伊斯特万·塞普西的托卡伊精华葡萄酒—品味传说中的葡萄酒

文 David Allen MW 编、译 张恬熙

我可以很高兴地说：我大女儿尝到的第一杯葡萄酒，可能就是她所品尝过最好的酒。在她只有9个月大的时候，莉莉和我们去了位于匈牙利托卡伊产区的小镇：马德。我们一家人与一群人一起参观了伊斯特万·塞普西的酒窖，这可是个不可思议的机会。伊斯特万·塞普西是托卡伊产区最杰出、最受尊重的生产商，也可以说他是世界上最好的甜酒生产商之一。

I’m pleased to say that the first wine my eldest daughter tasted is probably the best she will ever try. When just 9 months old, Lilee accompanied us to the tiny town of Mad, in Hungary’s Tokaj region. Our family were among a group visiting Istvan Sepsy’s cellars. This was an incredible opportunity, Istvan Szepsy snr. is the most brilliant and respected producer in Tokaj and arguably one of the best sweet wine producers in the world.

伊斯特万·塞普西是一个非常谦虚的人，他身上承载了托卡伊产区的大部分历史。伊斯特万是拉兹科·莫塔·塞普西（据说他在1630年酿造了第一款阿苏葡萄酒）的后裔，在共产主义氛围下经营着地方合作社性质的酒窖，接着与休·约翰逊和彼得·温丁·戴尔斯一起创立了皇家托卡伊酒庄，这个酒庄是托卡伊文艺复兴的先驱，伊斯特万则是托尼·王的Királyudvar酒庄第一位酿酒师，现在他一直在自己精心打理的葡萄园中酿造托卡伊品质最好、最受欢迎的葡萄酒。

走下陡峭的台阶进入酒窖品鉴可真是惊心动魄！这些是典型的托卡伊酒窖，是从软岩中凿出的低天花板洞穴，墙壁和屋顶都覆盖着厚厚的天鹅绒般的霉菌。我们品尝了干型福尔明特（Furmints）、哈尔斯勒维路斯（Harslevelüs）、萨摩罗德尼（Szamorodni）和6篓贵腐葡萄酒，这些都是由塞普西亲自用“酒贼”移酒器从桶里舀出来，每款都很棒。对于我们团的大多数人来说，这段经历都令人啧啧称奇。但莉莉却觉得很无聊，她坐在木桶上玩着一个硅胶塞，逐渐失去了兴趣。我会告诫孩子们让他们不要接触酒精，因为这对年轻大脑的发育可能有伤害，但是当伊斯特万分发最后一款酒（一款由他酿造的2000年份Eszcencia级别甜酒，如糖浆般黏稠，看起来像金色花蜜）时，我发现这款酒的酒精含量小于2%，这是莉莉可以一试的酒款。我把一根手指伸进了自己的玻璃杯里，让她尝了一口。甜美的杏子、蜂蜜以及蜜饯果皮的味道，一下子就让她喜笑颜开。

这是一款非常棒的葡萄酒，含糖量为550克/升。即使从Eszcencia级别（好的苏岱酒含糖量在120-140克/升，而德罗-西门内可能达到400克/升）来说，也是非常甜。同样令人印象深刻的是，其15.5克/升的酸度可以完美地平衡这种惊人的甜度！

Tokai Eszcencia（可不要将它与Aszú Eszencia弄混了）会是你遇到的最与众不同的葡萄酒之一，而塞普西就是这一风格的大师。Eszcencia只会用阿苏果实的自流汁酿制，这种腐烂的葡萄是在感染了灰葡萄孢菌后再采摘，每一颗果实中都含有浓缩的糖和酸。在托卡伊，这些浆果会被制成糊状，在发酵前或者发酵过程中浸泡在基酒中。当阿苏果实等待再发酵时，在它们自身重量作用下会释放出极少量令人难以置信的浓缩果汁，Eszencia就是由这种果汁酿制而成。Eszencia会在136升的小木桶中进行发酵，这种小型的木桶叫Gönci。由于果汁中的糖分浓度实际上太高，所以无法发酵。酵母菌只能在木桶的最顶端工作，桶顶凝结的水珠充分稀释了液体的表面。这种葡萄酒已经发酵了8年，但酒精含量不到2%—它太浓了，以致最初的装瓶尝试都失败了，因为葡萄酒太黏稠，无法通过过滤器。

Eszencia是稀有且昂贵的葡萄酒，产量极低。大多数人会遇到5篓或6篓托卡伊葡萄酒，但若有机会品尝到Eszencia，尤其是来自顶级生产商酿造的Eszencia，那真是相当于品尝葡萄酒世界的顶级酒款之一。

This incredibly modest man embodies much of his region’s history. Descended from Laczkó Máté Szepsy, (who in 1630 is reputedly made the first Aszú wine), Istvan, ran the local co-operative cellars under the communist regime, then with Hugh Johnson and Peter Vinding Dyers, establishing Royal Tokaji, the estate that pioneered Tokaji’s renaissance, he was the first winemaker for Tony Wang’s Királyudvar Estate and now consistently makes Tokaj’s best and most sought-after wines from his own, carefully-managed vineyards.

Descending the steep steps into the cellars to taste was thrilling. These were archetypal Tokaji cellars, low-ceilinged caves hewn from the soft rock, with walls and roof coated in thick, black, velvety mold. We tasted dry Furmints and Harslevelüs, Szamorodni and 6 Puttonyos wines - poured by Szepsy himself, straight from the barrels, using a long glass wine-thief - all were excellent. For most of the group the experience was transfixing, Lilee however was bored… progressively becoming less impressed by sitting on a barrel, playing with a silicone bung. I am cautions of exposing our children to alcohol, which is dangerous to developing young brains, however as our host distributed the final wine - the syrupy, golden nectar that was his 2000 Eszcencia - I realized that, at ＜2% alcohol, this was something Lilee could try. Dipping a finger into my glass I gave her a drop to taste. The luscious apricot, honey, citrus and candied-peel flavours instantly made her smile!

This wine was phenomenal, having 550 g/ltr of sugar! - extremely sweet, even for an Eszcencia (good Sauternes will have 120-140g/ltr while Pedro Ximénez might reach 400g/ltr). Equally impressive was that this phenomenally sweetness was perfectly balanced by 15.5g/ltr of acidity!

Tokai Eszcencia (not to be confused with Aszú Eszencia) is one of the most phenomenal wines you will ever encounter and Szepsy is the master of the style. Eszencia is made only from the free-run, juice of Aszú berries which are the rotten grapes, picked after botrytis cinerea fungus has concentrated sugars and acids within each grape. In Tokaj these berries are made into a paste and macerated in base wines either before or during fermentation. As aszú berries await refermentation, their own weight releases miniscule amounts of incredibly concentrated juice, from which Eszencia is made. Eszencia ferments in small 136 ltr barrels called Gönci. The sugar concentration in the juice is actually too high to allow fermentation. Yeasts can only operate at the very top of the barrel, where condensation dilutes the liquid’s surface sufficiently. This wine had fermented for 8 years and produced less than 2% alcohol - it was so dense that initial attempts at bottling had failed as the wine was too viscous to pass through the filter.

Eszencias are rare, expensive wines, made in minute quantities. Most of us will encounter mostly 5 and 6 Puttonyos Tokajis, but the opportunity to taste Eszencia, especially from a top producer, is truly the chance to taste one of the wine world’s extremes.