文 David Allen MW 編、譯 張?zhí)裎?/p>

仙粉黛是我非常喜歡的葡萄品種。它經(jīng)常會被一些“高貴”的品種，比如赤霞珠、黑皮諾掩蓋光芒，盡管它少了些精致感，但卻在酒體強勁度、口感柔順性、即飲與活潑的果香方面有所彌補。我一直覺得，喝仙粉黛葡萄酒時常會發(fā)現(xiàn)樂趣。

Zinfandel is a grape variety I am passionate about. Despite frequently being overshadowed by "noble" varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, what Zinfandel lacks in refinement it makes up for in power, suppleness and immediate, lively fruit. I'm usually confident great pleasure will come from drinking it!

仙粉黛是一種成熟度不均的葡萄品種，因此在炎熱的氣候條件下會保持新鮮的酸度。如果生產(chǎn)商要等到整串葡萄全部成熟后再進行采摘，那么釀出來的葡萄酒通常就會有揮發(fā)性味道，因為采收時有一部分葡萄已經(jīng)過熟，像葡萄干一樣了，但許多人卻認為這種口感十分誘人。延長葡萄的掛枝時間意味著釀出來的葡萄酒酒精度更高，容易使人沉醉，這些葡萄酒的酒精度通常會超過14.5%！

由于仙粉黛的成熟期很長，釀酒師便可以利用葡萄在不同成熟度下所展示出的風味，來釀造不同口感與風格的葡萄酒。在成熟的早期階段，仙粉黛會呈現(xiàn)出草莓般微妙的紅色水果味道。當葡萄變得更加成熟、顏色更深時，會出現(xiàn)覆盆子味道，接著會有鮮紅色櫻桃到深色櫻桃的味道。仙粉黛精致的紅色水果風味讓它可以被釀制成半甜型葡萄酒以及被稱為“白仙粉黛”的桃紅葡萄酒?這種酒在美國很受歡迎，包括大多數(shù)用這一品種釀造的葡萄酒。仙粉黛葡萄的成熟度越高，味道就越濃郁，依次會出現(xiàn)黑櫻桃、黑莓、洛根莓味，最后會展現(xiàn)出黑橄欖和葡萄干的味道。

我對于仙粉黛的好奇和喜愛之情源于幾年前遇到的兩位加利福尼亞釀酒師：喬爾h 彼得森和保羅h 德雷珀，這是兩位十分杰出但卻風格迥異的釀酒師。在不到一周的時間內(nèi)，我有幸拜訪了他們。

我先去拜訪了喬爾h 彼得森，他是雷文斯伍德酒莊（Ravenswood）的創(chuàng)始人，也是莊主。這是一家專門釀造仙粉黛葡萄酒的酒莊，彼得森的座右銘是“沒有軟弱的葡萄酒”。他是一個精力充沛的男人，堅持采摘完成成熟的葡萄，并為此作出了很多努力，包括在發(fā)酵過程中反復(fù)淋皮，以提取最大的風味、顏色和單寧，然后在美國橡木桶中進行陳年，讓葡萄酒在擁有馥郁的成熟水果味道同時還帶有香甜的香草味道。當彼得森熱情地從木桶里取未完成的葡萄酒樣品時，我們已經(jīng)爬上了酒窖里那一堆高高的橡木桶上，他的仙粉黛葡萄酒展現(xiàn)出了來自貝洛尼（Belloni）和傳統(tǒng)大山（Oold Hill）這兩個頂級葡萄園的獨特風味。這可真是一次奇妙的經(jīng)歷，在離開酒莊時，我還自以為已經(jīng)知道仙粉黛是如何釀造的。

然而幾天后，山脊酒莊（Ridge Winery）的保羅h 德雷珀把我的“新認知”徹底顛覆了，他們處理仙粉黛的做法與雷文斯伍德酒莊完全相反。德雷珀在葡萄成熟的早期進行采摘，以獲取更多的紅色水果特征。葡萄運到酒莊后，他們會很溫柔地對待這些果實，以此保留仙粉黛迷人的芳香味道。他們不做淋皮，而是在發(fā)酵后將8噸重的發(fā)酵罐移到壓榨機上，再把發(fā)酵罐整個翻轉(zhuǎn)過來以避免用泵而產(chǎn)生的葡萄酒與果皮的攪動。彼得森喜歡長時間的浸漬，而德雷珀則恰恰相反。即使是在橡木桶的使用上，他們也有分歧。盡管兩人都使用美國橡木桶，但德雷珀買的是風干木桶，類似于法國橡木桶，香草風味的影響會明顯減少。

哎，雷文斯伍德酒莊已經(jīng)不再是獨立生產(chǎn)商，但山脊酒莊仍然是加利福尼亞領(lǐng)先的酒莊之一。盡管風格迥異，但這兩家酒莊的葡萄酒都十分吸引人。我很難說我到底喜歡哪種，相反，仙粉黛這種令人興奮的多樣性才是讓我欲罷不能的關(guān)鍵。

Zinfandel ripens unevenly, so retains fresh acidity in hot climates. Producers who wait for the whole crop to ripen usually accept volatile notes to the wine from a portion of over-ripe, raisined, grapes in the harvest - many find these appealing. The extended hang-time means such wines are usually heady and alcoholic - routinely exceeding 14.5% alcohol!

The Variety s long ripening-window, however, allows winemakers to make numerous styles of wine by utilizing the broad palate of flavours the variety displays with increasing ripeness. In the early stages of ripeness Zinfandel shows delicate red-fruit flavours like strawberries, becoming riper and deeper, more like raspberries, then from bright red-cherry to a darker red-cherry. The delicate red-fruit style of Zinfandel has yielded many semisweet, rosés labelled as White Zinfandel - whose popularity in the USA means they now comprise most of the wines made from the variety. At higher ripeness, flavours become those of darker fruits, first black-cherries, blackberries, loganberries and finally savoury black-olive and raisin notes.

My curiosity about and love for Zinfandel was fueled by meeting two fabulous Californian winemakers several years ago. In less than a week I was lucky enough to visit both Joel Peterson and Paul Draper, two virtuosos winemakers with contrasting styles.First I met Joel Peterson, founder, and then owner, of Ravenswood - a winery specialising in making Zinfandel, whose motto was “no wimpy wines”. Peterson was an energetic man who believed in harvesting fully-ripe grapes and working them hard, pumping-over regularly during fermentation to extract maximum flavour, colour and tannins, then aging them in American oak to overlay sweet vanilla flavours on the opulent ripe fruit. We climbed high among stacks of barrels in the cellar as Peterson enthusiastically extracted samples of unfinished wines, demonstrating the distinct flavour profiles of Zinfandel from top vineyards like Old Hill and Belloni. It was an amazing experience and I left thinking I knew how Zinfandel was made.

Paul Draper, at Ridge winery, few days later turned my new-found knowledge upside-down, their approach to Zinfandel was almost completely opposite to Ravenswood s. Draper picked earlier to capture more red-fruit characteristics. In the winery he handled the fruit very gently, to capture and preserve its beautiful aromas. They did not pump the must, instead moving the 8-ton fermenters to the press, after fermentation, tipping it in to avoid agitating the wine and its skins by pumping them. Where Peterson favoured long macerations Draper preferred short. Even in oak usage they diverged, while both used American oak, Draper purchased air-dried barrels, made like French barrels - reducing overt vanilla influences.

Ravenswood, alas, is no longer independent, but Ridge remains one of California s leading wineries. Their respective wines all manage to be seriously captivating despite their contrasting styles. I can t decide which I prefer, instead its thrilling diversity is what I love about this variety.