文|Tersina Shieh 編、譯|張?zhí)裎?/p>

霍克斯灣就像一顆滄海遺珠，下一次當(dāng)你拜訪新西蘭時(shí)，在這里停留幾天吧，相信我，你一定不會(huì)失望的。

上一次到訪吉布利特礫石區(qū)是3年前的2015年，我在和諧酒莊進(jìn)行采收工作，但由于只有3周時(shí)間，所以在葡萄全部采摘完畢后，我就離開了。今年釀酒之旅的時(shí)間有所延長(zhǎng)，此時(shí)重游和諧酒莊再合適不過，這次我主要負(fù)責(zé)采收后的工作。采摘完最后一批赤霞珠后的兩天，我就到了酒莊。

葡萄采摘后仍有大量的工作需要完成，尤其是紅葡萄品種。我的工作包括壓酒帽、壓榨葡萄、大量的換桶、橡木桶工作以及混釀測(cè)試。這些工作并不忙碌但是需要大量的學(xué)習(xí)—發(fā)酵后的浸漬時(shí)間應(yīng)該持續(xù)多久，什么時(shí)候進(jìn)行壓榨，混釀時(shí)希望獲得什么，如何有效地?cái)囃啊磺泄ぷ鞫荚谧鹁吹尼劸茙燁檰栒淠荨ざ嗖忌颓f主菲利普·霍恩的指導(dǎo)下進(jìn)行。

和諧酒莊是一家精品酒莊，今年釀酒葡萄只有40多噸。在小酒莊工作與在大酒莊完全不同。前者會(huì)更加輕松，因?yàn)橐磺械囊?guī)模都小得多，但這也意味著沒有人可以偷懶。更重要的是，我們必須格外留神，不能犯下任何錯(cuò)誤，以免導(dǎo)致不必要的浪費(fèi)或者是更糟的情況：損失一批葡萄酒。畢竟一升葡萄酒的損失對(duì)于小酒莊來說遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)大于大酒莊。我們甚至?xí)褬颖居嘁悍呕毓?桶中，而不是把它們倒入排水溝里。我學(xué)會(huì)了更珍惜每一滴葡萄酒。

謝德蘭

釀酒師，有在英國(guó)、葡萄牙、南非等地的釀酒經(jīng)驗(yàn)，獨(dú)立酒評(píng)人。

吉布利特礫石區(qū)是霍克斯灣的子產(chǎn)區(qū)，位于新西蘭北島的東海岸。顧名思義，土壤是由石頭、礫石和沙子混合而成。不像大多數(shù)的藤蔓植物種植區(qū)，吉布利特礫石區(qū)基本上地勢(shì)平坦，這種自由排水的礫石土壤使該地區(qū)能夠生產(chǎn)世界級(jí)的葡萄酒。這里種植著約90%的紅葡萄品種，梅洛占首位，其次是西拉、赤霞珠和其它他波爾多品種。梅洛主導(dǎo)的波爾多混釀是這一產(chǎn)區(qū)的“明珠”，但我認(rèn)為該產(chǎn)區(qū)的西拉非常優(yōu)雅，有涼爽氣候帶來的胡椒特征，夾雜著成熟的深色水果香氣，也是一個(gè)明星品種。取決于生產(chǎn)商的選擇，吉布利特礫石區(qū)西拉的風(fēng)格既可以是芳香撲鼻且年輕時(shí)口感柔和，也可以是純凈優(yōu)雅，令人愉悅并具有陳年潛力。

和諧酒莊西拉的風(fēng)格屬于后者。最近上市的是2013年份酒。菲利普組織了一場(chǎng)西拉葡萄酒的垂直品鑒，從2013年到剛裝瓶的2016年都有，對(duì)我而言這真是太棒了！橡木桶使用情況每年都有些不同，但葡萄酒卻反映了當(dāng)年的氣候條件。2014年和2016年氣候溫暖，兩個(gè)年份的葡萄酒集中度都不錯(cuò)。由于2015年更為涼爽，所以葡萄酒更芳香，口感稍柔和一些。我喜歡2015年份的葡萄酒，或許是因?yàn)槟悄晡覅⒓恿酸劸乒ぷ鳎?/p>

和諧酒莊還用外購(gòu)的葡萄釀造一小部分白葡萄酒。今年有6桶霞多麗葡萄酒，還有一小罐灰皮諾，每隔一天我都要做攪桶工作。由于使用了不同的發(fā)酵技術(shù)，葡萄酒雖然完全不同，但是品質(zhì)都一樣優(yōu)秀。我發(fā)現(xiàn)，和諧酒莊大部分的葡萄酒風(fēng)格都比較內(nèi)斂，這或許是因?yàn)檎淠菰诓柖嗌钜约搬劸埔呀?jīng)近20年了。

My four weeks in McLaren Vale not only allowed me to visit other wineries, but also to explore the region.

The last time I was in Gimblett Gravels was three years ago in 2015 when I did a harvest at Unison Vineyard. I was only there for three weeks and left after all the grapes were picked. Therefore it was fitting that I went back to Unison during my extended winemaking journey but this time for post harvest work. I arrived two days after the last Cabernet Sauvignon was picked.

There is still plenty to do after grapes are picked, especially for red wine. My work included punching down, pressing, lots of racking,barrel work and blending trials. It was less frantic but still heaps to learn - how long should post fermentation maceration last and when to press; what to look for at blending, effective barrel stirring .... all under the guidance of highly-regarded consultant winemaker Jenny Dobson and owner Philip Horn.

Unison is a boutique winery with just over 40 tons of grapes processed this vintage. Working in a small cellar is totally different from working in a bigger one. It is more relaxed because everything is in a much smaller scale but it also means we have no one to pass the jobs to. More importantly, we need to be much more careful not to make any mistakes that may lead to unnecessary wastage or worst,ruin a batch of wine. After all, a litre of wine means a lot more to a small winery than a big one. We even put leftover samples back in tanks/barrels rather than chucking them down to the drain. I learnt to appreciate and save every single drop of wine.

Gimblett Gravels is a sub-region of Hawkes Bay that lies on the east coast of North Island of New Zealand. As the name implies, the soil is composed on a mixture of stones, gravels and sand. Unlike most vine-growing regions, Gimblett Gravels (and in fact most Hawkes Bay) is largely flat but this free-draining gravelly soil enables the region to produce world-class wine. About 90% of vines are red varieties with Merlot leading the pack, followed by Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varieties. Merlot dominated Bordeaux blend is the jewel of the region but I think their Syrah, with the elegant cool climate pepper character combined with ripe dark fruits aromas,is the star. Depending on producers, Gimblett Gravels Syrah can be fruit-forward and accessible when young or refined, savoury with ageing potential.

Unison’s Syrah is of the latter style. Its current release is 2013 vintage. Philip kindly organised a vertical tasting of his Syrah from 2013 to the just bottled 2016 for me and it was fascinating. The oak regime was slightly different in each year but the wine certainly reflected the climatic condition of the year. 2014 and 2016 were warmer and both wines have good concentration while 2015, being a cooler year, resulted in a more fragrant and slightly softer wine. I love the 2015 probably because I was there picking and processing the grapes!

Unison also makes a small amount of white wine from sourced grapes. This year there are six barrels of Chardonnay which I fervently stirred every other day, and a small tank of Pinot Gris. Because of different fermentation techniques, the wines have totally different but equally lovely texture. I found that Unison wine tends to be more restrained in general probably because Jenny has lived and made wine in Bordeaux for some 20 years.