西班牙ARRAYAN Petit Verdot 2004红酒：全小维多回响多
2012-01-18 13:55 来源 : 中国葡萄酒资讯网 作者 : 阿KEN
**此文曾刊登于深圳餐饮世界2009年9月酒客畅言栏目里**
世间事真是很奇妙，渺小的东西往往能主宰大事大物。您不相信？让我举些例子引证一下吧。
小小的舵轮就能于飘流大海中驾驶庞大的轮船航行，小小的嚼环扣在马嘴上便能把马儿驯服过来，初生的小宝宝便能获父母无条件的无疆大爱。。。那么，Petit Verdot这款小维多葡萄酿造出来的红酒将会有多大的回响呢？且看看我的下文吧。
Petit Verdot小维多红葡萄源自法国，但在目前世界各地产区都有种植。它广被采用于混和其它主体葡萄去酿制红酒，一般只占整体配方约1-3%作为一种“药引”模式，皆因它性偏苦涩，且颜色极为深沉。若拿它作100%来酿酒，恐怕难找到市场和买家。到底有什么方法可突破这种先天障碍？我们得要耐心探索这问题了。
酒厂一般是在每年8月底至9月初这段非常时期密切注视小维多葡萄的生长。他们往往是提前以人工收割葡萄，让葡萄还未完全成熟前去压汁酿造。这方法据说可避免苦涩和干燥等口味，让酒液更顺滑优雅，但又不失酒体等减退程度。
我还未品尝这瓶西班牙酒之时已在几个月前喝了一瓶产自智利的100%小维多2006年特级酒。听深圳的经销商说，广州的进口代理曾邀请智利酒厂的销售总监来华推广此类酒。那位老外总监还告诉在推介会席上嘉宾：我厂的Petit Verdot 2006年特级酒是全球唯一采用100%小维多葡萄酿造的红酒（别忘记，智利曾被西班牙统治过，也许酿酒工艺也是西班牙人当中一种遗物吧）。现在那批酒商与我共尝这瓶西班牙酒，不知他们心底里有多大回响与感想？
我们几位酒商在深圳的一个周末下午开始品喝此酒，因为当午有不少名气远大的美国纳帕谷好酒待试（计有Opus One 作品一号1992，Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 1993和Harlan Estate 2003），故此，我们只能先行把此酒“替天行道”。
生产这酒的园庄叫La Casa de Las Cuatro RAYAS S.L.拉雅斯（名字与法国新教皇堡酒王名字相同）。酒厂自1999年建立，在短短的十年内屡创佳绩，屡获好评。酒厂采用典雅设计的酒标来表达他们的酒带有“上古年代”的风格，看看那个很像“猿猴”的肖像便有这种感觉了。
酒厂位于中部Castilla La Mancha大产区里的Toldedo镇靠西北的Mentrida小区（临近首都马德里）。这款2004小维多在西班牙拿了国内89分评级（与它的2003年评分相近）。如果是换上酒厂的Premium Merlot 2002或是2003年酒，在西班牙拿的评分起码是92分，售价不低于欧罗30元。酒厂的酒品算是区内最浓厚的类型。我且把品酒记录与众分享如下：
深紫红色，深暗高密；草药鼻子，暗藏木香；果香杏仁，满布味蕾；淡淡桂花，笼罩口腔；单宁还顺，酒体稳固；层次不多，每段短束；收结无辣，后味无干；甜酸不觉，苦未明显。
众品酒人士最后获知此酒大概批发价后（约人民币百多元），马上拿它与先前之智利酒价对比一下，无不发出多番回响。
Spanish ARRAYAN Petit Verdot 2004: Full Tiny Verdot Causing Great Echo
Miracles are unexpected everywhere, tiny things can usually dominate great things. Incredible? Let me quote a few following examples to verify this.
Tiny wheel can drive a giant ship along drifting ocean, tiny bit can easily break-in a horse, new born baby can get unlimited and unconditional love from parent. Then, how big will be the echo as created by this Petit Verdot red wine? Let us read this article as below to explore the issue.
Petit Verdot red grape originated from France, but is broadly grown in other regions all over the world. It is commonly blended with other grapes to come up with finished wine, and its content sharing is around 1-3% as a kind of “added ingredent”. It is because of its bitter nature with extreme dark intense color tone. If it were 100% produced as wine, relative markets and buyers can hardly be found. What type of method can breakthrough such kind of obstacle? Let us patiently study this issue.
Producing wineries usually pay intensive care about the growth of Petit Verdot during the critical period of end August and early September. They have the practice to do the harvest before the grapes get mature and squeeze them to get the juice. It is said that such process helps avoiding flavors of bitterness, dryness, etc., making the wine more smooth and elegant, but still maintaining its body.
Before tasting this Spanish wine, I tasted a Chilean 100% Petit Verdot Reserve 2006 a few months ago. As revealed by some Shenzhen wine associates, the Sales Director of the producing winery in Chile was invited by the Guangzhou importing agent to promote the said wine in China. The Chilean Sales Director pronounced to the guests at the promotion event: “Our 100% Petit Verdot Reserve 2006 is the only red wine of this type in the world (mind him that, as Chile was formerly reigned by Spain, wine marking technique is probably one of the hermitages left over by the Spanish)” I wonder how those attending wine associates would feel and react when they are tasting this Spanish wine with me and how big the echo thereof would be?
A group of wine associates including me started to taste this wine at Shenzhen on a Saturday afternoon. As there were various famous wines (including Opus One 1992, Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 1993 and Harlan Estate 2003) pending for tasting, we had no alternative but to open this wine first for tasting.
The producer of this wine is called La Casa de Las Cuatro RAYAS S.L. (its last name is the same as that of the king winery of Chateauneuf-du-Pape). The winery was founded in 1999, it had carried out consistent well performance and ranked excellent remarks during the last 10 years. They apply classic wine label design to output a style of stone age, their ape-head sign is giving drinkers a distinctive impression of such concept.
The winery is situated at a small town called Mentrida (near Madrid, the capital), at the north-west of Toldedo, which is a wine region in the centre of Castilla La Mancha. This wine won 89 scores in the Spanish national wine event (similar result as its 2003). If it were the Merlot Premium 2002 or 2003, the scores were even put up to 92, distributed at no less than Eur30. Wine models of this winery claimed to be the most heavy stuff in the said region. Let me state my tasting notes as below for the public sharing:
Dark purple red color with high intensity, herbal nose with hidden oaky aroma, the palate is full of fruity and almond flavors, the mouth was surrounded by mild sweet osmanthus fragrance, the tannin is still smooth and the body is solid, but the levels of flavors are limited and short, the finish is not spicy and the after-taste is not dry, sweetness and acidity are not felt, but the bitterness is quite obvious.
The tasting group made a comparing analysis against the Chilean Petit Verdot immediately after knowing the estimated price of this wine (around a hundred something RMB), repeated echo was observed among the crowd.