For a small city of three million people, Shaoxing stands as a giant in the global Chinese collective consciousness. Shaoxing wine is one of China’s oldest grain ferments, evolving from ancient rice ales into a polished yellow wine poured at rites and family banquets for more than two millennia. Open vats of steamed glutinous rice mixed with lake water and wine mother at the Pagoda Brand Winery in Shaoxing. Yet, for an industry that produces more than 600,000 tonnes annually, only a fraction of Shaoxing wine is intended for table-drinking, and just a hair’s sliver of that is produced by boutique wineries at the luxury end of the market. Chen Zhi, founder of Dongqu, at the Pagoda Brand Winery.