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生物動力曆法﹕（至下午 5 時）花；（下午 6 時開始）葉

這群朋友跨進意酒之門一年有餘，像很多初入門者一樣，最愛 Sangiovese，所以是時候帶他們試試被譽為酒王與酒后的 Barolo 和 Barbaresco 了。我毫不思索便選了 Bruno Giacosa 的 2001。我也不知道選得對不對，我告訴他們如果一輩子只喝一次，我會不作他選，而且 2001 是近年最優雅的年份，Sangiovese 的口味應該容易接受。

我選了三款 Giacosa。為作比較，我配了三位 Giacosa 的鄰居，其中兩款更從同一塊田而來。是日酒單如下﹕

(White) Vie Di Romans, Chardonnay Vieris, 2012 (from Friuli, NE Italy)

1. Ceretto, Barbaresco Bricco Asili, 2001

2. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Asili, 2001

3. Castello di Neive, Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva, 2001

4. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Santo Stefano, 2001

5. Pira Luigi, Barolo Vigna Rionda, 2001

6. Giacosa Bruno, Barolo Falletto, 2001

所有酒在早上 7﹕30 開瓶，然後拔塞作瓶醒。

結果 Giacosa 演了三幕獨腳戲，除了一個小意外，全拿了滿分。

 

意外發生在第一雙，兩款都來自 Barbaresco 村最飄逸的 Asili。

早上小試，2. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Asili, 2001 一下杯即花香撲鼻，我記下了「狂草」二字；真的，我弄不清是甚麼花，不太像玫瑰，那漫天花粉就像懷素的狂草那樣飛舞，但過了一會便稍為靜了下來，入口滿是帶花粉的香味，不太甜，甚至不甜，因為酸度很突出。兩年前喝過這款酒印象難忘，所以我很有期待，但想也沒想到當年的羲之竟然扮起懷素來。

晚上第一回合卻變了個樣。

很害羞似的，一點點玫瑰，稍乾的，有人說有點鐵銹味，入口蠻濃的，濃得有點鹹，酸度頗高；過了一會，乾玫瑰變了乾葉子，果味越來越少，酸度卻搶了出來。我只好跟大家說早上有狂草式的花香呢！酒友的尷尬之情寫在臉上。

幸好有 1. Ceretto, Barbaresco Bricco Asili, 2001 的出現。一位新加入的新手語帶疑惑的問﹕這是椰絲嗎？資深師姐很詳細的跟她解釋這是烤過的新木桶的氣味，也有人形容為 vanilla，奶油等等，並非葡萄的氣味。這款酒從早上到現在都有刺鼻的桶香，入口是很熟悉的把式﹕果汁一樣的果味，由木桶添加的丹寧，很新世界的風味，但收結的酸度救了他，證明他是隨法的意酒。相對於 Giacosa 這種堅持葡萄發酵時比較長時間泡皮、陳釀時用中性、使用過多年的大木桶的傳統酒莊，我們稱這種椰絲酒莊為「新派」。

這樣才令投票結果打了個平手。我看選 1. Ceretto, Barbaresco Bricco Asili, 2001 的朋友是因為 Giacosa 實在不行，而選 2. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Asili, 2001 的人大概認為 Ceretto 是「假酒」。

但一個半小時後再試，2. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Asili, 2001 卻如脫胎換骨，簡直技驚四座。好香啊！是花香，幽香還是檀香？都是。有（女）酒友說像 16 歲少女花浴後皮膚散發的香氣。還有一種像烤過的硬殼果的氣味。

這些我都不感到奇怪。Giacosa 的 Asili 本應如此的。最令我陶醉的是他這時的口感。我對剛才發現椰絲的新酒友說﹕這便是「如絲口感」的意思 — 平滑得幾乎不感覺到有物質的存在，一種無重狀態，完全的通透。

但慢慢的，酒似乎失去了一些活力，花香變香草，果味跑了一點，酸度又高了一點。我說的是一點，而且是漸變的過程。

最近我特別留意按生物動力學編造的喝酒通勝。前一兩天一直到當天下午 5 時都是「花」，之後的一天半是「葉」。

我尋思著﹕無非早上的狂草是花的表現，晚上基本上是葉？

但這花、葉之間可能像四季的變換那樣，是個過程，就如春末有些天像冬日，又有些日子如初夏。所謂花、果、葉、根大概標示著天地間的能量變化吧？中醫不是有「氣」的概念嗎？另外，由氧氣激發的化學作用也能提供新的能量。能量夠便讓酒釋放更多香氣和味道，但先要有這些東西在酒裏才能釋放出來。

因此可以解釋為何在第二回合的初期有花又有果，但因為能量不夠，所以不太持久，花也就慢慢變葉了。

我不太肯定。借洋人的一句話﹕I’m just thinking out aloud。

回到 1. Ceretto, Barbaresco Bricco Asili, 2001，桶味沒有剛才那麼搶了，原因可能是氧化令果味出得更多，有遮掩的作用。其實果味蠻漂亮的，但較為單一，缺乏層次感，不用與 2. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Asili, 2001 比較也感到他太笨重了，那裏像 Barbaresco 最優雅、飄逸的 Asili？

這回合大家都選 2. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Asili, 2001。

 

這一雙來自同一塊田 Santo Stefano，地主便是 Castello di Neive，但 Bruno Giacosa  從 1960 年代開始買他們的葡萄來釀造的酒早已成為 Barbaresco 甚至是意酒的經典，地主反而藉藉無名。兩者都用傳統法製酒，所以今天把他們放在一起來品試，可以考驗造酒者的功力。

可能因為 3. Castello di Neive, Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva, 2001 是一款 Riserva，選了最好的葡萄，所以從早到晚都比較緊閉，晚上第一回合開始時有人說聞到些跌打酒氣味，我想更像乾樹枝吧；下杯後隱約出了些乾玫瑰，入口有份量，但感覺平板一點。

4. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Santo Stefano, 2001 在上午小試時有鮮花香，但遠遠沒有 2. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Asili, 2001 來得奔放；晚上第一回合開始時出乾玫瑰，底色與 3. Castello di Neive, Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva, 2001 差不多，但明顯有多了些花粉，一位酒友說 Giacosa 的玫瑰花「沒有 Castello di Neive 那麼乾」，而且勝在通透，果味有種立體的感覺，軟綿綿的，我常覺得好像踩著一朵雲那樣，也因此比 3. Castello di Neive, Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva, 2001 多了層次。

到了第二回合，兩者都更開放了，尤其明顯的是 3. Castello di Neive, Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva, 2001，這時出了一點香粉和很多乾玫瑰，有人還說聞到很熟悉的「忌廉汽水」（cream soda 的香港譯法），果味濃，比第一回合活潑多了，雖然比較之下仍然是一板一眼的，就是欠缺了那麼一點點的複雜性。

這時的 4. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Santo Stefano, 2001 無論香氣、果與丹寧都比第一回多了一點，但一位酒友期望他會像 Asili 那樣來個大變身，因此有點失望，但她仍然認為 Giacosa 較圓滑與複雜。

所以兩個回合都由 4. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Santo Stefano, 2001 以全分取勝。

但有趣的是，最後的幾滴酒也慢慢從花香變為葉子和香草。又一個花變葉？

 

最後的一雙是 Barolo，兩塊田很鄰近，都位於結構最強的 Serralunga d’Alba 村，其中 Vigna Rionda 是公認的 Grand Cru 中的 Grand Cru。

早上小試，5. Pira Luigi, Barolo Vigna Rionda, 2001 有衝鼻的像硫磺的新桶氣味，比 1. Ceretto, Barbaresco Bricco Asili, 2001 更為嚴重，但晚上第一回合的椰絲和 vanilla 氣味被很豐富的果味掩蓋了一點，所以還能接受。

但等 6. Giacosa Bruno, Barolo Falletto, 2001 的強音一出現，大家再也無心去研究桶味的強弱了。香料、鮮多於乾的玫瑰花瓣，有骨架的果味，令人眼前為之一亮；但他那堅實的丹寧令喝慣 Sangiovese 的酒友有點膛目結舌，我便借此機會解釋 Barolo 與 Barbaresco 的差異，其實 2001 是比較溫和的年份，丹寧已經不至於太強悍了。

我把餘下的酒倒了一半入我早已準備好的 187 ml 小瓶子，半個小時後再倒回原瓶，又 10 分鐘之後進行第二回合。兩款酒也作了同樣的處理。

這時兩者都更精彩了。

6. Giacosa Bruno, Barolo Falletto, 2001 從紅果變成黑果，有勁度，表現了 Barolo 果味特有的穿透力，最形象的描述是一位酒評人多年前說的 “tightly wound fruit”，這種結構感是 Sangiovese 沒有的，打比喻就是鋼鐵與木材的差別。

令我難過的是 5. Pira Luigi, Barolo Vigna Rionda, 2001，他漂亮的黑果與桶味在大打出手，這時大概打了個平手。Vigna Rionda 有極深黑的果味，但永遠是圓潤而不霸氣的，打比喻是「絲絨手套裏藏著鋼鐵的拳頭」— iron fist in a velvet glove。好端端的一塊田就這樣被趕潮流的造酒人破壞了！我好心痛！試想如果由 Giacosa 來造這款酒會是何等仙樣？

但說也奇怪，6. Giacosa Bruno, Barolo Falletto, 2001 放在杯子久了，果味跑了一些，而且香氣逐漸由花變為香草！

你又說我迷信了，但我想請你看看兩年前的 2001 Giacosa 試酒報告（見前文﹕發現 Giacosa（VIPa 導賞活動之三）），那天是果日，與今天的酒比較，無論香氣、活力、果味的深度與持久度都更好！

Wine of the Night

今晚哪一款 Giacosa 表現最好？

6. Giacosa Bruno, Barolo Falletto, 2001 以 7 票輕易勝出；之後是拿 2 票的  4. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Santo Stefano, 2001。

2. Giacosa Bruno, Barbaresco Asili, 2001 的第二回合令大家狂喜，但可惜未能力挽狂瀾，只拿到我投的 1 票。我開玩笑說﹕不在乎天長地久，只在乎曾經擁有。但我是認真的﹕Nebbiolo 力量易得，但細膩如此，實在稀有至極，也幾乎只有酒中的 Mozart 能有此妙韻。

所以我最愛 Giacosa（有興趣請看我五年前寫的 Giacosa!）。

 

附錄

我是十多年前從一篇訪問文章發現 Giacosa 的。今天重讀，仍然被大師的謙厚作風深深感動。 我當時仍是個 Bordeaux 客，還沒有開始喝 Giacosa，所以我是先被他的人格感動的。後來從他的酒我也喝到他高尚的人格，這兩者是分不開的。

這裏，我把這篇訪問公諸同好。願你也喜歡。

 

來源﹕http://www.winespectator.com/magazine/show/id/10403

A Maestro's View

A conversation with Bruno Giacosa

James Suckling
Issue: November 30, 2003

Bruno Giacosa knows a thing or two about the wines of Piedmont. In 1944, his father collected him from school in Alba when Allied forces were bombing the area and put him to work in the family wine cellars in the small town of Neive. He's worked there ever since.

"It's 60 years I have been doing this," the 74-year-old vintner said proudly in August, talking in his tasting room as we sampled a range of his Barolos and Barbarescos from the 2000, 1999 and 1998 vintages. His single-vineyard wines from these appellations, such as Barolo Falletto and Barbaresco Santo Stefano, are some of the most collectible in the region.

Though Giacosa's family historically sold and bought grapes and wines from the region's best growers, in recent years he has been buying vineyards and focusing on his own production. He now owns 44 acres in total, 32 of them in Barolo and 12 in Barbaresco. He produces about 40,000 cases of wine a year from his own vineyards and from purchased grapes, including white varieties for sparkling wines and table wines.

Mention Giacosa's name to the area's other wine producers and they offer nothing but admiration, referring to him as the "master" or a "great man." Giacosa is equally complimentary of what his colleagues are achieving today compared with in the past, believing that Piedmont is in its best period of winemaking ever.

"People have now understood that to make good wines you need to have fewer grapes," says the veteran. "First and foremost, this is the most important thing. Ten years ago you would have never have seen bunches of grapes lying on the ground in the vineyard. Now if you take a walk through vineyards, you will see that nearly everyone removes surplus grapes. Even farmers, who don't like doing this, now do it. To make good wine you have to have very few grapes. Even in less-good vineyard sites, if you do this, you can make very good wines."

Giacosa concedes that reducing yields has led to richer, rounder and slightly darker reds. But, paradoxically, he argues, they are also more elegant than Piedmont's traditional wines.

"Yes, our wines have finer tannins. They are more delicate," he says. "I remember years ago, when I went to visit Conterno [another famous producer of Barolo], the three brothers together, and they let me taste a Barolo wine that had been in the barrel for 14 or 15 years. Before, Barolos had lots of tannins and acidity so you couldn't bottle a Barolo before six or seven years. It wasn't good. You couldn't drink it. Now, after a year you can. Everything has changed."

In addition, Giacosa says, most producers are much more careful in using new wood for maturing their wine, whereas in the past, particularly in the 1980s and early 1990s, many wines were overoaked. "Now they understand, and they use new oak barrels with better judgment," he says. "They don't overdo it. They realized they used too much wood. For example, in the past you would taste a glass of wine and it tasted of wine and wood. The next day you could still taste the wood, whereas you could not taste the wine."

Some changes in Piedmont have not been for the better, however. Giacosa is worried about the high prices for the top wines of the region and also about the quantities produced. He reports that most of the key appellations in Piedmont have significantly increased their wine production over the years through new plantings, and he is not sure there is a market for all of the wine. Moreover, many producers who are new to the market are selling their wines for inflated prices.

"I think the prices have increased a little too much," he says, even though his single-vineyard Barolos and Barbarescos are some of the most expensive. "Perhaps we should keep our feet on the ground with respect to this. There have been years when the demand was higher than the supply so people made the most of this. But it needs to change … people enjoy the wines of Piedmont, but they need to be at the right price."