MW阿伦·格里菲斯
波尔多期酒周品饮笔记Part-1
I arrived this evening in Bordeaux. The plane from London was full of the British wine trade and a large number of journalists, all ready to taste the new vintage. We have heard that 2016 is an EXCEPTIONAL vintage in Bordeaux so tomorrow we begin to find out as the tastings start.
我于今晚（四月二号）抵达波尔多。从伦敦起飞的这架飞机上坐满了英国的葡萄酒贸易商以及一大堆的记者，大家都迫不及待地想要去品鉴期酒。已经有传闻说2016年将会是波尔多一个伟大的年份，所以明天让我们拭目以待。
Tonight I had a friendly family dinner in the private house of the family of Jacques Thienpont, owner of the great Pomerol estate called Le Pin. This estate produces only 500 cases per year but is on the same quality level as Ch Petrus. I ate with Jacques, his Scottish wife, Fiona, who is a Master of Wine, their son Georges, their UK distributor Mark Walford, and two writers, both Masters of Wine, Jancis Robinson and Rebecca Gibb.
我们在波美侯地区的葡萄园中传奇：“里鹏庄园”的庄主Jacques Thienpont先生家里进行了一场友人间的家宴。这个庄园每年仅生产500箱酒且酒质能与柏翠庄园相媲美。我与里鹏庄园的庄主Jacques先生一起共享了晚宴，还有他的苏格兰妻子：Fiona女士，她同样也是一个葡萄酒大师，他们的儿子Georges，他们英国市场的分销商Mark Walford，还有两位葡萄酒大师，同时也是作家： Jancis Robinson以及Rebecca Gibb。
We ate fabulous French oysters, chicken from the Basque region, superb cheese and fruit tarts to finish. We drank Sparkling Vouvray from the Loire, Pouilly Fuisse 2014 from Burgundy, a lovely Bairrada wine from Portugal made with the Baga grape, then a fantastic White Hermitage 2007 from the legendary Chave estate, and finally a Jurancon to accompany the dessert.
席间我们享用了美味的法国生蚝，来自巴斯克地区的鸡肉，超美味的奶酪以及水果塔甜点作为美好的结尾。我们喝了来自于卢瓦河的沃伏莱起泡酒，来自勃艮第的2014年份的普伊-富赛，一款来自葡萄牙比拉达产区出产的单宁特强的巴加红酒，一款令人感到惊艳的来自于罗纳河谷教皇新堡产区路易.沙夫酒庄的艾米塔基白葡萄酒并以一款朱朗松搭配甜点作为结尾。
A fabulous, intimate family dinner on a Sunday night in Pomerol.Work begins tomorrow!
一个在波美侯享受的惬意且美好的周日夜晚。明天要开始工作啦！
Well, Bordeaux certainly has an outstanding vintage on its hands this year. Visiting the region in the first week of April I was met by confident, smiling producers who eagerly anticipate the arrival of the world’s buyers and press to taste the new vintage.
毋庸置疑地说，波尔多今年一定会是个出色的年份。四月的第一周我拜访了这个城市，遇到了自信满满面带微笑的葡萄酒生产者们，正迫不及待地等待着来自于全世界买家们的到来，一起品尝新年份的佳酿。
As always, the key factor which determines the quality of the wine is the weather, and for the first half of 2016 the growers felt they were facing a catastrophe. Rainfall from January-June was extremely high, and not only did this cause concern about the flowering but also created conditions for outbreaks of mildew and rot. Fortunately the weather changed dramatically at the end of June and the next three months were incredibly dry.
一如既往地，决定着葡萄酒质量的关键因素是天气。对于大多数的种植者而言，大家都觉得2016年上半年的天气状况简直就是一场灾难。上半年1-6月的降雨量非常高，这让酒农们不得不开始对开花的担忧 ，因为这样的气候条件为霉菌和腐败的爆发提供了条件。而幸运的是，在六月底的时候天气发生了巨大的变化，在接下来的三个月里持续着令人难以置信的干旱。
Usually a drought of this nature is also a big problem, as the plants could shut down from lack of water, causing the grapes to shrivel on the vine. However, the heavy rains in the first half of the year meant that the water table was quite high, and a welcome burst of rain around September 12th helped to re-start the growing process and ripening continued for the next month. Because the weather conditions were fine into October the growers could choose exactly when to pick their grapes, waiting until they had achieved perfect maturity.
通常来说在自然界干旱会是个巨大的麻烦，葡萄树可能因为缺水，而导致葡萄在藤上枯萎。然而，得益于上半年的大量雨水使得地下水位相当高，而在9月12日的那场暴雨使得葡萄们能够重新生长并且在下个月持续的成熟。而十月份的天气条件非常的好，使得种植者们可以选择最佳的时机采摘葡萄，而葡萄也能够达到完美的成熟度。
The outcome therefore is a good-sized crop of healthy fruit. Because of the drought the berries are quite small, but this gives intensely concentrated juice and a high percentage of tannins. The key factor with regard to tannins, however, is that they are ripe tannins, not astringent. This gives the wines a silkiness on the palate. Acidities are correct, and with alcohol levels a bit lower than 2010 or 2015 the wines have an amazing freshness. There is great concentration and intensity, but not the heaviness we might expect from such a growing season.
而这一切良好因素所带来的，则是大小刚刚合适而又健康的葡萄。由于干旱的原因葡萄会生长得比较小，这使得葡萄汁得到了最大程度的集中并且拥有高比例的单宁。而单宁的关键因素，在于它是否成熟，而不是生青般的涩味。这使得葡萄酒入口非常的顺滑，酸度适宜，而酒精度又比2010年或是2015年份的酒精度更低从而拥有着令人惊艳的新鲜度。16年的酒集中度与饱满度都非常不错，而来自于这样的生长季节使得其酒体又不会太沉重。
In summary, these are wines of density, concentration and great finesse, delicious and easy to taste now because of the ripe tannins. The tannins and balance will ensure them of a long life, but their charm and ripeness will also ensure that some can be enjoyed quite young.
Now we await the key next step, the prices!
总而言之，得益于成熟的单宁， 使得葡萄酒拥有极好的饱满度，集中度以及优雅的酒体，口感优雅且容易入口。平衡度以及单宁的特性将确保其陈年的潜力，而它们充满魅力的酒体以及良好的成熟度将使得其如果在年轻的时候享用也将非常不错。
现在让我们拭目以待下一步吧， 万众瞩目的期酒价格！
Alun's PRIMEURS 2016 TASTING PROGRAM
Day2：MONDAY APRIL 3th 2017
Morning : SILENT TASTING AT THE HANGAR 14 (Bordeaux)
12.00AM : DOMAINE DE CHEVALIER + LUNCH
2：00PM :CHATEAU HAUT- BAILLY
2：45PM : CHATEAU SMITH HAUT LAFITTE
3：45PM : CHATEAU Pape Clement
4：45PM : HAUT BRION / MISSION HAUT BRION
周一/03042017
上午：波尔多HANGAR14长廊品鉴会（波尔多市中心）
12 :00AM：骑士庄园 + 午餐（波尔多左岸佩萨克-雷奥良产区）
2 :00PM ： 高柏丽酒庄（波尔多左岸佩萨克-雷奥良产区）
2：45PM :史密斯拉菲特酒庄（波尔多左岸佩萨克-雷奥良产区）
3：45PM :克莱蒙教皇堡（波尔多左岸佩萨克-雷奥良产区）
4：45PM :侯伯王 酒庄（波尔多左岸佩萨克-雷奥良产区）
周一的早晨我出发去了波尔多市中心的Hangar14长廊，它坐落在吉隆特河畔，这里进行这一场由波尔多列级酒庄联盟组织的来自于波尔多各大产区不同的100多款葡萄酒的品鉴会。
I tasted dry whites, sweet whites, St Emilion, Pomerol, Pessac Leognan and all the major appellations of the Medoc. Two hours later I am on my way to the Pessac Leognan region, south of Bordeaux, to taste the top 5 chateaux from this appellation. Domaine de Chevalier, scene of the best lunch of the week, then Haut Bailly, Smith Haut Lafitte, Pape Clement and finally to the great pair of Haut Brion and La Mission Haut Brion.
我品鉴了一些干白，甜白，圣爱美隆，波美侯，贝萨克雷奥良，以及来自于梅多克的一些葡萄酒。两小时后我出发去了贝萨克雷奥良产区，坐落在波尔多的南边，我拜访了这个产区最顶尖的五家酒庄：我去了骑士庄园享用午餐，然后去了高柏丽，史密斯拉菲特以及克莱蒙教皇堡酒庄，其后去了侯伯王与美讯酒庄。
All of these produced marvellous red wines, bursting with concentrated fruit, but not at all heavy and not burdened with excessivealcohol.
Later the same evening I went back to Haut Brion for dinner. The owner of Haut Brion, Prince Robert of Luxembourg, purchased a St Emilion a few years ago, which is now called Quintus, Latin word for 5th, because it is the 5th wine produced by this team.
这些酒庄生产的红葡萄酒都让人感到惊艳，果香浓郁，酒体不会太重也不会有过高的酒精度。当天晚上我回到侯伯王享用晚宴，侯伯王的主人，卢森堡王子罗伯特，他在几年前购买了圣爱美隆的一个酒庄：昆图斯酒庄，拉丁文的意思是第五，因为这是由这个团队制作的第五款酒。
VATS is about to launch an exclusive wine under the Alun’s Choice banner , called simply St Emilion, a delicious, Merlot-based wine of softness and class, and I was able to see the first bottle to come off the bottling line .
A long day, but a lot of lovely wines tasted and a good impression of the vintage established.
华致即将会在阿伦选的产品线旗下添加这一款葡萄酒，来自圣爱美隆产区，以美乐葡萄品种为主，酒体柔顺而优雅，很荣幸的在这里我看到了酒庄送过来的从灌装线拿过来的第一瓶酒。
漫长的一天，我品尝到了非常多有意思的葡萄酒并对它们充满了期待。
Bordeaux landscape along the river. This is the old Maritime Bourse.
波尔多市中心沿河而建，这个建筑是老的海事贸易局。
UGC Tasting at Hangar 14.在Hangar14走廊由UGC组织的品鉴会现场
Tasting and lunch at Domaine de Chevalier骑士酒庄的品鉴会与午宴
CH .Haut Bailly, which made a great wine this year.高柏丽酒庄今年做出了非常伟大的酒。
Me and the Rudebeck father and son from negociants Beyerman, with a party of Scandinavians outside Ch Haut Bailly.与友人们在高柏丽酒庄的合照。
The red carpet to welcome guests at Ch Pape Clement.克莱蒙教皇堡欢迎嘉宾的红毯.
ERIC Lamorrla from Ch Lafaurie Peyraguey.
来自于Chateau Lafaurie Peyraguey的Eric先生
Tasting at La Mission Haut Brion在美讯酒庄的品鉴会
Wine dinner at Ch Haut brion， with a bottle of CH Quintus。在侯伯王的晚宴，拿着昆图斯葡萄酒。
With Jean-Philippe Delmas, Director of Haut Brion and the other properties in the same ownership. 与帝龙世家首席酿酒师菲利普-德尔马斯先生的合影。
To Be Continue...
