Lock the Valley, Own the Terroir

“As a traditional craft producer with strong regional characteristics, Moutai distillery proposed the protection of the origin and core production area in 2001 and successfully applied to the National Quality Inspection Administration to establish China’s first geographical indication range for the liquor industry, the current “National Geographical Indication Product Protection Demonstration Zone.” This action provides theoretical and legal support for the development of the sauce-flavored liquor ecological area centered around Maotai Town. In 2022, Ding Xiongjun, chairman of Moutai Group, proposed the construction of the “mountain, water, forest, soil, river and micro-organism” life community, further enhancing the concept of ecological construction.”

“The natural conditions of Maotai Town are unique, with over 1940 types of microorganisms discovered in the core brewing area. Moutai Distillery established China’s first “Baijiu Microorganism Species Resource Bank.” When I went for a survey, the researchers told me that currently, more than 200 types of microorganisms have been definitively identified, and they can understand nearly 20 more each year. Hearing this made me a bit anxious for them: “At this rate, you probably won’t finish it in this lifetime.” The person smiled bitterly and said, “That’s the way it is.””