晚红蜜：聚光灯下的葡萄

文 Debra Meiburg MW 编、译 张恬熙

格鲁吉亚的本土葡萄品种正在获得全球的支持，酿酒师们渐渐意识到本土葡萄的潜力，比如古老的红葡萄品种晚红蜜（Saperavi），就可以酿造出酒体复杂、香气馥郁、拥有深红色泽的葡萄酒。

Georgia's native grapes are gaining global support as winemakers wake up to the potential of the country's indigenous varieties such as the ancient red grape saperavi (sap-er-ah-vee), which makes complex, aromatic, inky-dark wines.

晚红蜜是一种染色葡萄，在格鲁吉亚上千年的酿酒历史中被广泛使用。它绝不是酒圈里的新面孔，在过去的20年里，晚红蜜已经走进国际舞台的聚光灯下，葡萄藤也遍布全世界，从巴罗萨山谷到新疆、手指湖、马尔堡等产区。

麦克拉伦谷的酿酒师休伊·汉密尔顿承认自己完全被晚红蜜迷住了，并在《澳大利亚美食旅行家》线上杂志里表示：“我喜欢这个葡萄品种……从入口那一刻起，它就抓住了我的心。”

11月11日，澳大利亚休伊·汉密尔顿酒庄的首席执行官玛丽·汉密尔顿、中国蒲昌酒庄的首席酿酒师洛里斯·塔塔格里亚、哈萨克斯坦阿尔巴酒庄的酿酒师兼首席执行官泽努拉·卡基姆扎诺夫、格鲁吉亚穆卡都酒庄的酿酒师兼庄主兰多·乌祖纳什维利等人，与《迈宁格国际葡萄酒》杂志的主编费尔西蒂·卡特等酒评家和专家一起，探讨晚红蜜的光明前景，包括现况和未来。我和我的美酒文化有限公司一起，与ProWine China合作举办了全球第一届晚红蜜研讨会，将晚红蜜与赤霞珠、西拉、梅洛这些高贵的葡萄品种作对比，探讨晚红蜜更多的可能性。

乌祖纳什维利认为晚红蜜是格鲁吉亚最重要的葡萄品种，无论是质量还是数量都是如此。他说：“晚红蜜是个幸存者，它与那些高贵的葡萄品种有许多共性。”

乌祖纳什维利是酒庄的第十一代酿酒师，在寻求海外做研究的机会之前，他曾在莫斯科求学。他的逐梦之旅将他引领到了澳大利亚（他就是在澳大利亚将晚红蜜推荐给了汉密尔顿）、法国、摩洛哥、乌克兰、意大利和日本。现在，他每年都会往返于阿德莱德及格鲁吉亚两地。

就像其他酿酒国一样，格鲁吉亚也难免受到持续的气候变化的影响。乌祖纳什维利说：这种气候变化主要体现在更干旱、更炎热，以及降雨量的减少。

波尔多通过引进5个新葡萄品种的方式来应对气候变化带来的挑战，而乌祖纳什维利则吸取了他在澳大利亚炎热、干燥气候条件下种植葡萄的经验教训，并根据格鲁吉亚的现状做出调整。

在美酒文化有限公司为期半天的晚红蜜研讨会上，大约有70位媒体、教育和贸易代表参加，并对17款晚红蜜葡萄酒进行了对比品鉴。这些葡萄酒既有来自传统酿酒国家的，也有一些来自让人意想不到的葡萄酒产国，包括澳大利亚（目前约有30家葡萄酒厂商使用晚红蜜葡萄来酿酒）、中国、美国、新西兰、哈萨克斯坦、摩尔多瓦，当然还有格鲁吉亚。

常驻英国的葡萄酒作家兼评论家罗伯特·约瑟夫在谈论晚红蜜时说道：“我认为晚红蜜不是那种轻易穿起西装的酒（指比较严肃的葡萄酒—译者注），它甚至都不会打领带。它有一种野性，这种葡萄酒拥有不羁的美。”

在品鉴的过程中，专家组和观众们都感受到了晚红蜜的多样风格，2017年份的美国康斯坦丁·弗兰克酒庄葡萄酒风格新鲜，约瑟夫形容它是介于“红白葡萄酒之间”。来自澳大利亚比利·巴顿酒庄的章鱼葡萄酒拥有水果为主导的平衡风格。葡萄酒大师卡斯狄·达尔特完美地捕捉到了这个葡萄品种的变化，将2008年份克瓦雷利酒庄晚红蜜葡萄酒描述为“是一款可爱的葡萄酒，就像一款老年份黑皮诺”，而穆卡都酒庄2017年份晚红蜜和沙乌卡比多混酿则描绘为“颜色深邃，粗糙、带有泥土气息且富有野性”。

品鉴已经落下了尾声，这是一场很普通的由国际知名人士和葡萄酒专家共同参与的活动。随着晚红蜜的种植以及酿造的酒款逐渐渗透到全球市场，与其说是“看看这里吧”，不如说是“下一个会在哪里？”

Saperavi is a teinturier grape that has been used in Georigan winemaking for thousands of years. While it's far from new, the last two decades have seen the grape step into the global spotlight as vines emerge around the globe - from the Barossa Valley to Xinjiang, Finger Lakes and Marlborough and more. McLaren Vale winemaker Hugh Hamilton confesses to being “obsessed” by saperavi, telling Gourmet Traveller online, “I love the variety … It grabbed me from the moment I tasted it.”

On November 11, winemakers—including Mary Hamilton (CEO of Hugh Hamilton Wines, Australia), Loris Tartaglia (Chief Winemaker, Pu Chang, China), Zeinulla Kakimzhanov (Winemaker & CEO, Arba Winery, Kazakhstan), Lado Uzunashvili (winemaker and owner at Mukado Wines, Georgia) and others —gathered in Shanghai, together with critics and experts like Editor-in-Chief of Meiningers Wine Business International magazine, Felcity Carter, to discuss Saperavi's bright prospects, both present and future. The world's first International Saperavi Symposium, hosted by myself and Meiburg Wine Media in partnership with ProWine China, explored this special grape in comparison to noble red varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot.

Uzunashvili believes Saperavi is Georgia's most important variety, both in quality and quantity. “Saperavi is a survivor that shares many characteristics with noble varieties,” he said.

Uzunashvili is an 11th generation winemaker who studied in Moscow before seeking research opportunities abroad. His search lead him to Australia (where he introduced Hamilton to Saperavi), France, Morocco, Ukraine, Italy and Japan (Vinepair). He now shares his time between his home in Adelaide and Georgia.

Like other winemaking countries, Georgia is far from immune to the growing issue of climate change, which Uzunashvili says presents itself in the form of a drier, hotter climate with decreased rainfall.

While Bordeaux has addressed its climate challenge by introducing Five new grape varieties, Uzunashvili has taken what he has learned in Australia's hot, dry climate conditions and is adapting it to Georgia (Vinepair).

MWM's half-day Saperavi Symposium was attended by around 70 media, education and trade delegates, and concluded with a comparative tasting of 17 global Saperavis in styles from both traditional and unexpected wine countries, including Australia (which is thiugh to have around 30 producers working with Saperavi at the moment), China, USA, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Moldova and of course, Georgia. UK-based wine writer and critic Robert Joseph said of Saperavi “I don't think saperavi wears a suit very easily； I don't think it wears a tie. It has a wildness； a wine with its hair down,” he said.

During the tasting, panellists and audience members were treated to Saperavi styles that spanned the spectrum from a “fresh” 2017 Dr. Konstantin Frank, USA that occupies the space “between white and red,” said Joseph, through to fruit-driven, balanced style ‘The Squid' from Billy Button, Australia. Cassidy Dart MW captured the variety's variations perfectly, describing Chelti Winery's 2008 Saperavi as, “A lovely wine, like an older pinot noir,” whereas Mukado's 2017 Saperavi-Shavkapito blend is, “Dark, rustic, earthy and wild.”

The tasting capped off what was an extremely ecumenical event, with an internationally renowned panel of experts and wines. Instead of ‘Watch this space,' it's more like ‘Where to next?' as Saperavi continues its gradual march across the globe, from vine to glass.