California set to welcome its first Vietnamese rice liquor distillery

Dao Distillery, California’s first company to produce ruou de, or traditional Vietnamese rice liquor, is set to open at Sunrise Gold Circle in Rancho Cordova, California, on Sept. 21.

The grand opening will feature a dragon dance, firecrackers, free tastings, complimentary food and drinks and a 20% discount on a bottle purchase for visitors, according to the company’s flier. Announced in March, Dao Distillery replaced Gold River Distillery, which officially closed on March 30. Owner Binh Dao told The Sacramento Bee that he aims to introduce ruou de to a broader audience “because I think it’s a great product that we have that not a lot of people know about.”

While Dao Distillery is the first of its kind in California, the U.S.’s first ruou de distillery opened in Texas in 2020.