In the era of digital intelligence, what kind of wine are the middle class drinking?

For urbanites who are tired of working and socializing every day, alcohol is a necessity.

Among various types of alcohol, Baijiu is the most special one. On one hand, it is well-known for its over 4,000 years of history and drinking habits; on the other hand, Baijiu is always closely associated with business banquets.

However, with the change of consumer groups and demands, nowadays, Baijiu is gradually presenting more new ways of drinking and enjoying. Urbanites are pursuing a more relaxed and fashionable drinking experience, and people's attitudes towards Baijiu are becoming more diversified and personalized.

At the same time, Baijiu enterprises are also adapting to the changes in consumption and providing products and services that meet more demands through innovation in products and marketing strategies.

Baijiu, Stepping Out of Business Banquets

Wherever Baijiu is present, the atmosphere is always lively, even if you are strangers who have never met before.

"With Baijiu, we become bosom friends." Brian, a 34-year-old product manager who has been working in Beijing for 10 years, told Chaosheng TIDE, "Baijiu is the most powerful tool to bring people closer together, especially in business banquets, like me, an introvert. Without a couple of drinks, I really don't know how to start a conversation with clients."

Indeed, because of Baijiu, the communication between people becomes more enthusiastic and in-depth. During the toasts, alcohol becomes a catalyst for communication. However, in the past two years, led by social media, Baijiu has slowly stepped out of the revolving dining tables and private rooms, and has been brought to new scenes by more and more people, becoming more and more fashionable.

Brian believes that this change may stem from the epidemic period, he said: "At that time, didn't everyone have difficulty meeting in person? A few of my friends and I had a video conference and had an online 'cloud drink'. I happened to have a few bottles of Guotai Baijiu at home. Without a wine dispenser or Baijiu cups, I simply opened a bottle and poured it into the cups I usually use for drinking water, and we toasted through the camera." He also specifically added to Chaosheng TIDE that it was the first time in a long time that he truly wanted to drink Baijiu from the bottom of his heart, "After chatting with a few friends, we all felt that having a small gathering with friends and drinking some Baijiu is exciting yet very relaxing."

The "2024 China Baijiu Industry Consumption Behavior Survey Data" shows that, "In the scenarios where Chinese Baijiu consumers drink Baijiu, family gatherings and friends get-togethers rank the top two, accounting for 49.11% and 48.00% respectively, followed by business banquets, accounting for 42.22%." This means that the consumption scenarios of Baijiu are expanding from traditional business entertainment and banquets to more relaxed and comfortable diversified scenarios such as gatherings and dinners.

Gradually, Baijiu begins to appear in some unexpected places.

For example, some white-collar workers in the city will bring a bottle to work on Friday and directly share it with friends who meet at the club in the evening, and everyone pre-drinks for dancing together; some will have a small drink before going to bed after a busy day to relax, and for them, Baijiu is strong enough, especially Maotai-flavor Baijiu, which has a rich flavor comparable to whiskey; there are also some urban middle-class with considerable purchasing power who treat Baijiu as a financial product, buying at a low price and selling at a high price, paying attention to the wine price as they do to the stock market.

These new changes that can be captured on social media also reflect consumers' re-interpretation and acceptance of Baijiu culture - they are more inclined to enjoy the slightly tipsy moments brought by Baijiu in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.

According to the data in the "2023 Analysis of Supply and Demand Status of the China Baijiu Market" published by the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, "Consumers aged 31 - 40 are the core purchasing group, accounting for nearly half of the total." And as the post - 80s and post - 90s like Brian gradually become the main age group of employees in various enterprises and the main force of society, the consumption scenarios of Baijiu are becoming more diversified, and people's drinking concepts are also changing. Baijiu is gradually breaking free from the shackles of inherent concepts.

Brian found that even in business banquets, "Even in business banquets, people will drink in moderation, especially partners of similar age who will even advise me to drink less, as long as the intention is there."

I asked Brian, then why not simply replace Baijiu with other types of alcohol, such as more easily drinkable wine or sake. He replied: "Because the social attribute of Baijiu is still unshakable, for example, giving wine to others is a very challenging thing. First, I have to choose the right wine from so many wineries and vintages. Secondly, what if the other person doesn't understand wine at all? But there is no such worry with Baijiu, especially Maotai - flavor Baijiu, the price of different brands is clear to everyone."

Thus, it can be seen that the Baijiu culture inherited for thousands of years has an extraordinary influence on the Chinese people. Compared with wine in delicate goblets, Baijiu brings modern consumers closer when they toast, and the drinking atmosphere is more lively and intimate.

Time is the Soul of Baijiu

Similar to the tasting of wine or whiskey, Baijiu also has its own evaluation criteria.

The first is "color". The color of Baijiu reveals its age. A slightly yellow and transparent body color is a standard for many novice Baijiu drinkers to judge the quality of Baijiu.

The second is "smell". A good Baijiu always gives people an indescribable pleasure when smelled. The prominent Maotai flavor and long - lasting aroma all indicate a comfortable smell.

The last is "taste". Just take a small sip, and the key lies in the balance of the aftertaste - none of the flavors such as sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and astringent is too prominent. The entrance is soft and the taste is full, and you can feel different flavors gradually unfolding on the tip of the tongue.

After falling in love with Baijiu, slowly, Brian began to appreciate the charm of different Baijiu: "I personally prefer Guotai Guobiao Baijiu, a 53 - degree Maotai - flavor Baijiu, from the second - largest Baijiu enterprise in Maotai Town, but with a higher cost performance. And this is also the only Baijiu I have seen that indicates the brewing year. I like this idea very much because I can clearly know which year's wine I am drinking."

Guotai Guobiao Baijiu with the specific brewing year marked on the bottle

Also because the bottle is marked with the year, he also selected Guotai Guobiao Baijiu (brewed in 2018) with the founding year of the client's company written on it and gave it to the other party as a small trick to break the ice.

The year is very important for Baijiu, as it relates to quality, taste, and value. Each vintage Baijiu has its unique flavor characteristics, for example, the Guotai Guobiao (brewed in 2019) that Brian likes has a distinct aged flavor, which also indicates that the brewing process and blending of this wine must be strict and complex.

The brewing process of Chinese Maotai - flavor Baijiu is complex. It takes one year and 365 days for a cycle to brew a fine wine; it goes through two rounds of feeding, nine rounds of cooking, eight rounds of fermentation, and seven rounds of distilling, referred to as the "12987" authentic Kunsha brewing process. It also needs to go through three years of pottery storage and one year of conditioning, and it can be marketed after at least five years.

Yan Xijun, the founder of Guotai and the chief innovator of Guotai Wine Industry, introduced: Guotai insists on storing the wine body for a sufficient number of years. When the supply is tight, it does not use the seed grains. Every year, at least 20% of the total production of the previous year is retained as aged wine for fine blending in different batches to make the wine body more mellow and full, and the taste more suitable, establishing a stable wine body system. And through technological innovation, combined with the big data of artificial tasting and blending, a computer AI algorithm model is established, forming a blending mode of intelligent blending + artificial tasting and blending to ensure the quality of Guotai Baijiu products."

On December 16 this year, Guotai released and launched the Digital Intelligence Guobiao Baijiu and Digital Intelligence Treasured Baijiu on the Guizhou Baijiu Exchange. On the basis of ensuring the brewing process and standard, through an innovative marketing model, the time value of Baijiu is amplified - after placing an order online in the mini - program "Guofan Club", unlike the general merchants who directly ship and deliver, consumers can also choose to "cloud hold" these two types of wine online.

Digital Intelligence Guobiao Baijiu (left) and Digital Intelligence Treasured Baijiu (right)

This not only saves family space but also ensures the flavor of the wine body.

Consumers can realize the anytime enjoyment, transfer, and delivery services of the products through the online platform, and during this period, the Digital Intelligence Guobiao Baijiu and Digital Intelligence Treasured Baijiu also have the dual space of value increase (value) and quality increase (quality) of vintage Baijiu - with the scarcity of Maotai - flavor Baijiu that becomes more and more rare as time goes by, the more it is stored, the more valuable it becomes.

Blockchain technology provides a basic guarantee for transactions. Each Digital Intelligence Guobiao Baijiu and Digital Intelligence Treasured Baijiu has a unique "Digital Wine Certificate", allowing consumers to store, hide, share, and trade with one click. Without building a wine cellar, they can own a wine cellar. With a few taps of their fingers, they can trace the source of the product at any time, understand the product situation, and decide where the product goes.

The saying "Wine gets better with age" is not only about the wine body and flavor. Opening the "Guofan Club" mini - program to check the product holdings in the account, you can also feel the meaning of this sentence from the numbers.

"My Holdings" page in the "Guofan Club" mini - program

What Kind of Baijiu Do We Need?

Driven by the current technological wave, digitalization has also become a new trend in the Baijiu industry. More and more Baijiu enterprises have found that technology and intelligence can actually help produce Baijiu more stably.

The "Research Report on the Development of China's Digital Economy (2024)" released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology shows that, "In 2023, the scale of China's digital economy reached 53.9 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.7 trillion yuan compared to the previous year. The digital economy is the field with the most active innovation, the fastest growth rate, and the widest influence in economic development."

Take Guotai Baijiu as an example. On the production side, Guotai spent more than ten years systematically learning the traditional brewing process of the authentic Maotai - flavor in Maotai Town; on this basis, Guotai spent another more than ten years and went through six technological iterations to refine the "12987" brewing process of the authentic Daqu Maotai - flavor Baijiu in Maotai Town into 30 procedures, 274 process links, and 1,508 link indicators, establishing a standardized, digital, and modern intelligent brewing production system throughout the process. On the marketing side, Guotai uses blockchain technology and the "Online Wine Cellar" to broaden the dimension of drinking and socializing, and it can even help consumers 分装 and send the Digital Intelligence Treasured Baijiu. It is not so much that the era is promoting the digital transformation of Baijiu as that Baijiu enterprises are actively embracing the changes in consumer demands.

The intelligent workshop of Guotai Baijiu

After seriously drinking Baijiu, Brian found that most people around him are willing to taste and understand the flavor of Baijiu.

He said: "I remember once, a female friend who was not used to drinking Baijiu actively proposed wanted to try Ma