Hong Sing Winery's Award Winning Lychee Liquor／鴻興製酒廠的荔枝蒸餾酒 乃姬
Hong Sing Winery's Award Winning Lychee Liquor
◎English translation: Lin Fu-ju
◎Photo by Pao Chung-hui
Hong Sing Winery was established in 2007. In June 2013, "Nai-Chi", the winery's lychee liquor won two gold medals in the spirits category at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles- Spirits Selections 2013. This brought great pride to Taiwan and Hong Sing Winery, which had created the delicious spirit. Hong Sing Winery is owned and run by Chen Chun-chi. The winery's products are mostly red wines, but they also produce rice wines and herbal wines. They can also customize their wine, which also differentiates them from their competitors and a popular service among wedding planners.
It is only recently that Hong Sing Winery started using Kaohsiung's local produce to make wines. These new ingredients include Jiashian's Plums, Meinung's Rice, Dashu's Lychees and Daliao's Purple Sticky Rice. Each wine undergoes a natural fermentation process and has been well received in the market. Chen Chun-chi then decided he would then expand into liquor distillation. It was from this diversification, his award winning lychee liquor, Nai-Chi, was created.
"There are two types of lychee wine, the 11% ABV wine and the 52% ABV hard liquor. Both of my products won medals in this year's Spirits category, but the double gold medal winner was Nai-Chi", Mr. Chen explains. According to Chen, Nai-Chi is a 52% ABV, however the difference between Nai-Chi and other lychee liquors is the proportion of ingredients to the distillation time. He doesn't use any machines in the entire process and therefore peeling, seeding, fermenting, distillation, aging, packaging and labeling are all done by hand. It takes one month to ferment six kilograms of lychees and make 750 millimeters of Nai-Chi. "Nai-Chi is smooth, fruity liquor with a long-lasting flavor", describes Mr. Chen. "It tastes the best when it has be put on ice for an hour and kept at 3°C. This will reduce any rough sensation on your tongue and bring out the best flavor".
Mr. Chen has been in the winery business for a long time. When he was 15 he immigrated to South Africa. "It was in South Africa that I was inspired to get into winemaking", explains Chen. After visiting a winery in South Africa, he began working at Long-chan Distillery CC. He started in an entry level position and worked his way up to General Manager. Over the years, he gained knowledge and developed techniques in bacteria cultivation. He then began to plan how he would start his own winery in the future. In 2001, he moved back to Taiwan where he worked as a winemaker in four different wineries. He also obtained a winemaker's certificate from Canada and continued to work on improving his winemaking skills. Six years later he opened Hong Sing Winery.
When Mr. Chen won at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, he and his wife were the proud parents of a three month old baby, so this made them extra busy when they were bombarded with orders. Nai Chi sold out in three days, exemplifying its worldwide popularity. Despite it long waiting list, Nai Chi is worth waiting for, just to experience its delicious smooth, fruity flavor.
| Hong Sing Winery |
72-32, Beishan Lane, Cijin District, Kaohsiung City (next to Tiansheng Temple)
Telephone: (07)571-8365 |
鴻興製酒廠的荔枝蒸餾酒 乃姬
◎文／楊為仁
◎攝影／鮑忠暉
鴻興製酒廠的荔枝蒸餾酒─「乃姬 」，在2013年世界烈酒大賽勇奪雙金的最高榮譽，而讓人驚訝的是，為台灣之光再添一筆的鴻興，竟然是陳俊吉的一人酒廠，為應付得獎後如雪花般飛來的訂單 ，不久前把老婆和剛滿3個月的小baby 拉進酒廠，一家三口在酒廠裡邊打拼事業、邊享受天倫，其樂也融融。
鴻興製酒廠成立於2007年，負責人陳俊吉15歲移民到南非，「我的釀酒技術就是在南非啟蒙的。」陳俊吉說，南非有不少葡萄酒廠，接觸後就對釀酒產生興趣，從基層做起，一路做到Long-chan Distiller Cc酒廠廠長 ，這段期間，他習得百年酒廠的製酒經驗，和菌種的培育技術，為他日後成立酒廠奠下基礎。
2001年回國，陳俊吉先後待過4家酒廠，擔任釀酒師的職務，為了精益求精 ，還考上加拿大釀酒師執照，釀酒功力更上一層樓，2007年，鴻興製酒廠成立 ，剛開始，鴻興的酒品以紅酒、米酒和藥酒為主，並提供客製化獨特酒品服務 ，在結婚喜宴市場深獲歡迎。
最近，鴻興開始研發多項以高雄在地農產如甲仙梅子、美濃好米、大樹荔枝 、大寮紫糯米釀造的特色酒，每款酒都秉持純天然發酵的理念，上市後大獲好評，但陳俊吉並不因此自滿，反而將觸角從釀造酒延伸到蒸餾酒，名為「乃姬 」的荔枝蒸餾酒，就在2013年世界烈酒大賽中，獲得雙金牌的最高榮譽。
「我的玉荷包荔枝酒有兩種，一種是酒精濃度11度的釀造酒，另一種是酒精濃度52度的蒸餾酒，這兩款酒在這次烈酒大賽也有獲獎，而拿到雙金的是我手上這瓶『乃姬』。」陳俊吉表示，「乃姬」是屬於荔枝蒸餾酒，酒精濃度52度 ，它和玉荷包荔枝酒不同的地方，除了原料配方比例不同外，熟成的時間也不一樣，從剝殼、去籽、發酵、蒸餾、熟成、裝罐、貼標籤，全部手工，6公斤的玉荷包要經過一個月的釀造發酵，才能做出750毫升的「乃姬」，所以當獲得世界烈酒大賽雙金牌後，不到3天就全部賣光，想喝恐怕得再等一會兒。
「口感香醇順口，喉韻回甘持久，並帶有濃郁的荔枝香氣是『乃姬』的特色 。」陳俊吉表示，「乃姬」放在冰桶冰一個小時，保持在攝氏3度左右，辛辣感會降低，最能飲出「乃姬」的風味。
| 鴻興酒廠門市 |
高雄市旗津區北汕巷72-32號(天聖宮旁)
07-5718365 |
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Do not consume alcohol if you are underage. 未成年請勿飲酒
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