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上個月竟然在香港踫到 Maria Teresa Mascarello ！

自從去年在香港與意大利好友 Carlo 品嘗過 Bartolo Mascarello 的 1971 Barolo 以後，我一直對 Bartolo Mascarello 有種宗教式的崇拜。所以上個月在 Berry Brothers 的試酒會上一見到 Bartolo 的女兒 Maria Teresa ，我便沖口而出的跟她說﹕我感覺來到了教堂！原來她也認識 Carlo ，而當我告訴他去年Carlo 與我一起喝他們的 1961 和 1971 時，我但覺在觀賞一場美妙無比的芭蕾舞表演，她露出了既奇異又愉快的眼光。（見﹕Carlo’s Emotions ）

 

照片來源﹕http://bbrblog.com/2011/03/18/nebbiolo-wine-a-chinese-approach/ 

左二舉杯的便是 Maria Teresa Mascarello

這次 Maria Teresa 帶來的是 2006 Barolo 。她父親 2005 年三月去世，所以 2006 年是第一年完全由她獨挑大樑的作品。

酒出奇地豐滿，充滿力量與結構，果味與丹寧都充足，新的 Barolo 少有那麼可口的！

這時我才想起我過去喝的都是比較老的年份，從 1961 到 1998 都有，但對新一點的年份，我總怕把酒浪費了，所以至今還沒踫過。

 

回家後，我馬上找出 2004 、2005 和 2006 三個年份，同一個晚上把他們全開了，一心想與 Maria Teresa 繼續我們愉快的交談。 

 

 

這三瓶酒我們先後喝了七天，我們發現三兄弟的基因一樣但性格互異。

2004 典雅、平衡； 2005 嬌嫩而且有種女性的婀娜多姿； 2006 則粗豪奔放幾近 neurotic 。

2006 在第一天最精彩，之後越來越凶猛，令我想起 Giacomo Conterno 的2006 Cascina Francia ，同樣那麼  rough and tough ，簡直有點神經質，我想那是年份的特性。

2005 在第二、三天最好喝，三瓶中數他最柔順，感覺中丹寧最低，也有很好的酸度，今天喝他是絕佳的享受，這在新的 Barolo 中實在不多見。 Antonio Galloni 說他是 “a decidedly restrained, feminine style of Barolo”，又說 “it retains an element of frailty that is actually quite attractive” ，我是絕對同意的。有趣的是有人在酒莊同時試過 2006 與 2005 之後告訴 Maria Teresa 他們比較喜歡 2006 ，Maria Teresa 聽後有點失望。她說﹕“As a winemaker, I prefer to work with difficult vintages, and ’05 was a difficult vintage.  It will require more skills from the winemaker to make great wines with a difficult vintage.”（見﹕http://grapewinejourney.com/2010/06/05/bartolo-mascarello/ ）從  2005 的確可以看到 Maria Teresa 的功力。   

 

至于 2004 ，頭兩天都非常緊閉，直到第三天開始有點表示，但到第六、七天才綻放，充分顯露出這年份特有的溫暖與典雅風格。三瓶中唯有他具有最好 Bartolo 的那種輕盈與飄逸的特性，無怪乎 Maria Teresa 曾說﹕“2004 is the first normal vintage I can remember in a while”。

 

去年的 Soldera 酒宴上，我們先試新年份，後試老年份，那次清楚地讓我們看到輕盈的小伙子後來變身為深厚的長者。

但比較 Bartolo 的 2004 與印象中的 1971 ，我卻懷疑 Bartolo 走的會否是相反的路。勇猛的少年隨著年紀大了會不會化為蝴蝶、變成仙子？

我于是把老的年份也找出來，打算重新經歷一次。

 

首先是 1988 、 1989 和 1990 三個年份。一般的意見認為，三個年份中以1989 最好，是最經典的年份； 1990 次之，是比較暖的年份； 1988是平均水準以上的年份，相對較早熟。

這三瓶酒驚奇地相像﹕非常的泥土與乾花、蘑菇、涼果等的氣味，入口是比較 supple 、 over-ripe 的果味，感覺是濕潤的、陰天的、像吃話梅或玫瑰花露水似的，有某階段果味強烈得像 liqueur 。如果有分別，便是 1989 較有活力，丹寧較明顯，1990 次之，1988 最弱。

 

 只有部分瓶子有這種特別酒標，是 Bartolo 坐在輪椅上畫的

此刻，我的興趣是他們的共通點。我在想像， Bartolo 大概到了中年時（約二十歲），果味會鑽進泥土裏，就如黑洞的形成過程一樣，越來越向內塌陷而變得濃縮，我們從外聞到的，是表面那層泥土！

 

再過二十年又如何？我懷著患得患失的心情開了一瓶 1971 年，內心很緊張的想知道一年前那場芭蕾舞還在上演嗎？

結果令我們喜出望外！上次與 Carlo 喝的那瓶我們在飯前才開瓶，一直在原瓶透氣，前後大約喝了三小時，我們已經「驚為天人」。

這次我早上開瓶，在原瓶透氣 12 小時後才下杯，我們喝完以後便相對而笑，因為我們剛嘗了這輩子最感人的 Barolo ！

一切像 nose 、 palate 、力量、結構等等的形容詞在他面前都顯得無力，而且了無用處。我腦海裏是一幅又一幅的景象，我感受到的是一種 total experience ！

我當晚寫下了一連串的感覺﹕

不慍不火； immediacy — there’s nothing between me and my Bartolo/Barolo soil；ballet dancers ；weightless, floats in the air ； perfect balance, the most elegant, classical rendering of a Barolo ； Space, ether ；天地之大； Mahler ； What a wine! ； Who cares where the fruit is … the best answer to Beppe Rinaldi’s “I hate fruit!” ； PERSISTENCE ；The greatest Barolo, ever!

我把我的興奮之情馬上告訴 Carlo 。我說﹕

To borrow from the Buddhists, this is like a wine which has achieved Nirvana, that is, in a serene state when the body has left this world but the spirit floats freely in a bigger spiritual world.  The fruit and everything in the wine is weightless, but it fills the whole palate, the whole world.  When I first learned about the Barolo commune, I read that it is spacious, and only now do I start to understand what this means.

通過這瓶 1971 ，我突然好像明白一個不解之謎。我在另一個名為「此中有真意，欲辯已忘言」: Bartolo Mascarello 的網誌裏曾寫過 Sergio Esposito 與 Bartolo Mascarello 的一場奇遇，當時 Bartolo 給他倒了一杯放了兩個星期的 1978 ， Sergio 半信半疑的喝了一口後，寫下他的一番感受﹕

I put the glass to my nose.  An indefinite period of time followed that action.  I may have stayed that way for a second, a minute, or an hour — who knows?  The part of my brain monitoring such worldly concerns took a break.  Abruptly, the wine was no longer what I’d first perceived.  I wasn’t in a world of recognizable perfumes and sensations.  I was in a complex labyrinth in which nothing made sense, and whenever I would start down a path, I would hit a wall and be forced to turn back and begin again.  When I was a child, wine had been a thing of emotion.  Then, until that moment, it had been an analyzable product, full of characteristics that I could isolate and classify.  But now it was its own fierce mystery.  I stared at Bartolo.  He smiled at me, just a little.  I went back to my wine.

注意﹕他當時完全沒有具體描述酒的氣味與味道。

今天我終于明白了。 Sergio 正是遇上我上面說的 total experience ！

我自己沒有酒評家的高超分析能力，所以我喝酒時習慣憑直覺去感受多于仔細的分析。簡單地說，我喝酒如看小說。 Sergio 是那種專業的酒評家，很自然的會用標準的分析工具，直到他處處踫壁（whenever I would start down a path, I would hit a wall and be forced to turn back and begin again ），他才悟出有 justifiable beauty 與unjustifiable beauty 之別。

對我來說，這太簡單了，因為除了科學還有藝術！ 

 

1971 Bartolo 以後，我也絕對信服Sheldon Wasserman 對 Bartolo Mascarello 的贊頌﹕

Bartolo’s wines are the epitome of balance, harmony, style, elegance, distinction, and character … every bottle is a wine of meditation, best shared with good friends who appreciate great wine; no food necessary, the wines are good for thought in themselves …

Sheldon Wasserman 認為 Bartolo Mascarello 的 Barolo 是最好的，這也很難不同意，但結束以前，我要講清楚幾點。

涅槃是最高的境界，但在達到以前，不一定盡是風光如畫。事實上，可能因為Bartolo 的極端傳統的釀酒法，酒的 bottle variation 較大，而且相對不穩定，所以變質的機會比一般 Barolo 大得多，尤其是中、老年的酒常有一種類蘑菇、腐爛花朵或甚至醬油的氣味。

Antonio Galloni 是深諳此道的人，所以他在評論 Bartolo 的 1989 時曾說﹕

The wines were indeed very traditional, at times positively, and at others, less so … Although the wines sometimes show elements of rusticity that trouble even the most forgiving of palates, when the wines are on, they are sensational.  At times powerful when young, the wines almost always age into soft, Burgundian examples of Barolo.

不要問我為什麼，因為這是藝術而非科學。

 

附錄

Antonio Galloni 在Bartolo Mascarello 去世後寫的一段悼念文字﹕

Bartolo Mascarello 1926-2005
April, 2005

With the passing of Bartolo Mascarello on March 12, 2005, the wine world lost one of its most outspoken and eloquent interpreters.  

Mascarello was an ardent believer in traditionally made Barolo and one of its staunchest advocates.  He eschewed everything modern, from selected yeasts to barriques to single-vineyard wines.  Mascarello was also the first producer I met in Piedmont.  I arrived on a Saturday afternoon with no appointment.  I was expecting to find a winery, instead I was welcomed into the Mascarello home, where Bartolo received me in his office.  We spent several leisurely hours talking about subjects ranging from wine to politics.

Even though health problems prevented him from working in his beloved vineyards, Bartolo had found a new passion: designing the artistic labels used for a small portion of the Barolo production, such as the famous “No Barriques, No Berlusconi” label of a few years back.  By the end of the afternoon I was hooked and my journey to discover Barolo was under way.

Every time I saw him after that first meeting, he was always in high spirits.  With his huge smile, Bartolo could light up a room, and I usually found him charming the many guests who came from all over the world to meet him.  When Bartolo and his daughter Maria Theresa sold bottles of their wines they did so wistfully, as they weren’t just selling wine, but rather a small piece of their cherished history.

Bartolo Mascarello will be deeply missed.

—Antonio Galloni