Vietnam's wine industry was born and operated independently for a long time, with its position as a traditional craft. Many traditional craft villages are famous throughout the country. Traditional wines such as sticky rice wine, cam wine, and wine made by hand are as popular as industrially produced wines. It can be said that wine is widely consumed throughout the country with an increasingly diverse and constantly increasing number of types.
In 1858, when the French first set foot in Vietnam, the wine industry went through many big changes. In the years before the wine industry was born, the Protectorate Government encouraged our people to brew and drink wine to collect taxes and grant registration for wine production… But there were still no thorough tax collection measures. The phenomenon of tax evasion and false tax declaration is widespread and uncontrollable.
Since the advent of industrial wine production, the Protectorate Government issued a decree banning people from making their own wine, stopped granting wine making business registration licenses to households that used to produce and do business by making wine, and only maintained a number of concentrated craft villages that were easy to collect taxes. The ban on people making alcohol is increasingly strictly controlled. Along with promoting industrial alcohol production, a number of separate inspection organizations directly commanded by the French were established to specifically punish households that brew alcohol without permission – Vietnamese people often call it "Tay Doan".
On the one hand, the Protectorate Government introduced a policy of prohibiting craft villages, preventing people from making their own wine, and on the other hand, forcing people to consume according to norms of wines produced by the Protectorate Government's wineries (Ty wine). But everywhere people still secretly brew alcohol to drink or sell. And also because "the wine we make is for illegal wine", so from now on, Vietnamese people have named the wine they make "Nang wine". (wine cooked and consumed in a sideways style), “wine hoe loi” (both sold and lurking like a hoe or to compare with “national” wine).
With industrial wine – Ty wine, the Protectorate Government calculated the number of people for each province and each village to divide the wine and deliver it to the officials who brought the people to receive the wine. At the same time, assign alcohol consumption plans to district, general, and commune authorities, and propose specific measures such as funerals, weddings, famous festivals, etc., requiring the purchase of enough alcohol according to regulations. However, it is still not enough to meet people's needs. Smuggling and brewing illegal alcohol became popular during the second half of the 19th century until the end of the 20th century. Illegal alcohol was sometimes transported in any way, even in coffins, or by any means that could avoid the prying eyes of officials who were ready to collect "Western" taxes.
This secret business was very cleverly organized, hidden in every corner, everywhere, in the tall, protective grasslands. Illegitimate brewers have a remote signaling system to be able to detect tax collection officials when they "visit" the neighborhood. On the other hand, in order to make a lot of alcohol and pay as little tax, distilleries in Saigon – Cho Lon often bribe Western officials. By the 1920s, despite the fact that thousands of illegal alcohol distilleries were confiscated every year, more than half of the alcohol volume was still consumed smoothly. Simple and easy, without losing a penny of tax money.
(It was during this period that unique ways of selling alcohol arose, such as the girl in Mo village selling gulp wine. The girl selling alcohol tied a buffalo bladder to her belly, connected it to two straws with reed pipes sticking out, then wore a mahogany shirt to cover her eyes, making it look like she was fat or pregnant. In her hand she held a cup, poured a cup for the person to drink on the spot, the buyer gulped down one cup at a time. Or she pulled the hem of her shirt and held out the nozzle for the customer to put their mouth on the nozzle, taking a sip at a time. One gulp is to pay for one gulp, two gulps is to pay for two gulps).
By 1933, due to the situation of illegal alcohol trafficking and brewing being difficult to control, because the revenue from alcohol production and consumption contributed significantly to the budget, at the same time, industry developed, the demand for alcohol was increasing, industrially produced alcohol was not enough to meet the people's requirements. Therefore, the Protectorate allowed a number of craft villages with a long tradition of craft winemaking in Vietnam to continue producing wine for sale. However, production was still subject to strict supervision by the Protectorate Government to collect taxes. Such as in Van Village (Bac Giang), Van Dien Village (Hanoi) and some newly developed craft villages such as Xuan Lai (Soc Son – Hanoi), Quan Dinh (Tu Son – Bac Ninh), Do Xa (Hai Duong), etc.
Because Vietnamese people have a long-standing habit of drinking alcohol, the market is increasingly expanding, increasing rapidly with the increase in population in Indochina. If it cannot be produced in Vietnam, it must be shipped from France, which is very expensive. Raw materials for wine production in Vietnam are very rich. At the same time, reality shows that wine production in Vietnam at that time was entirely manual, so the recovery efficiency was much lower than the wine making method used in Europe. Therefore, producing wine using industrial methods in Vietnam will certainly bring very high profits. The French government began to invest in the wine industry. For a while, the French Government experimented with cooking porridge and then using ingredients to saccharify it similar to the French method, but it was ineffective because the cost of importing ingredients from Europe was very high compared to the price. Only when the research of French scientists led by Mr. Callmette succeeded in making wine from rice and corn did production really begin.
In the North at that time, Fontaine established four wineries in the North, including Hanoi Winery. Sponsored by the French Government, despite fierce competition from Chinese factories, Fontaine still has a monopoly on wine production and trading throughout Indochina. In each province and city, there are distribution and consumption stations under the Central Liquor Department. Production was very stable during the years from 1934 to 1944. Of the total budget of the entire Indochina period during this period, the wine industry accounted for 8.32%, of which Fontaine Company alone accounted for 6.57%. Up to now, with abundant food sources, in a situation where handmade wine is still widely consumed, state-run wineries such as Hanoi Wine Company have innovated equipment and technology, improved product quality, and introduced many new products, quickly dominating the domestic market and reaching out to the international market, affirming the top quality of Vietnamese wine.