Wine Culture 美酒文化 Time-honored Honey Wine 历史悠久的蜂蜜酒

蜂蜜酒实际上是酒的一种，从广义上讲，蜂蜜酒是以蜂蜜为原料生产的含酒精的饮料。从蜂蜜酒的发展历史看，到目前为止它主要包括蜂蜜配制酒、蜂蜜发酵蒸馏酒和纯蜂蜜发酵酒。目前市场上所见最多的是蜂蜜配制酒。
As a kind of wine, honey wine is a type of alcoholic drink produced with honey as the raw materials. Judging from the development of honey wine, we can find that it mainly includes mixed honey liquor, fermented liquor and fermented pure honey wine, with the first most available on the market.
据考证，我国蜂蜜酒始见于西周。蜂蜜酒最早出现在公元前780年周幽王宫宴中，这是在“猿酒”的启发下试酿成功的。到了唐代，药学家苏恭从酿造中得出了“凡作酒醴须曲，而葡萄、蜜等酒独不用曲”的自然发酵的经验。明代李时珍的本草纲目把蜂蜜酒列为专条，引证了唐代孙思邈用蜂蜜酒治风疹、风癣等疾病，并提供了蜂蜜酿酒的土方。
Researches revealed that China’s honey wine can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty. It appeared in the palace banquet of King You of Zhou in 780 B.C. in the earliest time which was brewed by drawing from the inspiration of “ape’s wine”. Then in the Tang Dynasty, pharmaceutical scientist Su Gong learnt the experience of “sweet wine needs yeast, but no yeast is necessary in case of grape and honey wine” in the brewing process. Compendium of Materia Medica compiled by Li Shizhen of Ming Dynasty listed honey wine as a special term, cited as proof that honey liquor can cure measles, tinea and other diseases and even provided folk recipe for brewing honey wine.
古人对蜂蜜酒最为感叹的要数宋代苏东坡了。神宗元丰三年（公元1080年），他因“乌台诗案”贬谪黄州（今湖北黄冈）任团练副史时，研究了蜂蜜酿酒的改进方法，亲自酿出了“开瓮香满城”的蜂蜜酒，写下了令人欲醉的《蜜酒歌》。
Among the ancients, Su Dongpo of Song Dynasty was the one with the most touchable feeling towards honey wine. In the third year of Yuanfeng under the reign of Emperor Shenzong (the year 1080 in the Christian era) when Su Dongpo was relegated to Huangzhou (today’s Huanggang in Hubei Province) to serve as a deputy director because of “Wutai Poem Case”, he studied on the method of improving honey wine making, produced honey liquor which is “aromatic throughout the city when the jar is opened” and wrote down the intoxicating “Honey Wine Ballad”.
元代宋伯仁的《酒小史》中也记有蜂蜜酒。元代元贞元年（公元1295年）遣学者周达观去真蜡国（柬埔寨），中国蜂蜜酒的酿造法再次传到国外。
In addition, honey wine is recorded in “Wine History” of Song Boren of the Yuan Dynasty. In the first year of Yuanzhen (the year 1295 in the Christian era), scholar Zhou Daguan was dispatched to Zhenla (today’s Cambodia). As a result, the method of producing China’s honey wine was spread overseas.
蜂蜜酒有着深厚的文化底蕴，加之酒体具有营养健身、滋补强体、保健美容、延缓衰老的特征，越来越受到众多消费者的青睐。
Blessed with profound cultural richness and nutritious, body building, life enhancing, calleidic and aging delaying features, honey wine is much sought after by a good many consumers.