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三天的 Vinexpo2012對我來說不過是另一場迷你 Vinitaly。更準確的說,是等待 Vinitaly。
我一直在等待兩個人的到來﹕Le Chiuse 和 Vietti 的莊主。
去年的香港國際酒展讓我們發現了 Tancredi Biondi-Santi 的外孫女Simonetta Valiani、她的夫婿 Nicolò Magnelli 和他們的孩子 Le Chiuse (見前文﹕漫步國際酒展(之三)﹕Discovering Le Chiuse)。
你沒有猜錯,我喜歡 Le Chiuse,大半原因是因為我迷信 Tancredi Biondi-Santi 和他的徒弟 Giulio Gambelli。
酒展結束後,我訂了小量 Le Chiuse 不同年份的酒,其中的 2006 Brunello,我安排在我為朋友辦的一場 2006 Brunello 的品試會上亮相,同場還有一瓶 Biondi-Santi(見前文﹕最憶是西湖﹕2006 Brunello 試酒記(上篇)。
2006 Le Chiuse 像個害羞的嬰兒,果味一直在躲藏。
我心裏充滿疑惑。我講了那麼多好話,難道不過是我的迷信和幻覺?
我馬上寫了封電郵給 Nicolò﹕
I want to ask you one question about the 2006 Le Chiuse. It is very strange that this is the slowest to develop. We started at 3pm and finish with dinner at about 10pm. At the start, Le Chiuse has a very floral nose with sour cherries, but the taste has a lot of acidity. Its acidity is the highest of the 6 bottles, even higher than Biondi-Santi which I always find acidic.
I explained to my friends that this is a very good vintage, and there should be enough fruit. If you find a lot of acidity and very little fruit, it is possible that the fruit is in hiding. A new vintage is like a little baby, and its various components are still developing, and we need to be patient.
The interesting thing was when we had dinner, the fruit in Le Chiuse is coming out, while the other 5 bottles are showing less fruit than in the afternoon.
This is a question I want to ask you: what do you think of our experience? Is my explanation correct (I was only guessing).
Another reason is probably because my bottle arrived just a month ago from Italy. Maybe it has experienced some shock on the airplane, that affects the fruit?
想不到他很快便回我說﹕
About our Brunello 2006 you are right! this our 2006 is a real long life Brunello, probabily is one of the best that we have made, but now, as you say, is like a baby and it will come out with all his power , fruit , spices and aromas not before then 3 or 4 years more, as was for the 2001.
The Brunello 2007 is very different it takes only maybe another 1 or 2 years to become well balanced and ready to express his complexity, is a very nice vintage but after 20- 30-50 years it will not have the same characteristics of fresh fruit as I suppose will have the 2006.
Le Chiuse land it has the properties to give in the correct climate vintages, wines that has high acidity and fruit very well integrated together but that needs time to develop and come out properly.
The 2006 Riserva it’s have more acidity, depth and austerity comparing with the 2006.
不久之後,Nicolò 又告訴我他會來 Vinexpo2012,到時候希望讓我試試最新出來的 2006 Riserva 和 2007 Brunello。
在等待他來的時候,我又試了其他幾個年份。結果有點像吸毒一樣,越試越上癮﹕
- 2004﹕眼見 2006 那麼緊閉,我當天馬上開了一瓶 2004,但即開即喝,發現與 2006 幾乎一樣緊閉,大概少了一點新鮮感,多了一點果味,也更黑更實。又浪費了一瓶!
- 2000 Riserva﹕好像比較老,乾花、皮革、濕泥土氣味,厚重、肥大的果味,收結帶一點燒焦似的苦味,蠻符合當年比較熱的天氣。
- 2005﹕少女一樣的清新脫俗,與 2000 Riserva 剛好相反,清甜的櫻桃、草莓從杯子裏飛躍而出,絲絲甜味但不過甜,古典的優雅,細緻的丹寧,很 2005!
- 1999 Riserva﹕頭一天剛開瓶的時候有超過幾分像 Stella di Campalto 那種輕風拂面、出水芙蓉的優雅,所不同的是 Le Chiuse 被一種很泥土、像松露菌的香氣籠罩著。到晚上正式下杯時已變得更複雜,眾香紛陳有如五味架(甜、酸、礦物和咖啡粉末似的丹寧),收結像黑巧克力,很像 2000 Riserva 但沒有燒焦的感覺。早上還像 Stella di Campalto 的這瓶酒過了半天已長得一身肌肉,那種很礦物、很濃厚的身形現在更像粗獷版(rustic)的 Soldera。1999 是很強結構的年份,這瓶 Le Chiuse 充分把這特性顯示出來。我把半瓶酒放到第二天,發現前一天充滿緊張(nervousness)的酒今天好像放長假期那麼輕鬆,我太太說有樸素的感覺,而我覺得酷(coolness)或者 nonchalance 可能更貼切。今天流露的是一種天然的、不施脂粉的美,與我最討厭的 cheap perfume 式的淺薄 Brunello 剛好相反。
- 2001 Riserva﹕像是 1999 的龍鳳雙胞胎,1999 是龍,2001 是鳳,一粗一細,但相同的是很泥土、很礦物的風格依然。我終於領略到 Le Chiuse 的特性了﹕complexity over fruit,五味架式的香氣而不是那種近乎矯柔造作的 cheap perfume。我以前多次說我不喜歡很多 Brunello 的空洞、討好但不耐喝的甜味,有時候我甚至懷疑這種特性是否由他的 terroir 所決定的。今天我終於找到一瓶很有性格,與這種空洞派相反的 Brunello。恕我又套用一句陳腔濫調﹕遊於是乎始。
在我沉醉於這片新大陸的當兒,恰巧看到 Kerin O’Keefe 專門討論 Brunello 的新著。在翻看 Le Chiuse 所在地的 Montalcino, North 那章的時候,我才明白原來 Le Chiuse 的複雜,是拜那個地段的複雜土質所賜。
引原書的一段﹕
As Professor Edoardo Costantini explains, soil composition in Montalcino’s mid- to high- altitudes are extremely intricate, resulting from the recurrent retraction and arrival of the ancient seas, which not only deposited marine fossils and marine sediment but also caused massive landslides that sent millions of metric tons of older, mineral-rich soil crashing down, thoroughly mixing layers of soil deposits originating from different geological periods. The differing altitudes and diverse exposures also create a variety of microzones, meaning that this fascinating area is difficult to define in terms of its growing conditions.
[Kerin O’Keefe: Brunello di Montalcino, p. 134]
Eureka! 我以前喝過 Altesino 的 Montosoli 和Caparzo 的 La Casa,自以為那種很圓潤的風格便是 Montalcino 北區的風味,今天才知道我這個瞎子只摸到了象屁股!
Le Chiuse 是不是北區最複雜的部分?現在我可不敢亂猜了。我一心只想求Nicolò 帶我去拜訪他的眾多鄰居,讓我摸清楚這頭大象。
這幾個月的品試與閱讀,終於讓我解開了一個謎﹕為什麼連最有名的酒評人都不懂得欣賞 Le Chiuse(部分名家的酒評見前文﹕漫步國際酒展(之三)﹕Discovering Le Chiuse)?
現在看來,原因簡單不過﹕Le Chiuse 太複雜了,而且新的酒特別慢熱,用機械式的一聞二吞三吐的試酒方法有點像採訪一個在沉睡的演說家!
等待多時,終於見到老朋友 Simonetta 和 Nicolò 了。
坐下來以後,我的第一句話是﹕我一直不明白您的酒。
Nicolò 有點不明所以。等我把上面整個故事跟他講明白,他才露出內心滿足的微笑。踫巧有一位資深的行業中人也在試他的酒,我便反覆的對他強調說﹕酒評人今天都不懂 Le Chiuse,只因為他們沒有喝過一整瓶 Le Chiuse。他的酒是 drinker’s wine 而不是 critic’s wine。我可以大膽的預測﹕等到有一天有酒評人發現了 Le Chiuse,酒價一定會上去的。我大概像個 Le Chiuse 的 PR,所以這位老行家看來有點半信半疑。
我們的土地有多複雜
老行家離開以後,我便開始試酒。
我們集中試了兩個年份﹕2004 與 2006,既有基本版,也有 Riserva。
今天的基本版比 Riserva 好喝得多。那瓶 2004 基本版令我興奮得幾乎要大叫。Nicolò 端給我們的是一大盤放滿松露菌、蘑菇和各種礦物味的雜菜沙拉,我幻想這是在樹林中的一頓野餐(想起 Manet!),記憶中我好像從沒有聞過那麼有野香的酒,這哪裏像是 Brunello?我們無妨說他是最有 Barolo 味道的Brunello!
Nicolò 告訴我這瓶酒是他 5 個小時以前開的。
我這次真的像個傳道員一樣,在展場踫到什麼朋友都告訴他們要去試試這瓶 2004。可是當一大隊人跑到 Le Chiuse 的展台時,Nicolò 卻皺起眉頭來,原因是他要新開一瓶讓他們試,而一如所料,香氣還沒有出來。
我試的 2006 基本版也有幾分 2004 的影子,但沒有那麼開放。
兩瓶 Riserva 像濃湯,厚重得像油(viscous),比基本版緊閉很多,雖然我們試的 2006 Riserva 是前一天開瓶的!
溜達了半天,我便心滿意足的回家,一心只想著什麼時候去 Le Chiuse 的葡萄園,抓一把他們的泥土,看看究竟有多複雜。
怎料一回家便收到好友發來 Wine Spectator 最新的 Brunello 推薦酒報告,評得最高分數的是 Biondi-Santi 的 2006 Riserva(97 分),而緊接著的是我們剛試過的 Le Chiuse 2006 Riserva(96 分)。Biondi-Santi 在美國的零售價是 US$600,而 Le Chiuse 只是 B-S 的 1/10(US$65)!
我巴不得馬上趕回展場告訴 Simonetta 和 Nicolò 這個好消息。
等到第二天,把打印出來的報告交到喜上眉梢的兩個酒農手上時,我開始明白其實等待是世間最美妙的感覺。
他們等了足足 20 年,才踫上一個聽懂他們的話的酒評人,他的名字是Bruce Sanderson。他們一定會回想差不多 20 年前,由另一位酒評人 Nicolas Belfrage 主持的Biondi-Santi 百年試酒會上,主持人竟然把滿分打給最老的 1891,之後Biondi-Santi 才飛躍龍門,從一個意大利名字變成世界奇跡甚至是神話,而這一等便少年變白頭﹕超過 100 年!外祖父沒有等到,母親也沒有等到。
我心裏想到的是﹕可惜今天沒有多少人懂得享受等待的滋味。
我講的是咱們中國人。
We have slow food movement for over 30 years. Now, it's time to embrace the concept of slow wine! Italian wine is worth one's time!!
[版主回覆06/08/2012 22:51:45]I thought almost all Italian wines have been Slow, at least up till 1985, and the Fast movement started afterwards. But you are certainly right. The newly published book Slow Wine 2012 has something interesting to say about Le Chiuse: "When we arrived at the winery this year, Simonetta Valiani and her husband Niccolo Magnelli were busy spring cleaning their agriturismo. We found them hefting a piece of furniture into the courtyard. It may sound like an everyday scene but we were struck by the complicity and easy understanding between the two. For us it reflected the quality of the cellar's viticulture, based on the excellence of a historic vineyard discreetly expressed in wines of outstanding class." Fast or slow, this is certainly a new movement in wine writing that we need!
很可惜我未能請假參加這次expo…仍未能一試Le Chiuse 的精彩.
幸好看了這篇傳道, 都當飲了一半啦
[Jacky回覆06/13/2012 14:41:58]係係, 咁今個星期一於重質不重量, 係時候要開Cerbaiona啦
[版主回覆06/13/2012 07:34:04]因為你的誠心,本傳道員暫且原諒你的缺席,罰你這星期喝酒量減半。
一直很想試Le Chuise的酒
就是不知道香港那裡有售
師兄可否告知? ^.^
[版主回覆07/03/2012 08:24:02]他們在國內有代理,但在香港還在找。
Blog主你好, 我一直有看你的blog.
昨天我到過會展的酒展, 好像在Brunello的booths看到你
想你一定有試Le Chiuse的酒吧
受你的"傳道"影響, 我也試了Le Chiuse的酒, 一瓶rosso, 2004/2007 基本版brunello, 和2006 riserva
表現最好的確是2004基本版brunello呢!
[版主回覆11/11/2012 17:24:26]失敬了!下次我們打個招呼,交個朋友。