Dragon, has long symbolised the rain that nourishes the rice harvest. I witnessed these traditions in local dragon dances and festivals celebrating prosperity, renewal and the connection between people and the land.
It’s a beautiful morning in Xingning. Clay wine pots are filled with huangjiu, traditional Chinese yellow rice wine, sealed with a dough-like pulp made from local wood and covered with old porcelain plates. Slowly heated over a low hay fire, the wine develops natural sweetness and a subtle smoky character.
A worker hurries to a corner, subduing a flame with a broomstick before tending to another moments later. It’s a painstaking process requiring constant attention. Too much fire and the wine burns.
The wine is then aged in large ceramic urns, developing into something sweet, complex and unlike any fortified wine I’ve tasted.
The head distiller shared an old saying: “Sorghum smells good. Wheat smells strong. Rice smells pure.” Fresh rice, he explained, produces a clean and pure base liquor.
Standing there, I couldn’t help wondering: why do so few of us outside China ever see traditions like these? Quietly practised every day, yet rarely finding their way beyond their communities.
Justin’s ambition is to create a new doorway into these traditions by ageing both rice wine and rice spirit in new American oak. The natural honey fragrance of the rice wine develops citrus notes under the influence of the oak.
“Grand Talon is a true renaissance of the Chinese artisanal spirit.” — Justin Zhang
The more I travel and the more artisans I meet, the less interested I become in novelty. In the commercial world, novelty rarely lasts. I’m far more interested in traditions that have endured for generations, and finding ways to help carry them forward to new audiences.
Products like these become far more than something to eat or drink. They’re cultural artefacts. Gateways into another place, another history and another way of seeing the world.
EXPLORE THE GRAND TALON PROJECT
Awards
Pentawards 2022 – Silver, Dark Spirits Design & Packaging
Master Awards 2021 – Master, World Whisky Category
Sign up to be the first to know about updates, new projects, and all things SQUAD.
