The South China Morning Post is on a baijiu tear these days: today there’s an article ‘Inside Fortress Moutai‘.  Fascinating stuff!

“Maotai can be produced only in Maotai town, where a very specific microclimate creates the perfect conditions for baijiu,” explains production manager Zhou Xianlun, speaking in one of the buildings where sorghum is fermented.

“In all, we have 247 buildings for storage, although some are still being built,” says Cai Ying, who manages the oldest warehouse. “We use very specific earthenware jars made in Sichuan province and we store 800,000 of them. Currently, we have 250,000 tonnes of Maotai in our warehouses.”