朗格多克葡萄酒,性價比很高
In 1989, when the French franc (remember?) was cheap and a pre-Ryanair wave of British romantics sought a slice of la France profonde, we bought half a house in Languedoc. It was a small village in Burgundy that had shown me how much more rural rural France seemed than rural Britain but I was worried that a holiday house in such an important wine region might be an oxymoron.
時間回到1989年，那時候法國法郎還不那麼值錢，（現在還有人記得這種貨幣麼？）一波比瑞安航空(Ryanair)還要早的英國浪漫主義者(British romantics)來了一場深度法國(la France profonde)探尋——我們出手在朗格多克(Languedoc)購買了一屋半宅——儘管勃艮第(Burgundy, Bourgogne)的一個小村莊讓我意識到英國的鄉野在法國的鄉野面前簡直是小巫見大巫，不過在這麼重要的葡萄酒產區有個度假屋會讓我很焦慮。Back then, Languedoc and Roussillon, its Catalan neighbour to the south-west, were producing wines that seemed centuries less evolved than the great wines of France. I liked the idea that an array of styles was available in the region, but felt safe from feeling I ought to be spending my precious summer weeks of R&R visiting wine domaines.
那時候，勃艮第西南部有一個貌似比法國偉大葡萄酒產區落後一百年的葡萄酒產區，也就是講加泰羅尼亞語的朗格多克和魯西榮(Roussillon)。這裏擁有多種多樣的葡萄酒。我承認這很棒，但是一想到要把珍貴的夏季養生休假時光耗費在拜訪酒莊上，又覺得有些捨不得。When we arrived, grapes were virtually the only crop grown in Languedoc and it was their produce that largely filled the notorious EU wine lake with thin, characterless red that no one wanted to drink. Successive schemes were put in place to drain this lake and transform the landscape so that vines on the least propitious (flat and fertile) land were grubbed up. This left a more significant proportion growing in more promising sites at higher elevations, on slopes and on poorer soils so that yields were naturally lower and the resulting wine more interesting and concentrated. Only a small proportion of the vines that used to surround our house remain.
我們去朗格多克的時候，葡萄真是漫山遍野的唯一種植物，這些葡萄也正是填滿名聲不佳的所謂歐洲酒湖(EU wine lake)的主要來源，誰都不願意去喝這些單薄而且也沒有特色的紅葡萄酒。爲了降低酒湖的量，歐盟實施了連續多年的葡萄樹拔除計劃，這裏的景色也有了很大的變化——最不適合種植葡萄的地方（也就是地勢平坦而且土壤肥沃的區域）的葡萄植株被連根拔掉。這樣做造成的結果就是那些海拔較高且土壤比較貧瘠的坡地結出的果實佔了整體產量中的更高比例，而這些地段的自然條件決定了它們的單位產量本身就比較低，果實的品質當然更高，釀造的葡萄酒更加吸引人，更加濃郁。現在放眼一看，我們房子周圍的葡萄樹也被拔除得所剩無幾了。
I am ashamed to say that my visits to Languedoc wine producers are still rare. That is because I treasure the contrast between my weeks with family and friends at the house and my busy travelling schedule the rest of the year. But it isn’t because the wines are not worthy of attention.
很慚愧地講，我拜訪朗格多克葡萄酒廠的次數依然寥寥無幾，這是因爲每年疲於繁忙出差的我，特別珍惜與親友團聚的時光。當然這並不是說朗格多克的葡萄酒不值得引起我的關注。This summer I was struck by just how much great wine is being produced here (white and pink as well as red), and what wonderful bargains most are. And I was thrilled to see continued proof of the excitingly tense dry whites that can be grown on higher ground in Roussillon. These wines are so full of individuality, encompassing a range of terrains, grape varieties and winemaking methods, that I could not help comparing them with the narrower range of flavours available from, say, Bordeaux and Burgundy — whose wines are generally much more expensive (although some cult Languedoc wines, such as Grange des Pères and Peyre Rose, are exceptions).
這個夏天，我被朗格多克徹底征服：這裏能夠釀造出如此多的佳釀（無論白葡萄酒、桃紅葡萄酒還是紅葡萄酒都是如此），而且它們中的絕大多數都物美價廉。不僅如此，在魯西榮高海拔地區葡萄園產出的幹型白葡萄酒香氣緊實，其品質之高之穩定也讓我着實驚歎。這些葡萄酒都非常有個性，包含了多種地形、葡萄品種和釀酒方法，讓我忍不住將其與風格範圍略窄一些的產區來進行一番比較，比如波爾多(Bordeaux)和勃艮第：這些產區的葡萄酒通常要貴得多。當然了，有些朗格多克膜拜酒也不便宜，比如格蘭奇佩斯 (Grange des Pères)和佩爾玫瑰(Peyre Rose)。I am not referring here to the international varietals, often from the larger, more commercial producers, that tend to carry the IGP Pays d’Oc appellation. Some of these are perfectly nice (and good value) but many are pretty dull.
我在這裏指的並不是採用國際化葡萄品種、通常釀自規模更大更商業化的生產者、往往屬於奧克產區餐酒(IGP Pays d’Oc)的葡萄酒：除了少數很棒（也很有性價比）之外，它們大多都比較無趣。It is perhaps significant that of the 28 wines chosen by a professional panel as this year’s collection of ambassador wines for the Pays d’Oc, half of them were white, with Chardonnay and Viognier being most common — 14 as opposed to 12 reds and two rosés.
專家組今年選擇了二十八款葡萄酒作爲奧克地區(Pays d’Oc)精選代表，其中一半是以葡萄品種霞多麗(Chardonnay)和維歐尼(Viognier)居多的白葡萄酒，相對於這十四款白葡萄酒，紅葡萄酒佔有十二席，桃紅葡萄酒佔有兩席。可以說這是一個有意義的現象了。Not long ago, Languedoc vineyards were dominated by the dark-skinned Carignan grape. Then there was a vogue for planting Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon — neither particularly suitable for the region. But now, as elsewhere, it is recognised that the traditional varieties work best. So reds tend to be blends of Grenache Noir, its “hairy-leaved” version Lladoner Pelut, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Carignan; whites are drawn from Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, Clairette, Piquepoul, Maccabeu (Viura), Bourboulenc, Rolle (Vermentino), Roussanne, Marsanne and Viognier. These can have seriously individual flavours.
不久以前，朗格多克的葡萄園由皮色深濃的佳麗釀(Carignan)葡萄主宰，後來又流行起了長相思(Sauvignon Blanc)和赤霞珠(Cabernet Sauvignon)這兩個尤其不適合種植在當地的品種。不過現在，大家形成了一個放之四海而皆準的公認觀點：還是傳統葡萄品種在這裏表現最佳。所以紅葡萄酒最好的還是黑歌海娜(Grenache Noir)、有多毛葉子版本黑歌海娜之稱的拉多內佩魯(Lladoner Pelut)、西拉(Syrah)、穆合懷特(Mourvèdre)、神索(Cinsault)和佳麗釀；白葡萄酒則來自白歌海娜(Grenache Blanc)、灰歌海娜(Grenache Gris)、克萊雷特(Clairette)、皮克普勒(Piquepoul)、馬卡貝奧(Maccabeu)(又叫做維歐拉(Viura)) 、布爾布朗克(Bourboulenc)、羅爾(Rolle)（又叫做維爾門蒂諾(Vermentino)）、瑚珊(Roussanne)、瑪珊(Marsanne)和維歐尼。所有這些葡萄品種都有自己獨有的風味特徵。The wines that excited me this year were made from a mix of local grapes, grown — organically and sometimes biodynamically — in individual conditions, by small, independent producers.
今年給我興奮感的葡萄酒來自一系列當地的葡萄，它們出自小型的獨立生產者之手，通過有機或生物動力法進行種植，風土條件也各有不同。Tom Hills created Domaine La Lauzeta only in 2015, but with notable success. He produces small amounts of wine in a cramped garage in the St-Chinian village of St-Nazaire de Ladarez, after years spent working as a sugar trader in Russia and the US and growing coffee in Nicaragua. He has identified some fine parcels of vines and enlisted the help of the excellent local consultant Claude Gros and winemaker Amélie Czerwenka. I was impressed by his Jauzimen rosé last year but the reds I tasted this year showed this was no flash in the pan.
湯姆?希爾斯(Tom Hills)在2015年才創立洛姿塔酒莊(Domaine La Lauzeta)，但已經獲得了巨大的成功。從事了多年的俄美蔗糖貿易和尼加拉瓜的咖啡種植之後，他在位於聖納澤爾-拉達赫(St-Nazaire de Ladarez)地區聖-西尼昂(St-Chinian)村莊的狹小車庫裏釀造了少量葡萄酒。他發掘了一些很好的地塊，獲得了當地優秀釀酒顧問克勞德?格羅(Claude Gros)和釀酒師艾美麗?切爾文卡(Amélie Czerwenka)的幫助。去年他釀造的桃紅葡萄酒若絲芒(Jauzimen)給我留下了深刻的印象，而今年的紅葡萄酒品嚐讓我確定這樣的成功不會是曇花一現。Julien and Delphine Zernott arrived from the Loire in 2003 and have painstakingly renovated the cool, isolated terraced vineyards above Poujols that constitute their Domaine du Pas de l’Escalette, north of the Terrasses du Larzac, a rocky, windswept subregion of the Languedoc. They wisely ignored advice to pull out such indigenous grapes as Carignan Blanc and Terret Bourret and now find their nervy dry white blend particularly sought after by sommeliers.
2003年，朱利安(Julien)和德爾菲尼?澤爾諾(Delphine Zernott)從盧瓦爾(Loire)來到朗格多克，在多風多石的拉赫扎克階地(Terrasses du Larzac)北邊，通過艱苦的努力，整治了普若爾(Poujols)上方氣候涼爽的階梯型葡萄園，使其成爲了他們巴德埃斯卡萊特酒莊(Domaine du Pas de l’Escalette)的一部分。他們非常明智地沒有接受拔除白佳麗釀(Carignan Blanc)和特雷佈雷(Terret Bourret)這樣的原生葡萄品種的建議，現在這些品種調配釀造的白葡萄酒非常令人興奮，成爲了侍酒師眼中的香餑餑。Domaine Sainte Marie des Crozes is run by Christelle Alias, whose father Bernard renovated the estate at the end of the last century. From hillside vineyards in the northern reaches of Corbières, on the Montagne d’Alaric, she produces a range of memorably named and packaged reds.
特里斯泰爾?阿里亞(Christelle Alias)運營管理着父親貝納德(Bernard)在上個世紀末翻新的聖瑪麗莊園(Domaine Sainte Marie des Crozes)，她採用位於艾拉里克山(Montagne d’Alaric)的上科比埃(Corbières)產區北部山坡葡萄園的原料釀造了一系列名字和包裝都令人難以忘記的葡萄酒。Brigitte Chevalier abandoned her career exporting bordeaux to establish Domaine de Cébène in the distinctive Faugères appellation in northern Languedoc. Like all these producers, she has been making differentiated, expressive wines with a real sense of place.
布里吉特?舍瓦里耶(Brigitte Chevalier)放棄了自己的波爾多葡萄酒出口生意，在朗格多克北部獨具特色的佛耶(Faugères)產區建立了塞比納酒莊(Domaine de Cébène)。與這些生產者一樣，她一直在釀造的是有真正地域特色、與衆不同且非常有表現性的葡萄酒。
I was lucky this year in being able to taste widely and pleasurably without venturing further than a few steps from the front door.
這一年能夠在不用出家門多少步的情況下嚐到這些不僅類型多樣而且還如此令人快樂的葡萄酒，實屬我的幸運。I benefited from the research of an old friend from Cumbria, ex-wine merchant Richard Neville, who happens to have settled with his wife not too many villages from us. For the past few years, he has volunteered to collect samples from up-and-coming producers for me and this year he excelled himself.
我從理查德?內維爾(Richard Neville)那裏受益很多，這位曾經做過酒商的老朋友與他的妻子碰巧定居在離我只有幾個村子的地方。這些年來，他一直承擔着爲我提供出自那些非常有進取心的生產者之手的佳釀，從現在的情況看來，今年他又一次超越了自我。Then there are consignments of bottles that just seemed to end up on my doorstep, usually delightfully out of the blue. Examples: wines from Domaine Paul Meunier-Centernach, based in the old St-Arnac co-op; and German-owned Domaine Courbissac in the wild hills above La Livinière, the first official sub-appellation within Minervois, which may be joined by Cazelles and Laure if their applications are successful.
現在還總有葡萄酒運送到我的門前，而且時常讓我有驚喜，舉幾個例子吧：來自保羅莫尼爾酒莊(Domaine Paul Meunier-Centernach)的葡萄酒，這座莊園駐紮在古老的合作社聖阿納克(St-Arnac)；還有德國人執掌的庫比薩克酒莊(Domaine Courbissac)，位於利維涅(La Livinière)地區的上部山丘地帶,這是米內瓦(Minervois)產區內的第一個官方亞產區(sub-appellation)，卡則勒(Cazelles)和勞雷(Laure)這兩個地區如果也能申請成功的話，也會和它一樣。
