Taiwan Wines

By Fancis Hu

Taiwan’s monopoly business started during the Japanese ruling and occupation. The government granted this control. In 1895, the Qing Dynasty ceded Taiwan to Japan after the Jiawu War. The first monopolized product that was sold to Taiwan by the Japanese was opium. Aside from this, the Taiwan governor’s office also expanded its range of items to include salt and camphor in 1898. It merged together the Taiwan Pharmaceutical Factory, the Taiwan Salt Bureau and the Taiwan Camphor Bureau in 1901 into the “ Monopoly Bureau of Taiwan Government Office” 

The business scope of the Monopoly Bureau was very wide, and its associated offices and factories were all over the island. The items included tobacco & liquor (1919), matches (1942) and petroleum (1943) as monopoly products. Before the end of World War II, the monopoly items of Taiwan Governor’s Office Monopoly Bureau were tobacco、liquor、opium、salt、camphor、matches、petroleum and the standardization of weights & measures, which were eight items. These products were the important tax sources because only the government sold them.

The Taiwan government continued the monopoly system that had been used during the Japanese occupation at the beginning of Taiwan’s retrocession. In 1968, the Monopoly Bureau had been reorganized to be the “ Taiwan Provincial Monopoly Bureau”, and only reserved two items: tobacco and liquor.  However, the products of the Monopoly Bureau faced a big challenge with the rapid change of times and opening of the market; especially with exporting tobacco and liquor to foreign countries. Therefore, the Monopoly Bureau was restructured to be the “ Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation” in 2002, which started to change the direction of the company. Compared to tobacco, liquor is more presentable on the market and with a wider variety of appearances.

There are not many liquor items from Taiwan but each item has its own feature. There are some special and unique products in the wineries that are distributed throughout Taiwan; one of the most famous wineries is the Puli Winery. From the geographical view, the town of Puli is in a basin that is surrounded by mountains. It is famous for its fine climate and good water quality. Due to this fact, the wine brewed from the Puli Winery is mellow.  Puli’s good environment also has “cultivated” its females who look sweet and beautiful to produce the “4-W features”: Wine, Water, Weather and Women.

The Puli Winery was established in 1917, and was officially name the Puli Winery in 1957. At the beginning, this winery focused on producing inexpensive liquor, such as, glutinous rice wine, rice wine, Taibai liquor and Sake. The Puli Winery became very famous for manufacturing Shaohsing Wine made from spring water at Ailan in 1952. In 1966, the winery stopped producing other kinds of liquors except Shiaohsing Wine. The Puli Winery began to produce Ailan White Wine, and established the first “Wine Culture Hall” in 1996.

Most of the wine vaults, tanks and warehouses were destroyed by an enormous earthquake on September 21, 1999, whose damages exceeded NT$110,000,000 dollars. After the earthquake, the winery changed the management mode to combine local culture and sightseeing resources to move toward “Winery Tourism.” A special flavor of Shiaohsing Wine was developed for a series of “ Shiaohsing Healthy Foodstuff”. The products include Shiaohsing ice bars, Shiaohsing rice cakes, Shiaohsing plums, Shiaohsing salty foods, sausages, tea eggs, Bulao eggs, and gold seeds.  This winery has become one of large profit making institutes for TTL. 

On the right side of the winery is a parking lot, but it is no ordinary parking lot. The working staff designed a rest area with a garden to allow tourists to rest. Moreover, the most important venue is the “ Shiaohsing Healthy Foodstuff” exhibition area, which creates much profit for the winery. This place is similar to a bazaar and the business is so good that the products are always sold immediately. Please go for a tasting of “ The Healthy Foodstuff” with Shiaohsing wine flavor if you are free.

The “ Wine Culture Hall” established in 1996, which is located above the bazaar area. There are some rare historical documents that show the wine wares during several Chinese dynasties, the aboriginals’ wine culture, the industrial history of the Puli Winery and the Monopoly Bureau. In addition to introducing many kinds of liquor, the manufacturing processes, how to taste liquor, and how to distinguish wine vessels, this hall has witnessed the development of the Taiwan liquor’s history, and has gained a great deal of knowledge and common senses about wine. It’s very worthwhile to view.

There is a tunnel inside the “ Wine Culture Hall” that was built from liquor bottles, and the visitors love it because of its unique features. These bottles are antiques that are more than several decades old. After the 9-21 earthquake, the Winery sold lots of empty liquor bottles at a very cheap price; however, who can predict if these liquor bottles will become a rare commodity?

So, are you going to visit here?

It’s very easy to find this Winery. The address of Puli Winery is No. 219, Section 3, Jhong Shan Road, Puli Township, Nantou County.