时间：2022-10-03 12:18:34
At the gala dinner for La Paulée de New York， the city’s biannual Burgundy party， organizer Daniel Johnnes described why he loves Burgundy by contrasting it to Bordeaux. Bordeaux chateau owners are elitists who wear scarves at their necks and fine gloves， he said， while Burgundy is about farmers with dirt under their fingernails and thick， purple-stained hands. The implication， of course， was that Bordeaux is full of tweed-jacketed aristocrats who hire others to make their expensive luxury“products，” while in Burgundy， “real”people， passionate about their patches of terroir， make “authentic” wines.
The audience hooted its approval and， at my table， added chuckles and more anti-Bordeaux slurs. I put that down to the presence of 35 Burgundian vintners and 1，000 or so bottles of their very best wines， many of which had been drained by that point.
But the negative attitude toward Bordeaux is one I’ve been hearing a lot recently， from sommeliers， bloggers， writers， and consumers， especially in New York， who bash the region with complaints about its exorbitant prices and perceived greed， its supposed slavish devotion to critics’ ratings， the current style of its wines， and much more. Some have suggested that younger drinkers no longer care about Bordeaux； Wine Spectator’s James Laube， in his “A Farewell to Bordeaux”column last September， wrote that it’s“a style of wine that no longer holds the same allure for me that it once did” and that he’s looking elsewhere for “enticing wine experiences.”
Bordeaux boring？ What happened to the region that used to be considered the sine qua non of the fine-wine world？ Does this storied region， with its long history of great， ageworthy wines， really need defending？ Apparently， in today’s wine world， in some quarters it does.
Let me be honest： I’ve occasionally bashed Bordeaux. But then， I’m a critic. I have no hesitation in declaring that Bordeaux remains one of the greatest wine regions in the world， with quality， tradition， and an immensely important history. Bordeaux educated the entire world about wine and taught it that wine could age； its trade with the English forced it to look outward， early on， spreading the word of its wines globally. Bordeaux is to wine “what the Middle East is for civilization，”said John Gilman， who publishes the newsletter View from the Cellar.
Moreover， its reds are still the benchmark against which other Cabernets and Cabernet/Merlot blends are measured. Much as I have reveled in some great wines based on these grapes from elsewhere， nothing I’ve tasted from the New World has come close to the peaks of Bordeaux I’ve had the pleasure of tasting： 1900 Margaux， 1947 Cheval Blanc， 1961 Palmer， 1982 Lafleur， and 1989 Haut Brion are a few of the most recognized， but there have been many others. Those are the kinds of wines that “carve their initials on your brain，” to borrow a phrase from wine writer Mike Steinberger. To me， the taste of the most stellar Bordeaux is nearly architectural in structure， like a Bach fugue. Surely that must be part of why drinking them stimulates analysis and thought. It’s as if there’s an intellectual element in their balance of aromas and flavors that no other region comes close to sharing. Even Bordeaux’s more modest wines can demonstrate the balance of scent and savor， fruit and depth， tannin and acidity， which allow evolution in the glass at table， as well as in the longcellared bottle.
But， says Greene， high-end restaurants l i k e N e w Y o r k’s D a n i e l a n d Philadelphia’s Le Bec Fin are still selling Bordeaux， even though the customers who order them tend to be “older.” Several New York City restaurant wine directors regularly tell me their Bordeaux drinkers “have gray hair.” Last year， leaders of Bordeaux’s wine council （CIVB） acknowledged the wines had lost market share， with many wines disappearing from wine lists and retail shelves. Their solution suggested eliminating the lowest level of basic Bordeaux， much of which is straightforward and simple， and concentrating on marketing the rest into the categories “Art， Exploration， and Fun.”
波尔多，一位过气的“情人”？
在亚洲部分地区，消费者对波尔多趋之若鹜，但它在美国却不那么受欢迎。美国有本杂志叫《葡萄酒与烈酒》（Wine and Spirits），它每年会在各大饭店进行调查，目前已经办了二十多年。以它为掠影，我们可以看看波尔多葡萄酒在美国的销售现状。此调查根据每个饭店最后一季度最叫卖的十种酒为依据，排位第一的给10分，最后一位给1分，然后将各家饭店的数据列表汇总起来，最终得出结果。
2010年但凡跻身进入名单的法国葡萄酒里波尔多只占了12%；而在2006年是19.1%，这与1994年相同。不仅如此，据该杂志编辑Joshua Greene统计，波尔多酒的饭店报价在2010年只有每瓶100～188美元；而在经济萧条之前的2007年，每瓶波尔多售价在200～700美元。
Greene曾在电话里和我说：“从前顾客点波尔多酒是为了证明自己的成功，但现在不再如此。”由于价格因素，人们愿意尝试别的；但据这项调查显示，他们并未青睐较低价格的波尔多，而是选择了像卢瓦尔河谷这类新地区所产的酒。在调查结果中，卢瓦尔河谷于2000年占到了法国葡萄酒的10.4%（用法国葡萄品种酿制的葡萄酒一般被列为法国葡萄酒），但2010年增长到17.8%。这里一个重要的原因是梅乐的“失宠”（梅乐是波尔多的重要品种，以其果香而闻名），从1997年到2010年，它由15.6%降到了可怜的2.9%。
但Greene又说，波尔多在高档饭店里还是有售的，不过顾客都年龄偏“老”。在纽约有些饭店的主管也常告诉我类似经历：点波尔多的顾客“两鬓花白”。就在一年前，波尔多葡萄酒协会（CIVB）也承认市场份额的萎缩，许多酒已经从饭店菜单和商店货架上消失了。他们建议砍掉最低端的波尔多，因为这些酒大多工艺简单，而剩下那些则以“艺术、探索、乐趣”之名加以开发。
Not-just-luxe
Fun？ Well， why not？ As the CIVB never tires of pointing out， one of Bordeaux’s greatest strengths （and weaknesses） is diversity， with 60 appellations， 117，500ha （290，350 acres） of vineyards， 8，650 growers， and good wines at different price points―from $10， to more than $1，000. The largest appellation contr？lée region in France， it pumps out 661 million bottles annually.
Yet the media image of Bordeaux is one of rare wines at prices unaffordable to all but the wealthy. That’s largely because the headlines， publicity， reviews， and coverage of Bordeaux in wine magazines and elsewhere focus primarily on 30 or so trophy names from seven appellations that make up a tiny proportion of the region’s wines. Pictures of grand chateaux on the Left Bank make the region look aristocratic and off limits to the unconnected.
Ralph Sands， the Bordeaux specialist at K&L Wine Merchants in the San Francisco Bay Area， says the perception that Bordeaux is a rich person’s game scares away younger buyers， even though it’s easier than ever to find amazing values―even under $15―especially from lesserknown appellations such as C？tes de Castillon， Lalande de Pomerol， or Moulis. Even crus classés can be had for as little as $25. “When they try the wines，” says Sands， “they’re surprised by how good they are.”
“但品质是实实在在的”，法国伊夫莫酒业集团（YvonMau）批发总监PhilippeLaquèche这么说。作为全法第三大酒业集团，伊夫莫计划将十种产自petitchateau的精品带入美国市场。“我们不用担心波尔多的知名度，但什么酒受欢迎必须由消费者来决定。”
目前全球消费贫富差距悬殊，而波尔多恰恰反映了这点。处于市场两级的顶级酒与低端酒分化愈演愈烈，中间价位的葡萄酒越来越少；大部分消费者都在一个双层面型的经济状态中煎熬。美国亿万富豪StephenAdams在波尔多右岸买过六小块土地，但后来除了圣爱美浓产区的枫嘉庄园（ChateauFonplégade）和波美侯产区的朗克洛庄园（L’Enclos），其他都已出手。“就算你设法提升了品质，你也无法让每瓶酒只卖2～3欧元的庄园来赚钱，”他曾亲口和我这么说。法新社早在11年6月这么报道：买一瓶拉图的钱够买1200瓶普通波尔多。
Maximum commercial opportunism？
Every spring， as I drive madly around Bordeaux to sip and spit barrel samples at the circus of the en primeur tastings， the talk always seems to come back to today’s price levels.
When the futures prices were released for the 2009 vintage last year， a chorus of moans could be heard throughout the trade. The fact that a case of the 2009 Lafite―still unbottled at the time―sold for $68，637， or more than $5，000 a bottle， at Sotheby’s October 2010 Hong Kong auction says it all.
The skyrocketing prices for a handful of top wines are the result of a combination of factors. One， of course， is simply the law of supply and demand at work. If only a finite amount of a particular wine can be made and demand increases， prices rise. The fast-growing Asian interest in Bordeaux in the past few years has certainly helped push them up. In the late 1990s， the futures release price for first growths was double that of the second growths； now， the figure is five to ten times that.
The rise in global wealth in the 1990s and 2000s， with the number of billionaires worldwide now topping 1，200， has meant many new buyers willing to pay whatever it costs for what they perceive as the very best. This is partly why we seem to be in the “era of maximum commercial opportunism，” as Jancis Robinson MW put it in a recent Financial Times column.
The question， of course， is what we expect chateau owners to do about this. If some consumers are prepared to pay $1，000 and up for a bottle of Chateau Lafite as futures， do we really expect Baron Eric de Rothschild to sell it for less， as if he were in business for the purpose of subsidizing financially strained wine lovers？
Price increases are exacerbated in part because of the unique way the top names in Bordeaux are sold through La Place de Bordeaux. Selling futures， it can be argued， encourages speculation. Once a useful method for providing chateaux with needed cash flow， it’s now a hyped-up marketing machine， helped along by scores from critic Robert Parker and others. Firstgrowth chateaux regularly release their wine in several tranches， each time raising the price. Yes， this is partly a matter of ego and partly a way to create more demand. But it’s also a way to reap some of the financial benefits they once saw going to négociants.
Are they worth it？
So what if some Bordeaux now cost far， far more than most wine lovers can afford？ In truth， the top wines from any wine region are pretty expensive now， whether a Napa Cabernet， a Barolo from Piemonte， or a grand cru Burgundy.
Yes， I wish that first growths like Chateau Latour or Haut-Brion were in my price range. On taste alone， frankly， I’m not convinced that Margaux is worth three to four times the price of Palmer， for example， and I find real pleasure from lesserknown crus classés. Still， there are discernible increments in quality at the top end of the Bordeaux scale， because the chateaux can afford to do whatever it takes to put quality first and， as Paul Pontallier told me，“buyers of first growths now expect perfection.”
Emmanuel Cruse， whose family owns third growth Chateau d’Issan， explained： “The cost of making great wine goes up and up. A new tractor costs 00，000， insurance against hail is 0，000 a year.” In May， 2009， he lost 80 percent of his crop to hail， and insurance covered about only a sixth of the loss. Still， in spring 2011， his 2009 costs only about $65 as a future.
Estimates on what it actually costs to produce a bottle of top Bordeaux vary from $20 to $50 a bottle. La Revue du Vin de France suggested in 2008 that for Pétrus the amount was 0 （about$42）. That prompted Alain Dominique Perrin， owner of Chateau Lagrézette in Cahors and former head of the world’s second-largest luxury group， Groupe Richemont， to remark that chateaux pricing bottles of Bordeaux at 00 was “immoral.’ （His own top cuvée sells for $140.）
Yet at the first-growth level， spending more money on production means it’s possible to get more money for the final product. Higher quality， plus the image that accrues to it， results in higher prices and more profit， which equals the ability to spend more to improve the vineyards and equip the cellar， eschew all shortcuts， and buy better marketing， which brings in still more money， and on and on and on.
At least the Bordelais do sometimes lower their prices in “less good”vintages and adjust to the world financial situation， as in 2008. California cult Cabs， on the other hand， are largely untethered to realities of weather and economics. Only a few lowered prices during the recession―and most increase even in weak vintages.
顶级酒是否物有所值？
虽然有些波尔多价格远远超出普通爱酒者的承受能力，但事实上任何其他地区的顶级葡萄酒都是十分昂贵的，这里面包括美国纳帕谷的“解百纳”（Napa Cabernet，因制造身价不亚于波尔多的膜拜酒而出名；人们习惯把纳帕谷解百纳酿制的膜拜酒称为California Cult Cab）、意大利皮埃蒙特的“巴罗洛”（Barolo，用内比奥洛葡萄Nebbiolo酿制；醇厚浓郁，被誉为意大利葡萄酒之王），当然还有勃艮第的列级庄园酒。
笔者也希望拉图或奥比良那些波尔多一级名庄的葡萄酒价格更为合理。但就品尝而言，我倒不认为玛歌（与拉菲、拉图、奥比良以及木桐并列为五大名庄）的品质真值宝马的三到四倍。同样都是列级庄园，那些名气稍弱的庄园一样拥有令人陶醉的佳酿。一级庄园无视成本而达到的最高品质虽然难得，但其定位仅仅针对顶级消费者，他们追求完美无瑕。
EmmanuelCruse来自迪仙庄园（Chateaud’Issan），这是个三级庄园。据他所说，制酒成本如今越来越高：买一部全新的拖拉机要花30万欧元，自然灾害险每年2万欧元；2009年5月，冰雹将其80%的种植物破外，保单仅承保六分之一的损失，但这个年份的酒在2011年春季的期酒报价中只有65美元。
一瓶顶级波尔多的成本约计在20～50美元。《葡萄酒评论》（LaRevueduVindeFrance）曾于2008年估算伯翠庄园（Pétrus）为每瓶42美元，当时拉格泽特庄园（ChateauLagrézette）的AlainDominiquePerrin就表示波尔多500欧元一瓶的定价是“不道德”的。作为世界第二大奢侈品集团历峰集团（RichemontGroup）的前任总裁，他自己庄园最好的葡萄酒只卖140美元。
对一级庄园来说，高品质加无形价值能够创造更大的利润空间。他们用更多成本来改良葡萄园和酒窖，坚持不走捷径，在市场上投入更大。但这样的回报也更为丰厚，并能保持增长。而对于品质未能达到“最完美”的产品，他们有时也会降低价格以适应经济环境（比如2008年全球范围的经济萧条）。反倒是纳帕谷的膜拜酒，它们很少受自然或市场状况的影响。在本世纪初经济萧条年代，大部分制造膜拜酒的品牌非但不降价，还抬高品质较差的产品。
Taste and style
Then there’s the fashionable charge that the style of Bordeaux wines has changed over the past 15 years or so―that many are overmanipulated， lack traditional “authenticity，” and have lost the refreshing character and finesse that so distinguishes Bordeaux. That idea gained cachet during the heyday of the garagewine movement that started on the Right Bank in the mid-1990s， when a handful of rebels sought to compensate for their sometimes less“grand’ terroir by harvesting superripe grapes， using hot fermentations and 200 percent new oak to produce super-extracted， over-the-top wines in tiny quantities. They sold for extraordinary prices， thanks to high scores they received from Robert Parker. Some chateaux are still producing bigger， riper， oaky wines， trading elegance for power， but many， such as chateaux Magdaleine， Figeac， Léoville Barton， and Montrose， are not. Today， I see fewer concentrators and reverse-osmosis machines at work， and more people paying attention to their vineyards， mapping soil plots， and embracing biodynamics.
波尔多的“味道”
时下流行一种说法，它指责波尔多在近15年里因过度沉溺于工艺上的改良而使葡萄酒丧失了原有的味道，那种曾经只有波尔多才拥有的清新与细腻已荡然无存。这一说法在上世纪90年代中期横扫右岸的车库酒风潮中就已被认可，当时一批想法激进的庄园主为了弥补土壤条件的先天不足，通过热发酵和使用加倍的橡木来酿制高品质的葡萄酒；这种葡萄酒产量较小，通常在微型酒庄经过高度萃取而得，故被称为“车库酒”（garage wine）。当时最具影响力的酒评家Robert Parker给与极高评分，因此车库酒卖得很贵。车库酒的技术现在仍被某些庄园沿用，他们的葡萄酒酒体沉重，味感更为醇厚，还带着橡木的味道；但这类以牺牲层次来增强口味的做法却并未得到多数酒庄的采纳。事实上，我们今天很少看到酒庄使用浓缩机和反渗透机，更多的波尔多人将注意力集中在葡萄园的栽培上，他们积极规划土壤，拥护天象观测的自然耕作法则。
No romance and soul？
There are thousands of individual stories in the wine world， but only a couple of general narrative types. The one that holds the most emotional appeal for many wine lovers in the USA is the romantic one， where the unpretentious， passionate owner of a small family-owned domaine makes great wine in the most natural way possible. He wants people to enjoy it， so he doesn’t even charge as much as he could.
I love that story， too， especially the last part. Who wouldn’t？ It’s more fun to think about dedicated farmers than wealthy industrialists， cold-hearted bankers， or a corporation running a wine estate. It’s the kind of story that’s always contrasted with the big bad industrial producer who is pumping out dubious plonk or the corporation taking over a fabled property and turning its wines into luxury brands in order to maximize profits.
The newspaper SudOuest recently published a list of the ten richest people in France， pointing out that five of them own Bordeaux chateaux： Bernard Arnault， Fran？ois Pinault， Serge Dassault， Alain and Gerard Wertheimer， Martin and Olivier Bouygues. They―and corporate owners like AXA Millésimes―treat their estates like the trophy properties they are. They want to produce great wine and aim for it every year.
Gilman sees a dual dynamic in Bordeaux， with some chateaux following their historic legacy and others making luxury cuvées that remind him of vinous Lamborghinis. Part of the taste and style backlash， he says， has to do with the luxury cuvée image.
Many who bring all these accusations against Bordeaux see Burgundy as the complete opposite： anti-snob， terroir-driven wines. Of course， at La Paulée， I’m sitting with Erwan Faiveley， whose father at that moment was sailing across the Atlantic with half a dozen of his fellow Burgundian vintners on board his 65ft （20m） yacht Glenn Gould III. The elder Faiveley， who is also head of a very large and successful heavy-engineering firm， is hardly a peasant.
Felix Salmon recently wrote a blog post raging against “the kind of wine snobs who will sniff and swirl and spit a wine， but not swallow it， and declare with all the puffed-up authority they can muster that it will be drinking well from 2017 through 2027.” His claim is that liking old wine is really a snob’s game， because you have to be able to afford a large collection of wine and store it properly for decades.
He also believes that “vintage wine is becoming more out of reach for the middle class， with fine Burgundy and Bordeaux now an international commodity beloved of wine investment funds.’’ To be fair， however， the number of those wines that are the subject of his blast is very， very small. There are still plenty of well-made Bordeaux that can be bought for modest prices， even among the crus classés. The trick is to find them in a market that continues to ignore them. Maybe that’s why Daniel Johnnes， despite his La Paulée Bordeauxbashing， is even now importing a dozen petits chateaux.
“浪漫”与“激情”，孰真孰假？
在美酒的世界里，个人故事不胜枚举，但够格被人广为流传的却为数不多。对众多美国粉丝来说，富浪漫色彩的传奇最能打动人心：一个热血而低调的小型世袭葡萄园主以最不起眼的自然之法酿造出伟大的美酒；他只要人们分享他的成果，却不牟取过多的利益。
我也爱听这样的故事，尤其是后半段。谁不会这样呢？比起富有的工业家、冷漠的银行家、独立运营酒庄的公司，那些热忱执着的农夫们更让人神往。这类故事总是带有针对性质，哪里有滥竽充数的败类制造商，或是自居拥有神奇土地并趁机打造奢侈品牌以牟暴利的企业，哪里就有这样的故事。
《西南产区报》（西南产区，即SudOuest，法国最古老的葡萄产区，据称远在公元前一世纪就种植葡萄）最近公布了一份名单，上面有全法最富有的十个人，而其中五人都拥有波尔多庄园。他们视土地为优质遗产，欲每年从中丰收获利。
在John Gilman眼里（View from the Cellar出版人，文中开头有提），波尔多的风貌是双面型的：一些庄园信奉传统，而另一些致力于打造兰博基尼式的酒中尊品。他认为，波尔多的口味被人诟病，与那些奢侈品葡萄酒不无关联。
而那些质问波尔多的人将勃艮第视为截然相反的正面教材：没有浮躁、原汁原味的葡萄酒。回想纽约的葆丽葡萄酒盛会，与我同席入座的Erwan Faiveley，其父当时正在自己65英尺长的豪华游艇Glenn Gould三世上与一群勃艮第酒商跨游大西洋。他可不是什么农夫，而是一家响铛铛的重型机械制造公司的老总。
记者Felix Salmon最近在一条博客上怒骂：“有种势利小人品酒的时候闻一闻、晃一晃、看似快咽进去了却又吐回嘴里。然后，他以权威的姿态向人保证，这种酒最佳饮用当在2017年至2027年间。”在他认为，欣赏有了年份的酒就是趋炎附势者的游戏，因为这么做要有丰富的收藏和足够的资历，所以自以为是。
他还认为，有年份的葡萄酒离中产阶级越走越远，那些精致的勃艮第和波尔多都成为投资的新宠。笔者必须指出，Felix Salmon怒斥的那些葡萄酒其实数量极为有限，事实上波尔多多数佳酿价格适中，甚至有些列级庄园的葡萄酒也卖得不贵。面对我们的挑战是，整个市场一直都在忽略这类“平民”佳酿的存在，但我们要想办法挖掘出来。也许这也正是为何纽约葆丽葡萄酒盛会组织人Daniel Johnnes先生一边在骂波尔多，另一边却自己买进了一打小波尔多庄园酒。