Kweichow Moutai Group

Kweichow Moutai is China's national spirit brand, the diplomatic spirit of the People's Republic, and by market capitalisation the world's most valuable spirits company. The sauce aroma (jiangxiang) style produced in Maotai town's river valley — through 8 rounds of fermentation, 9 rounds of distillation, and 3-5 years of barrel-free pot ageing — is fundamentally unlike any Western spirit. The Chishui River's specific microbial ecology is considered essential terroir.

Kweichow Moutai is the most diplomatically important spirit in the world. Every significant event in China's foreign policy — from Nixon's 1972 Beijing visit to modern Belt and Road summits — has involved Moutai. For sommeliers, understanding Moutai is understanding Chinese culture at the deepest level: the spirit is not separate from Chinese business culture; it is inseparable from it. At BC restaurants serving Chinese business clientele, Moutai recognition and service knowledge is a significant commercial advantage.