What is special about the bottle of wine Mr. Tap served to Mr. Kim Jong-un?
North Korean leader was treated by Chinese president to the most expensive wine in his cabinet, which he rarely offers to foreign guests.
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Mr. Tap invited Mr. Kim to enjoy Kweichow Moutai baijiu at the banquet. Photo:KCNA/AFP |
Images from the historic meeting earlier this week between the two leaders of China and North KoreaXi Jinping and Kim Jong-un were seen drinking a light liquor calledbaijiu, followTelegraph.
Baijiu is popular among wealthy Chinese and is often served to foreign guests at parties. The drink has a distinct taste and strong aroma that some have compared to paint stripper.
A wine expert said the bottle of wine Mr Xi offered Mr Kim cost at least 20,000 yuan ($3,000). It is popular in China and is produced by the world’s largest winemaker, Kweichow Moutai.
This is the most expensive wine in the Chinese president's drinks cabinet, with an alcohol content of 53% and he rarely serves it to foreign guests.
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The bottle of high-end Kweichow Moutai 2003 at the banquet Mr. Tap hosted for Mr. Kim (left) and an older version. Photo:KCNA |
“I rarely see this Moutai at banquets,” said Kan Yuanbin, who runs a large Moutai retailer in Jiangxi province, southeast China. “It was produced in 2003 and is very special. In the past, when Xi received foreign guests, they usually only drank Moutai bottles that cost around 4,000 yuan (over $600) and were produced in 2015 and 2016.”
Mr. Kan added that ordinary Chinese customers would not be able to buy the kind of Moutai that Mr. Xi offered Mr. Kim in pairs. High-end Moutai sold on the Chinese internet at reasonable prices are often counterfeit.
Among the foreign guests that Chinese leaders have invited Moutai to is the late president.Richard Nixon and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who drank this wine during an important visit to China in 1972.
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Workers produce Moutai baijiu at the Kweichow Moutai factory in Renhuai city, Guizhou province. Photo:Bloomberg |
Observers say the summit between Mr. Kim and Mr. Xi has put the Chinese president back in the trump card position in resolving North Korea's nuclear program. At the same time,North Korea also has China's backing ahead of Mr Kim's upcoming meetings with the presidents of South Korea and the US.
