"Across the river" is not a figure of speech. Guizhou Wuyou Liquor (Group) Co., Ltd. stands on the scenic bank of the Chishui in Maotai town, directly facing the Moutai distillery, sharing the same valley's micro-organisms and its purple-red clay pits.
I. Since 1983: forty years, one craft
Wuyou was founded in 1983 and now runs three production bases — Wuyouyuan, Wuyoushan and Wuyougu — covering over 350 mu (about 23 ha) and producing more than 7,000 tonnes of premium daqu sauce-aroma baijiu a year. The trade calls it "Maotai town's second legend". Over four decades it has gathered honours such as one of Renhuai's Top Ten Sauce-Aroma Baijiu of the Core Production Region and a national "trusted liquor enterprise" designation — yet what Wuyou's people prefer to talk about is simpler: every glass should be reassuring, enjoyable, worry-free.
II. 12987: one year, for one glass
Sauce-aroma baijiu follows the most demanding craft in Chinese liquor. Wuyou adheres strictly to the traditional daqu method: local Hongyingzi waxy sorghum — small-grained, thick-skinned, built for repeated steaming — is the root of the aroma. Qu starter is made at the Dragon Boat Festival, grain is fed at the Double Ninth Festival; one production cycle per year, two feedings, nine steamings, eight fermentations, seven extractions of distillate — "12987" in trade shorthand. The base liquor then matures in clay jars, ageing slowly in a micro-oxygen environment. Nothing can be rushed, nothing skipped.
III. Zhizun: one series' answer
Four decades of craft settled into four series: Zhizun, Zhizhen, Tairan and Wuyou Xijiu. In 2023 the Zhizun series appeared in two guises — a "boxed edition" and a "culture edition" — both in the standard sauce-aroma format of 53% vol, 500ml, both holding the same conviction: daqu sauce aroma, aged in clay. The boxed edition is upright and dignified, at home on formal occasions; the culture edition carries a more literary charm, for kindred spirits.
Zhizun means "supreme honour" — but its honour lies not in display, but in respect: respect for the seasons (qu at the Dragon Boat Festival, grain at the Double Ninth — 12987 follows heaven's calendar); respect for the grain (Hongyingzi waxy sorghum, berry after berry); and respect for the guest (the patiently jar-aged body, saved for the moment the bottle opens). To host with a bottle of Zhizun is to say: this table matters to me.
IV. From Maotai town to Chengdu: the journey of a glass
In 2024, Wuyou Liquor Group signed a distribution partnership with Shejiantai Liquor Group at the latter's "Liquor Industry Union Centre" in Chengdu, building a "Guizhou–Chengdu–Mianzhu" industrial chain, with Shejiantai becoming an appointed distributor of Wuyou. And on dinner tables in Chengdu, this "second legend" is easy to find — Wuyou sauce-aroma baijiu is exactly what Mingpinhui curates for local drinkers.
V. Three ways to open it
Business banquets
At tables where business is done, the depth and weight of 53° daqu sauce aroma is itself a statement.
For elders and honoured guests
Giving "Zhizun" gives a word that places the receiver in the seat of honour.
For connoisseurs
Among old friends, a pot of clay-aged sauce aroma speaks louder than words.
Would you like to taste this sauce-aroma baijiu from across the river? WeChat: +86 186 8275 6100 — tell our consultant the occasion; genuine stock, direct supply, and tastings can be arranged the same day.
Maotai town's 7.5 km² sauce-aroma core region
