你可能從未聽說過的異域春季佳釀

My favorite spring wine is one that is almost impossible to find. Never mind that it's made all over the world -- France and Italy, Germany and Austria and even California and Oregon. Or that it's refreshing and crisp and even pairs well with so-called 'difficult' foods like asparagus and other green vegetables. It remains woefully obscure -- at least to most American wine drinkers.

我最喜愛的春季時令葡萄酒在市面上芳蹤難覓。這種酒其實世界各地均有釀製（其中包括法國、意大利、德國、奧地利，甚至還有加州和俄勒岡州），而且清新爽口，就連搭配蘆筍及其他綠色蔬菜這類“難搭”食材也是相得益彰。但儘管如此，瞭解這種酒的人還是少得可憐——至少美國大多數葡萄酒愛好者都對其一無所知。

Silvaner (or Sylvaner as it's known in France and parts of Italy) is a white grape originally grown in Austria, where little of it is planted these days. It has the poor fortune of growing in many of the same wine regions as other, more illustrious and more popular grapes. It flourishes in the Alsace region of France, where it's all but overshadowed by Riesling and Gewurztraminer. It's grown in Italy's Alto Adige, but so are lots of more attention-grabbing grapes, like Pinot Grigio. It has the distinction of being the flagship grape of Germany's Franken region, but how many people talk about the great wines of Franken?

這種酒就是西萬尼（Silvaner，或稱 Sylvaner，法國和意大利部分地區採用這種拼法）。西萬尼是一種原產於奧地利的白葡萄，不過現在奧地利已經基本不種這種葡萄了。西萬尼常常不幸與其他更有名、更熱門的葡萄品種生長在相同的葡萄酒產區。西萬尼在法國阿爾薩斯(Alsace )大量種植，但卻在雷司令(Riesling)和瓊瑤漿(Gewurztraminer)的映襯下黯然失色。意大利的上阿迪傑(Alto Adige)種植西萬尼，但當地也有灰皮諾(Pinot Grigio)等許多更搶眼的葡萄品種。在德國的弗蘭肯(Franken)地區，西萬尼是嶄露頭角的主打品種，但又有多少人瞭解弗蘭肯地區的佳釀呢？

I wasn't always so keen on Silvaner. I used to think it was kind of innocuous. (The grape can produce wines that are simple and one-dimensional if the vines aren't old and yields aren't kept low.) But when I tasted a Silvaner made by Ludwig Knoll at Weingut am Stein in Franken a few years ago, I experienced an epiphany of sorts. The Weingut am Stein 2008 'VINZ' old-vine Silvaner was almost Chablis-like in its intensity, with a wonderful mineral quality and a bracing acidity. It was unlike any Silvaner I'd ever had.

我並不是一直都這麼喜歡西萬尼的。我曾經認爲這種葡萄酒有點普通（如果不是採自老藤，產量不限制在較低水平，用西萬尼釀製的葡萄酒口感會比較單一，缺乏層次感）。但當我在幾年前品嚐過弗蘭肯酒莊Weingut am Stein的盧德維格·諾爾(Ludwig Knoll)釀製的一款西萬尼之後，我突然領悟到了西萬尼的真諦。Weingut am Stein 2008年份老藤西萬尼葡萄酒VINZ 幾乎和夏布利酒(Chablis)一樣濃郁，還帶有美妙的礦物質感和宜人的酸度。這款酒和我之前喝過的任何西萬尼都不一樣。

Sadly it seems to have made more of an impression on me than it did on the U.S. market at large. Its Oregon-based importer, Loosen Brothers U.S.A., dropped the wines from Weingut am Stein after three years of trying to sell them. Kirk Wille, the importer's vice president, wrote in an email that Silvaner was just too obscure, and that the educational outreach that his company would have had to mount on behalf of the grape would have been too costly.

遺憾的是，雖然西萬尼給我留下了深刻印象，但在整個美國市場上卻反響平平。總部位於俄勒岡州的進口商Loosen Brothers U.S.A.曾試圖在美國賣這種酒，但在經過三年的努力之後，該公司放棄了Weingut am Stein的葡萄酒。該進口商副總裁柯克·威爾(Kirk Wille)在電子郵件中寫道，西萬尼太沒名氣了，推廣這種葡萄會讓公司付出過高的教育普及費用。

I contacted the winery's head of marketing, Sandra Knoll, to express my regret that her Silvaners were unavailable in the U.S. She replied that the winery was interested in exporting them again, especially since they had been well received by American sommeliers. But she also expressed concern that the 'VINZ' Silvaner had been too pricey for the U.S. market. While it wasn't cheap at $46, it wasn't terribly costly either, considering that many other, less brilliant wines come with much higher price tags. Of course, those wines tend to have the advantage of familiar names, or substantial marketing campaigns.

我聯繫了該酒莊的營銷主管桑德拉·諾爾(Sandra Knoll)，我告訴她，在美國買不到這款葡萄酒讓我感到很遺憾。她回覆說，Weingut am Stein有意恢復對美國的出口，尤其是考慮到西萬尼深受美國侍酒師歡迎。但諾爾也表示，她擔心VINZ西萬尼酒的價格對美國市場來說太貴了。其實，這款售價46美元的酒雖然不算便宜，但也不算太貴，因爲有許多酒品質不如西萬尼，價格卻要高出一大截。當然了，那些葡萄酒也有優勢，它們往往知名度更高，或者營銷力度相當大。

Lesser-known wines have found success thanks to grass-roots work on the part of wine professionals. Take, for example, the way that Gruner Veltliner became a household name after a band of American sommeliers decided it was worthy of attention. Why couldn't a similar group help place Silvaner on the vinous map?

Illustration by Alex Eben Meyer for The Wall Street Journal 在葡萄酒專業人士的普及推廣下，目前已有小衆葡萄酒取得成功的先例。比方說，格魯納綠維特利納(Gruner Veltliner)就是在一羣美國侍酒師認定其有關注價值，並進行推廣普及之後爲人熟知的。那麼，侍酒師爲什麼不能把西萬尼也納入葡萄酒地圖呢？

I turned to Joshua Nadel, the wine director of New York restaurants Locanda Verde, Lafayette and the Dutch. Mr. Nadel is a fan of Silvaner and has one on his wine lists at two of his establishments. Yet he thinks the grape has a few problems 'besides the fact that nobody cares about it,' he said. For starters, he said, it's in the middle of a very crowded and competitive category of 'crisp, minerally, old-world white wines like Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Blanc and Riesling.'

我向在紐約餐館Locanda Verde、Lafayette和The Dutch擔任葡萄酒主管的喬舒亞·納德爾(Joshua Nadel)請教了這個問題。納德爾是西萬尼的擁躉，他把西萬尼列入了其中兩家餐館的酒單。但納德爾表示，他認爲 “除沒人關注之外”，這種葡萄還存在幾個問題。他說，首先，西萬尼“和格魯納綠維特利納、白皮諾(Pinot Blanc)及雷司令一樣，都屬於口感乾爽、帶礦物香的舊大陸白葡萄”，而這一類葡萄品種繁多，競爭激烈。

Another challenge is its packaging -- it's often sold in the fluted green bottles associated with aromatic wines. Some people look at such Silvaner bottles and fear that the contents will be too sweet. And to make matters worse, other Silvaners -- notably those from Franken -- are packaged in squat flagon-shaped bottles called bocksbeutels. It's a silhouette that Americans of a certain age associate with Mateus, the cheap Portuguese wine popular in the '70s.

另一項挑戰來自其包裝——西萬尼通常裝在綠色槽紋酒瓶內出售，會讓人聯想起加香葡萄酒。一些人看到西萬尼的瓶子會擔心裏面的酒太甜。更糟的是，還有一些西萬尼酒（尤其是產自弗蘭肯的西萬尼）裝在一種扁圓的大肚瓶裏。某些年齡段的美國人會把這種形狀與上世紀70年代流行的一種葡萄牙產廉價葡萄酒蜜桃紅(Mateus)聯繫起來。

Distinctive bottles might also be troublesome to wine merchants who have to figure out how to fit them on their shelves. Costas Mouzouras, wine director of New York wine store Gotham Wines & Liquors, has a single Silvaner (from Franken, in a bocksbeutel) in stock. Mr. Mouzouras said the bottle shape was both a hindrance (a challenge to shelve) but also a help. 'It makes the wine pop,' he said. A fan of the grape, he noted that he would be carrying a few more Silvaners soon.

外形特殊的酒瓶還有可能給葡萄酒商帶來麻煩，因爲酒商要考慮如何在貨架上擺放這些酒。紐約葡萄酒店Gotham Wines & Liquors的葡萄酒主管科斯塔斯·穆祖拉斯(Costas Mouzouras)只存有一瓶西萬尼（產自弗蘭肯，裝在大肚瓶中）。穆祖拉斯說，酒瓶的形狀既有弊端（不便在貨架上擺放），也有好處。他說：“這種酒瓶能讓這種葡萄酒更引人注目。”穆祖拉斯很喜歡這種葡萄，他說，他很快會再進幾瓶西萬尼。

Tim Finch, the manager of another New York wine shop, K&D Wines, stocks seven Silvaners -- six more than any other store I found in New York. He believes that Silvaner is the 'perfect wine for spring' and a great alternative to Riesling and Gruner Veltliner.

紐約另一家葡萄酒店K&D Wines的經理蒂姆·芬奇(Tim Finch)存有七瓶西萬尼——而紐約其他任何一家店最多也只能找到一瓶。芬奇說，他認爲西萬尼是“完美的春季時令酒品”，也是雷司令和格魯納綠維特利納的替代佳品。

I bought all seven of Mr. Finch's Silvaners and sought out others, eventually accumulating 13 bottles from across the world. I invited some friends to join me for a tasting. Only one of them, who lived in Paris for years and drank it in bistros, had ever heard of the wine. (Another person thought Silvaner was a fellow taster's name.)

我把芬奇的七瓶西萬尼全都買了下來，再加上從其他店找到的西萬尼，最終蒐羅到13瓶產自世界各地的西萬尼。我邀請了一些朋友和我一起品酒。其中只有一位朋友（他在巴黎生活過很多年，在小酒館裏喝過這種酒）聽說過西萬尼（還有一位朋友以爲西萬尼是另一個品酒人的名字）。

The wines ranged from a light and fruity, off-dry Silvaner by the Teutonic Wine Company in Oregon to some more austere Sylvaners from Alto Adige. Three of the Italian wines were particularly good, including two from the Abbazia di Novacella winery: a refreshing and light Sylvaner ($22) and their Praepositus ($35) that was more minerally, with a bit of an earthy note. The 2012 Sylvaner 'R' Valle Isarco, from the highly regarded Kofererhof winery, showed lovely floral notes and a rounder, richer profile than the others, but fell a bit short of the expectations raised by its $64 price tag. (Kofererhof also produces a much less expensive Sylvaner that was sold out everywhere I looked.)

這些酒口感各異，既有俄勒岡州酒廠Teutonic Wine Company釀製的那種輕盈、散發果香的半乾西萬尼，也有一些比較緊澀的上阿迪傑產西萬尼。有三款意大利產葡萄酒特別出色，其中兩款產自酒莊Abbazia di Novacella：一款是爽口而輕盈的Sylvaner（售價22美元），另一款是礦物香更濃，並帶有一點泥土芬芳的Praepositus（售價35美元）。有一瓶2012年份Sylvaner 'R' Valle Isarco產自倍受好評的Kofererhof酒莊，散發着迷人的花香，口感比其他酒更圓潤濃郁，但鑑於這款酒價格高達64美元，還是讓人感覺與預期有一點差距（Kofererhof還釀製一種價格便宜得多的西萬尼，但這款酒在我去過的所有商店都賣完了）。

I found three very good Sylvaners from Alsace made by Albert Boxler, Dirler-Cade and Andre Ostertag -- all producers noted for Sylvaners in a region where the grape still gets fairly short shrift. The rich 2011 Albert Boxler Sylvaner ($30) was a great wine with food, while the 2011 Domaine Dirler-Cade Sylvaner Vieilles Vignes ($20) and 2012 Andre Ostertag Sylvaner Vieilles Vignes ($23) were both lighter than the Albert Boxler, with more minerality.

我發現有三款產自阿爾薩斯的西萬尼非常棒，這三款酒分別由Albert Boxler、Dirler-Cade 和Domaine Ostertag釀製——在阿爾薩斯這個西萬尼葡萄仍然不太受關注的地區，這三家酒莊都以釀製西萬尼酒而著稱。Albert Boxler 2011年份西萬尼（售價30美元）味道濃郁，是佐餐佳釀，相比之下，Domaine Dirler-Cade 2011年份老藤西萬尼(Sylvaner Vieilles Vignes)（售價20美元）和Domaine Ostertag 2012年份老藤西萬尼（售價23美元）更加輕盈，帶有更多的礦物香。

I had a few Silvaners from Germany. The one that really stood out was the delightfully floral 2012 Weingut Hans Wirsching Iphofer Silvaner Trocken. It had a dry, mineral finish and a profile that one friend called 'yummy.' At $17 a bottle, it was also a good deal.

我找到了幾款產自德國的西萬尼。真正出色的一款是Weingut Hans Wirsching縈繞怡人花香的2012年份Iphofer幹西萬尼。這款酒回味較幹，帶着礦物香，一位朋友用“美味”來形容這款酒。該酒售價17美元，可謂物美價廉。

I hope that more Silvaner producers might be inspired to bring their wines to this country -- and that those who once ventured here will consider returning. After all, as Andre Ostertag of Domaine Ostertag put it, 'Silvaner is for wine as bread and butter are for food. It is the basis of taste.' It's a taste that I hope all wine drinkers can try.

我希望有更多的西萬尼釀造商看了這篇文章後能考慮把他們的佳釀帶到美國市場——我還希望曾在美國市場闖蕩過的釀酒商能考慮再回來。畢竟，正如Domaine Ostertag的安德烈·奧斯特塔格(Andre Ostertag)所言：“西萬尼之於葡萄酒，就像麪包和黃油之於食物。這是味道的基礎。”而我希望所有葡萄酒愛好者都能品嚐一下這種味道。