Bac Ha is located in Lao Cai province. It is famous for the color of pompous clothes of women and girls in mountainous area, for the white color of plum tree in spring, and also for the deep alcohol yeast of corn wine.
Wine is cooked from the unique material which is planted in the terraced-field of Hmong people – corn. Maybe the combination of quintessence of sky and land of the mountainous are, therefore, the corn is very firm and nutritional here. Together with a special glaze from a type of seed like millet, Hmong people have created a unique wine which is not similar to any kind of wine of the West North mountain area. Just uncork the bottle; you can know that is the Bac Ha corn wine. When the first drop of wine touches your lips, testers would feel the heat running across the body. That feeling spread out so you just drink and being drunken without headache or dazzled. Maybe this is the secret to protect them from the coldness of mountainous area every winter.
Corn is planted everywhere, and so does wine in the market. However, the most interesting corn made in Street village (Ban Pho) could not be caught up by any other. Wines are hot and torrid, however, when you drink, you could feel the quintessence of sky and land. People say Ban Pho (village of Chinese Hmong people that is 4km from Bac Ha) has a precious and pure water resource which is Hang De spring. Therefore, people in Ban Pho could make such a nice wine. Corn wine and millet are mixed and being sullen in cast iron bucket for about one week.
In those days, fire are burnt smoldering under the bucket. The fume of wine would be released and flows out. Ten kilograms of corn could release three litters of wine.
Nowadays, visitors could buy this wine everywhere in Sapa or Bac Ha, or even Ban Pho if you could. Wine with specialty of markets could be the unforgettable in your trip.
