Most overseas buyers still file Chinese yellow wine under “Shaoxing rice wine.” Central Henan runs a different, older style — millet-based, amber, sweeter on entry, served warm in winter and chilled in summer. Within that cluster, Shilongyan (石龙堰) out of Xixia County, Nanyang, is one of the few producers that pairs a documented family lineage with scaled, semi-automated production and export-grade paperwork. This post is the buyer’s version of the factory audit, on paper.
Where it comes from, and why Xixia matters
Shilongyan is based in Xixia County, Nanyang, Henan — the “dinosaur town” on the northern foot of the Funiu Mountains, inside the Danjiang River basin that feeds the South-to-North Water Transfer Project. The brand name ties to Shilongyan / Laolongquan spring water used in fermentation, and to the Qiao-family lineage that has brewed in the area since the Qing Kangxi era (claimed ~350-year heritage, Nanyang municipal intangible cultural heritage list since 2012–2013).
Two terroir facts matter commercially:
- Raw material: local red millet (红小米/红酒谷), sometimes blended with yellow millet and a portion of glutinous rice. Not polished japonica rice like Shaoxing.
- Water: spring / mountain stream water from the Danjiang tributary system, low in urban effluent, which matters for the “clean amber” positioning.
Shilongyan’s own stated capacity has ranged in local press from 880 t/year (older figure) to 3,000 t and up to 12,000 t after equipment upgrades, with tens of thousands of clay-jar aged stocks on site. For a procurement manager, the safe reading is: mid-size regional producer, not a micro-workshop, with enough tank and jar volume to hold contract fills.
Company snapshot
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Legal entity | Henan Shilongyan Wine Co., Ltd. (河南省石龙堰酒业有限公司) |
| Founded | Family workshop roots pre-1995; current company 2011 (formerly Xixia Huiyang Beverage); rebranded 2018 |
| Location | Beitang Village, Wuliqiao Town, Xixia County, Nanyang, Henan |
| Registered capital | ~20 M RMB |
| Key people | Qiao Yongfeng (Chairman, inheritor of Qiao-family huangjiu craft) |
| Certifications | SC11541132300555; GB/T 13662 huangjiu standard; Nanyang Intangible Heritage; “Nanyang Time-Honored Brand”; High-Tech SME status |
| Core raw materials | Red millet, yellow millet, glutinous rice, wheat qu, spring water |
| Typical ABV | 10% / 12% / 13% / 15% vol across SKUs |
| Format range | 360 ml gift pair, 500 ml, 600 ml, 650 ml, 1.5 L pot, 3-jin (1.5 kg) ceramic jar, 5–10 kg BIB/jug for foodservice |
How it is made
Public process description, consistent across their site and provincial trade press:
- Millet selection → wash → soak (浸米)
- Steam loose grains, not boil to porridge (蒸米)
- Cool, add wheat qu + yeast
- Ferment in stainless tanks / stainless pools with temperature control, plus a portion in traditional clay jars
- Press → filter
- Pasteurize (煎酒)
- Clay-jar cellaring 1 / 10 / 15 / 20 years for vintage SKUs
The “non-rice huangjiu” angle is real: because the base is proso-type red millet, the amino-acid profile and color differ from Shaoxing — deeper amber, more nutty/cereal nose, lower lactic sharpness. Their “Ice Shuang” line (10% vol, semi-sweet, chill-served) is explicitly built for summer SKUs and younger consumers.
Product matrix a buyer can actually request
| Line | Format | ABV | Profile | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waipo Qiao (外婆乔) | 500 ml × 6 | 13% | 10-yr jar, semi-sweet, red millet | Mid-tier gift / table |
| Xuecang (雪藏) | 650 ml × 4 | 15% | 20-yr cellar, semi-sweet | Top gift box |
| Bing Shuang (冰爽) | 500 ml | 10% | Semi-sweet, chill-serve | Summer / café channel |
| Man Tang Hong (满堂红) | 360 ml × 2 | 12% | 5-yr, semi-sweet | Festival pair pack |
| Hong Xiaomi 3-jin jar (红小米三斤坛) | 1.5 L ceramic | ~12% | Family / cooking + drinking | Already listed on cross-border retail |
| Jiuniang / Mi-lu (酒娘 / 玉上春树米露) | 500 ml | ~6% | Low-ABV rice-milk drink | Female / youth SKU |
They also run OEM/ODM: label, gift box, ABV/sugar tuning, and supply base wine to TCM makers (huangjiu used to stew donkey-hide gelatin / 阿胶, or as herb primer).
Export-readiness checklist (same framework as Runzhi, different gaps)
- SC + GB/T 13662 — confirmed (SC11541132300555, GB/T 13662 on the Bing Shuang label).
- Third-party lab panel — request heavy metals, aflatoxin (millet-relevant), pesticide residue, amino-acid nitrogen, total sugar, acidity, microbiologicals. Millet carries more mycotoxin risk than rice; do not skip the aflatoxin line.
- Export history — Shilongyan’s public profile is domestic-heavy (Henan highway service areas, Shanghai/Hubei/Shaanxi/Guangdong distribution). No self-declared export code in open sources → treat first order as supplier-arranged FOB Qingdao / Lianyungang or your own broker’s DDP.
- HS classification — usually 2206.00 (other fermented beverages); confirm with broker. Sweet styles (≥ 10 g/L sugar) still fall outside spirits in EU/UK.
- Halal / Kosher / FDA FCE — not in public cert set; ask explicitly if targeting Muslim markets or US retail.
- MOQ — realistic first trial: 1–2 pallets mixed 500 ml SKUs; private-label mold/box tooling adds 15–25 days. Sea LCL to EU/US 30–45 days after EXW ready.
- Sample protocol — ask for 4 bottles: Bing Shuang 10%, Waipo Qiao 13%, Xuecang 15%, one 1.5 L jar. Blind against Shaoxing semi-sweet and Runzhi red millet to map the “Nanyang millet” position.
Who buys this and where it fits
- Central-China diaspora channels — Xixia / Nanyang hometown brand, stronger story than generic “Henan huangjiu.”
- Asian grocery importers — 1.5 L jar and 500 ml pair pack fit hotpot-home and festival shelves.
- TCM / wellness distributors — red millet huangjiu as base for gelatin stewing kits, “warm-tonic” winter SKU.
- Low-ABV / aperitif R&D — Bing Shuang 10% and Mi-lu 6% are closer to chilled rice-beer than to sherry-like Shaoxing.
- Gift-box traders — Qiao-family “South-Shaoxing North-Qiao” narrative + clay jar photographs well for Mid-Autumn / CNY export bundles.
Shilongyan vs Runzhi (one-line buyer read)
- Runzhi (Neixiang): younger plant, award-backed competition liquid, red millet + modern tank farm, easier to pitch as “central-plains craft huangjiu.”
- Shilongyan (Xixia): deeper family/heritage claim, wider SKU ladder (6%–15%), bigger jar-cellaring stock, stronger gift-box heritage story, slightly more domestic-retail oriented — better if you want a heritage private-label rather than a clean modern base wine.
Bottom line
Shilongyan is a credible second origin for any buyer building a Nanyang millet-huangjiu subsection. Its strengths are heritage packaging, red-millet identity, and enough scale to hold contract fills; its watch-items are export documentation (not yet proven in open record) and millet mycotoxin testing. Approach via paid samples, third-party aflatoxin panel, and a small LCL trial before committing to ceramic-gift MOQs.
Want a side-by-side inquiry template (EN+ZH) covering SC copy, aflatoxin report, FOB Nanyang/Qingdao quote, and OEM MOQ — ready to send to Shilongyan sales (0377-69878222 / info@shilongyan.net)?
If you want, I can now merge the Runzhi post and this Shilongyan post into a single “Nanyang Red Millet Huangjiu: Runzhi vs Shilongyan Sourcing Guide” comparison blog for your site.