今天下午我們到大安路上一家叫做 Whisky & Wine 的小酒坊。這家店特別的地方是你可以一次試16種酒，看你的預算，你可以選擇試20ml、50ml，或是一整杯，對我們這種預算有限的酒鬼來說很划算。這家店有lounge的陳設也有酒窖的感覺，讓你可以在這裡輕鬆地品嚐您所選定的酒。
我們決定今天要來做一個近距離的比較。我們選定了波爾多類型 (Bordeaux blend) 混合白酒與加州類型 (California blend) 的混合白酒，也順便比較一下舊世界酒和新世界的不同。
In the afternoon we went to Whisky & Wine, a lounge and wine shop in Da-An district. The shop allows you to buy up to 16 wines by either 20ml or 50 ml tastings or by the glass. The shop is great for winos like us. It is an attractive and comfortable lounge atmosphere, where you can relax and enjoy conducting your own wine tastings.
Today we decided to do a side-by-side comparison of a white Bordeaux blend and a white California blend of a similar style. It was a good chance to see the Old World and New World together.
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Tasting #1
生產國：法國
產地：Graves, Bordeaux
法定產區：Pessac-Léognan AOC, Grande Cru Classé de Graves
釀酒廠：Château Carbonnieux (château bottled)
年份：2003
種類：白酒 ; Sémillon (40%) - Sauvignon Blanc (60%) blend
價格及出處：每50ml 252 元，Whiskey & Wine 試酒 (整瓶價2200)
品酒日：2008-03-01
Country: France
Region: Graves, Bordeaux
Appellation: Pessac-Léognan AOC, Grande Cru Classé de Graves
Producer: Château Carbonnieux, (château bottled)
Vintage: 2003
Wine Style: White ; Sémillon (40%) - Sauvignon Blanc (60%) blend
Price and Point of Purchase: 252NT per 50 ml. tasting at Whisky & Wine, or 2,200NT per bottle.
Date of Tasting: March 1, 2008
在1987之前，人們只知道Graves AOC這個較大的產區，一直到1987年的時候，Pessac-Léognan AOC產區才被從Graves AOC產區裡劃定出來，而在這個區域裡面有整個Grave AOC產區裡面最好的10個葡萄鄉社 (commune) 與55個最好的酒莊 (包括所有crus classés列級酒莊)。
Pessac-Léognan AOC was introduced in 1987 and encompasses the 10 best communes and 55 best estates (including all the crus classés estates) of the Graves AOC.
Darren 的品酒日記 / Darren's Tasting Notes-
色澤：淡淡的、近似茶色的黃色。這款酒在杯緣有點淚滴 (在葡萄酒的專有名詞叫做 « 腿 »，可是我覺得它比較像是眼淚) ，我想待會應該會喝到中度單寧的酒。
Color: A light yellow to slightly tawny color. The wine has slight formation of legs, I’m expecting a medium-bodied wine.
氣味：沒有特別突出的香氣，但帶點礦石的氣息。
Nose: A neutral nose with light minerality.
口感：滑順圓滿的口感。與飽滿的單寧酸完美結合，雖然是乾口酒卻也隱約帶著一抹甜味。這是一款複雜的酒，主幹的礦石味 (片岩?) 優雅地將其他所有的副口感帶出，其中包括一點橙皮味。這款酒的餘味很長，喝完之後口中會有銅的金屬味 — 像是小的時候你把硬幣放進嘴裡的感覺。
Taste: A smooth and round mouth-feel. Dry with pleasingly incorporated acidity, yet the wine contains subtle hints of sweetness underneath. A complex wine with a core of minerality (schist?), and I detect the slightest hint of orange peel. The finish is long and metallic/coppery – like when you sucked pennies as a kid.
配餐建議：我建議單獨享用這款酒，把它的複雜度都品嚐出來，或者，您可以搭配Fettucini Alfredo義大利麵或是奶油醬的義大利麵。
Food Matches: Drink alone to savor the wine's complexity, or combine with Fettucini Alfredo or likewise creamy pasta dishes.
評定等級：17.5 (Very Good+)。
Rating: 17.5 (Very Good+)
備註：為了找出這瓶酒的味道我花了不少時間。這瓶酒的並沒有很強的葡萄性格，卻有著受到風土條件 (terroir) 影響而造成的強烈性格，這是我第一次喝到因為風土條件而突出的酒，真是震撼！我以前以為風土條件只是酒廠創造出來抬高身價，讓所謂的”品酒達人”認為他們的酒比較好的行銷手法！原來風土條件不是自以為是的品酒家說出來讓自己看起來很厲害的名詞，風土條件是真的存在的！
Note: I had a very hard time figuring out the tastes of this wine. The flavors are not primarily varietal, but rather terroir derived. It was my first real experience with a complex terroir driven wine. What a revelation! Terroir is not just BS spouted by wine snobs – it exists, and makes for fascinating wine! Who would have believed it?!? I certainly never did: I was a wine iconoclast who thought the concept of terroir was just a method to – unfairly – jack-up wine prices for gullible wine “connoisseurs.”
Venus 的品酒日記 / Venus's Tasting Notes-
色澤：在陽光下呈現很淡的透明淺黃萊姆色，邊緣幾乎是全透明的顏色。
Color: It is very light lime-yellow color under the sunlight. Along the edge of the glass, the wine is almost transparent.
氣味：甜甜的水果香加上一點爆竹味 (一閃即逝)。香草椰奶味的甜點。
Nose: It is a sweet fruity smell with a splash of fireworks. Also it smells like vanilla coconut dessert.
口味：有一陣很特別的可可奶香味，不是相當乾口(dry)的乾口酒(雖然在瓶口狠狠地寫了一個 “DRY"。) 老實說，喝起來的畫面應該很優閒，很輕鬆，因為它又有香草椰奶的香味，又有可可奶香的味道，應該是一個悠閒的下午在喝著下午茶配著甜點，甚至Darren還含了根雪茄 (通常有可可的味道)的感覺。但是因為20歲的時候用過美體小舖一款蜜蠟除毛劑，這瓶酒的味道跟這個除毛劑的味道還真像！
很喜歡。不僅可以搭配香草戚風蛋糕，也可以搭配奶油白醬義大利麵。(Darren說應該不要搭配食物，才能夠好好享受這瓶酒的特殊口感，但是身為素食者，喝酒的時候我不常想到要搭配食物，這杯酒讓我想到香草戚風跟奶油白醬義大利麵。)
It has a special cocoa and milky texture. Not a very dry wine (although on the bottle it says in capital letters “DRY”). Honestly speaking, drinking this wine gives an image of afternoon tea with a piece vanilla chiffon cake, and Darren with a cigar in his mouth (cigars often have cocoa flavors). But, I used to have a jar of Body Shop amber leg wax which smelled similar, so I can't stop picturing myself suffering through the waxy pain! (Sorry for putting that image in your mind).
I like this bottle of wine a lot. I think this not only will go well with vanilla chiffon, but also cream-based pasta. (Although Darren thinks that it's almost like we shouldn't drink this wine with food lest we cover the flavor of this special wine. As a vegetarian, I don’t often think of food while drinking, but vanilla chiffon and creamy pasta just automatically jumped into my mind while drinking it! So I'm sticking with vanilla chiffon!!!)
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Tasting #2
生產國：美國
產地：加州
法定產區：21%納帕谷；13%聖塔芭芭拉聖塔瑪麗亞谷；35%蒙特利聖塔露西亞高地；31%加州其他產區
酒名: 謎(Conundrum)
釀酒廠：Caymus Vineyards; 釀酒者：Jon Bolta
年份：1997
種類：加州日常餐酒(白)
(Chardonnay, Sauv. Blanc, Sémillon, Viognier 與 Muscat 的混合)
價格及出處：每50ml 180元，整瓶價1300元
品酒日：2008-03-01
Country: USA
Region: California
Appellation: mix – 21% Napa Valley; 13% Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbera; 35% Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterery; 31% California
Name : Conundrum,
Producer: Caymus Vineyards; Jon Bolta, winemaker
Vintage: 1997
Wine Style: California White Table Wine (Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, Viognier and Muscat blend)
Price and Point of Purchase: 180NT per 50 ml. tasting at Whisky & Wine, or 1,300NT per bottle.
Date of Tasting: March 1, 2008
在加州，日常餐酒在不破壞酒的品質前提之下，會使用多種的葡萄釀造而成，不像法國，日常餐酒 ”vin de table”，事實上是比較低等的酒。
In California, a table wine is simply a wine which uses a mix of grape varieties and does not infer the wine is in anyway inferior, as the appellation vin de table would with a French wine.
Darren 的品酒日記 / Darren's Tasting Notes-
色澤：淺淺的稻草色，杯緣帶著一點”腿”–應該是屬於輕度到中度單寧。
Color: Pale straw color with just slight legs – should be light to medium bodied.
氣味：輕輕的綠色蔬菜味 – 嗯，應該是甜椒。
Nose: A light nose with hints of green vegetables – bell peppers.
口味： 不錯的酒，沒什麼起伏 (Venus 譯者註: Darren 用了 “pedestrian”，我覺得很有趣，英文可能沒這樣的意思，可是中文看起來，這樣的形容就像過路人一樣，走過去就沒有了，非常貼切) 。口味很難定位，因為這款酒是從加州的4個產區中選出5種葡萄混合釀造，所以才會有”謎(Conundrum)”這個名字。這是一款有點辛辣又帶點酸度的酒。
Flavor: A pleasant if rather pedestrian blend. The taste is hard to define as it is a mix of 5 grape varieties from 4 regions of California, hence the name “Conundrum.” It is a slightly spicy white with a minimum of acidity. It manages – just barely – to avoid being flabby. A decent drinking wine to have with a meal – nothing special.
配餐建議：這樣的基本款其實蠻好搭的，任何上桌的食物都不會破壞它的口感。試試雞肉或豬肉料理。
Food marches: A utility wine that should handle most of the foods that you throw at it. Try with chicken or pork.
評定等級：14.5 (Good)。
Rating: 14.5 (Good)
Venus 的品酒日記 / Venus's Tasting Notes-
色澤：淡淡的金黃色，比先前那一支酒再深一點點的顏色。邊緣比較沒有那麼透明。但還是稍有層次。
Color: Light gold, a little darker then the previous French wine. The edge is not as transparent, but still has gradations of color in the glass.
氣味：用力吸了一大口，有一點酸酸的消毒水味道，應該是因為那口氣吸太久太長的關係。事實上，還是帶有一點椰子口味的甜點味道。
Nose: I took a deep smell, maybe far too deep, I smelt detergent like used in hospitals, and also a hint of coconut.
口味： 我想1997年份的酒不會太差。酸酸的，有點刺鼻，但沒有那麼奶，喝起來還蠻清新的。我認為喝進口裡的味道還是有一點椰奶的味道但是沒有那麼重，喝完的口感有一點竹子的味道，應該是屬於檸檬椰子塔吧。是屬於乾口的酒，跟剛剛那瓶一樣，帶的是一點甜甜的香味，但是絕不會是甜口的酒。
Taste: Theorically vintage 1997 is a good year. Because of it's acid smell, when I drink it I can feel a prickling sensation in my nose. It is not as creamy or milky as the previous wine and it's actually quite fresh tasting.
I also taste a little coconut but it’s not as heavy. If I use a dessert analogy to describe it, the California white is more like coconut lemon tart. The finish has a little bamboo texture. It is definitely a dry wine, but as with the bordeaux, it has a slight of sweetness in the nose, but is definitely not a sweet wine.
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Darren 對兩瓶酒的比較 / Darren's Comparison-
基本上沒得比。波爾多這款比加州的高出一大截，無論是在複雜度或是吸引度都把加州這款狠狠地比了下去。整體來說，加州這款白酒平庸無趣。
我其實有點擔心這樣比較下去會讓我的飲酒習慣 ”變高級” (好像你剛喝了一款好酒之後你就沒辦法盡情享受比較平庸的酒一樣。)
There was absolutely no comparison. The Bordeaux stood head-and-shoulders above the California blend. The complexity and level of interest the Bordeaux created on the palate really underlined the weaknesses of this California blend. In comparison, the California wine was bland and slightly banal.
I am a bit afraid that this side-by-side comparison may have pushed me into a whole new “wine category.” (That point where it becomes difficult to enjoy a wine of lesser quality than the new, better, level of wine that you just tasted).
Venus 對兩瓶酒的比較 / Venus's Comparison-
兩瓶比起來，這瓶比較簡單，但是沒有特色。像是剛出道的玉女，可能看起來挺舒服的，但不會讓人留下深刻的印象。我同意Darren的說法，就好像你穿了一雙Jimmy Choo的鞋之後沒辦法再覺得Ninewest的鞋一樣（雖然 Ninewest的鞋設計感也不錯，也不會太難穿），Volvo的車子很好，但總不是Porsche。
If I compare the two together, the California wine is far simpler without any outstanding characteristics – like a new model just getting into show business, nice looking, but people forget her right away – not able to impress. I agree with Darren's comments about these 2 bottles – it's almost like if you experience a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes first, then you cannot appreciate Ninewest as much – although Ninewest has up-to-date designs and they are not too bad. (Volvo is a good car, but it's not a Porsche, if you know what I mean).
Darren Haughn & Venus Chen (c) 2008-03-01
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