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The Wine Advocate 的大紅人 Antonio Galloni 最近到意大利 Montalcino 試酒，他試了 Soldera 尚在大木桶陳年的四個年份以後便寫道﹕

 

Soldera – tasted every wine in barrel back to the 2005 Riserva Intistieti. Amazing tasting, so many fabulous wines. 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2005 Riserva Intistietis all majestic. 

 

 

有人問他試過入了瓶的 2004 Riserva 沒有，他回答說﹕

Soldera did not want to show the 2004 Riserva. He doesn’t like the idea of opening a bottle just to taste, he thinks his wine should be drunk. Fair enough. I will buy the 2004 Riserva either in Italy or the US and report back as soon as I can, which is what I have always done with this wine.

我只知道Soldera 讓人試酒但從不允許吐酒，今天才知道試酒只可試桶裏的酒。但想來這是同一道理﹕酒是享用的，不是比試用的。

Barolo 經典Teobaldo Cappellano的做法更極端﹕他嚴禁人家為他的酒寫酒評。

見﹕追夢者 Teobaldo Cappellano

美國一位很有地位的葡萄酒進口商Neal Rosenthal 用不同的語言說著同一個道理﹕

We have to protect what’s best about wine. It is ancient in our civilization, it is a perfect mix of the intellectual and the sensual, it enriches our lives. The beauty of great wine is that it lives inside of you after you’ve had it. It’s a stimulus for memory. What it tasted like, but more importantly, what it made you feel, why you drank it, what you talked about while drinking it, and with whom. Wine is a social event, not fodder for criticism.

我是在 Craig Camp 一篇名為 Fodder for Criticism 的網誌看到這段話的。（見﹕  http://www.winecampblog.com/journal/2011/3/10/fodder-for-criticism.html ） Craig Camp 有感而發的接著說﹕

When looking for wine recommendations take them from someone who spent some time with them. Tasting dozens of wines a day (or hundreds) is not a reliable way to form a meaningful opinion of a wine and such recommendations must be taken for what they are, meaningless.

自從愛上了 Barolo ，我覺得他講的是常識而不是什麼了不起的卓見。如果一瓶酒可以在幾天內不斷變化，那麼專業酒評人的「一聞、二吞、三吐」能告訴我們什麼？

最有趣的還是Craig Camp 的另一番話﹕

I could easily spend my life limited to the wines of only two, Neal Rosenthal and Kermit Lynch, and never be bored.

我馬上發一奇想﹕如果我要仿效Neal Rosenthal 和Kermit Lynch 二君，但只獨沽一味的引進意大利酒，我會怎樣做？

我想我會開兩家店﹕

一家名叫La farfalla del Sangiovese，意思是 Sangiovese Butterfly ，我會搜羅所有由 Giulio Gambelli 監制的 Sangiovese 酒，包括﹕

Brunello ﹕Soldera 、 Poggio di Sotto 、 Pian dell’Orino 、 Lisini 、Il Colle

Chianti﹕Montevertine 、 Castello di Cacchiano 、 Bibbiano 、 I Balzini 、La Porta di Vertine

另一家店名叫Le Botti ，意思是 Casks ，指用傳統大木桶發酵制成的 Barolo 和 Barbaresco，包括﹕

Bruno Giacosa  、 Giacomo Conterno 、 Massolino 、 Aldo Conterno 、 Giuseppe Mascarello 、 Bartolo Mascarello 、 Marcarini 、Giuseppe Rinaldi 、 Cantina del Pino 、 Produttori del Barbaresco 等等，不能盡錄。

有興趣的可以參看英國  Barolo Club 的網站﹕  http://www.barol.org.uk/VINdaUVA.htm

英國  Barolo Club 叫這些主要用中性大木桶陳年的酒為 Vino da Uva ，意思是 Wine from Grapes ，原汁原味的葡萄酒也。

Vino da Uva 正是我的口味，說來實在簡單。

有一位名叫 Colette 的法國作家講得更有詩意﹕

The vine makes the savor of the earth intelligible to man.  It senses, then expresses in its clusters, the secrets of the soil.

自此以後，我不再把葡萄酒定義為 fermented grape juice 。

我改為說﹕Secrets of the soil via Vino da Uva!