加州葡萄酒酿造业踏上寻根之旅

    在灯红酒绿、寸土寸金的纳帕西北50英里处，有一间古老的苹果加工作坊，一面巨大的加州州旗从车间天花板上垂悬而下，音箱中播放着齐柏林飞艇乐队（Led Zeppelin）的歌曲，而一条名叫“吉姆”的杰克罗素梗正在一个个发酵罐之间转悠。你可别指望能在这间工厂里能找到上等的赤霞珠葡萄酒（Cabernet）。在这里，一群“离经叛道”的葡萄酒酿造师们已经不再酿制赤霞珠葡萄酒，而是转而选用灰特卢梭（trousseau gris）或维德格（Valdiguié）葡萄。过去的几十年间，他们选用的葡萄品种都产自于加州最古老的葡萄园，借此酿制加利福尼亚口感最好的葡萄酒酒品。

    葡萄酒酿造师帕克斯•马勒、斯科特•舒尔茨以及赖安与梅根夫妇分享了他们旗下葡萄酒品牌的酿造理念与设备，这些品牌分别是Wind Gap, Jolie-Laide，以及Ryme Cellars。“加利福尼亚的自然条件丰富多样，不单单是常见的赤霞珠和霞多丽，许多不同种类的葡萄品种也适宜在这里种植，”马勒说。他和舒尔茨都选用灰特卢梭葡萄来酿造葡萄酒，这种葡萄原产于法国的阿尔萨斯和洛林地区，。虽然这个品种早在20世纪初就在加利福尼亚广泛地种植，但时至今日，种植灰特卢梭的葡萄园只剩下一处，它位于俄罗斯河谷之中。

    由于受到传统观念的影响，人们或许会觉得这些不常见的葡萄品种难以大面积种植，但克里斯•布罗克韦说：“这些葡萄却并没有人们想象得那么神秘。”。他在伯克利的一间仓库中经营着一个只有一名员工的“城市酿酒作坊”。他说：“很多年前，这些葡萄品种就已经广泛地种植于加利福尼亚地区。”尽管布罗克韦出品的葡萄酒是选用灰特卢梭这样不常见的葡萄品种酿造，但是他却很快地指出，自从20世纪90年代中期以来，这种葡萄就已经出现在了加利福尼亚。布罗克韦对他所酿制的佳丽酿（Carignan）特别有感情，酿制这种酒的葡萄是来自于纳帕北部亚历山大谷有着130年历史的葡萄藤。“佳丽酿葡萄园从1879年就开始栽种葡萄，而如今有人却要挖掉这些葡萄藤，改种赤霞珠。要知道，这些古老的葡萄藤早就已经成为加利福尼亚历史的一部分！后来，我开始思考，‘该怎样去挽救这些葡萄呢？’”于是，这些产自1879年葡萄园里的果实很快就成为布罗克韦酿造的旗舰葡萄酒的主要原料。

    如果找对地方的话，大家就能够加利福尼亚境内寻到早期葡萄种植历史的蛛丝马迹。上世纪60年代，一位现年已经93岁的老人与父亲一起，在他们位于卡利斯托加（Calistoga）的房子旁边种植维得格（Valdiguié）葡萄；两个意大利兄弟把从老家后院带过来的巴贝拉（Barbera）葡萄栽种在西雅拉丘陵（Sierra Foothills）之中，以提醒自己不忘故土。一位年迈的农场主居住在门多西诺已经被他忽视多年、种植着大片慕合怀特葡萄(Mourvèdre)的土地上。致力于寻找散落在民间的珍贵葡萄品种的酿造师们则试图要重现这片地区丰富且多元的葡萄种植传统，这种传统早在他们来到这片地区之前，就借助那些早期的葡萄种植者们传承下来。现在，轮到他们来酿造葡萄酒，以纪念加利福尼亚移民所带来的种植传统了。这群人重新定义了加利福尼亚地区葡萄栽培的潜力，同时也是在向那些默默无闻的早期葡萄种植者们致敬。无论是出于前瞻性的远见，还是根本就是无知者无畏，他们毕竟将这些不常见的葡萄品种栽种到了加利福尼亚这片土地之上。

    据Idlewild葡萄酒酿造厂的萨姆•比尔博介绍，如今在北加利福尼亚地区的葡萄庄园中，93%的土地上都种植着八种常见的葡萄品种。“但人们还不清楚，为何只有这八个葡萄品种在加利福尼亚地区大获成功。过去50年内，许多不常见的葡萄品种栽种在余下的7%的土地上，但由这些葡萄所酿制的葡萄酒在销售上却异常惨淡……我们正在努力改变这种局面。”

    去年，来自Forlorn Hope酿造厂的葡萄酒酿造师马修•罗瑞克试着将选择范围缩小到四种葡萄上，但最终，他选了21种不同种类的葡萄。“如果我接到一个电话说：‘我找到种植匹格普勒（Picpoul）葡萄的人了！’这种时候让我怎么拒绝他呢？”

    Fifty miles northwest of Napa's bright lights and gilded estates, a California flag hangs from the ceiling inside an old apple-processing plant. Led Zeppelin plays from the speakers while a Jack Russell named Jim darts around the fermentation tanks. If you're looking for a trophy Cabernet, you've come to the wrong place. Forgoing Cabernet Sauvignon for grapes like Trousseau Gris and Valdiguié, a handful of renegade winemakers have begun experimenting with heirloom grape varieties from many of California's oldest vineyards to produce some of the most compelling wines to come out of the state in decades.

    Winemakers PaxMahle, Scott Schultz, and husband and wife duo Ryan and Megan Glaab share ideas and equipment to make wine under their respective labels: Wind Gap, Jolie-Laide, and Ryme Cellars. "California is so diverse, it makes sense to grow different grape varieties, not just Cab and Chardonnay," says Mahle. He and Schultz both make wine from Trousseau Gris, a grape that traditionally hails from Alsace-Lorraine. Though the variety has been widely planted in California since the early 20th century, today only one vineyard block remains standing in the Russian River Valley.

    Though mainstream trends would make you think otherwise, "these grapes aren't that esoteric," says Chris Brockway, who runs his one-man urban winery, Broc Cellars, out of a warehouse in Berkeley, "they've been in California for years." Though Brockway works with grapes as unusual as Valdiguié, he is quick to point out that the variety has been planted in California since the mid-1900's. Brockway is particularly sentimental about his Carignan, which comes from 130-year-old vines in the Alexander Valley, north of Napa. "The Carignan vineyard was planted in 1879. Someone was going to tear it out and plant Cabernet Sauvignon. It's a part of California history! I thought, 'What do I have to do to save this?'" The fruit from the 1879 vineyard soon became the backbone of Brockway's flagship wine.

    There are tiny vestiges of California's early grape-growing history planted across the state if you know where to look. A 93-year-old man who planted Valdiguié vines next to his house in Calistoga with his father back in the 1960's. Two Italian siblings who brought over Barbera from their backyard and planted it in the Sierra foothills to remind them of home.An old farmer who lives on a plot of Mourvèdre in Medocinothat he has neglected for years.The winemakers who source grapes from these idiosyncratic diamonds in the rough are striving to resurrect the diverse viticultural traditions of the growers that came before them. In turn, they are making wines that are a commemoration of California's immigrant heritage; they are a re-imagination of California's viticultural potential; and they are a tribute to the unknown growers who had either the foresight or the foolishness to plant these unusual grapes in California in the first place.

    According to Sam Bilbro of the winery Idlewild, today 93% of all of Northern California's viticultural acreage is planted with the same eight major grape varieties. "But it is a myth that these are the only grapes that can do well here. In the last fifty years, many of the lesser-known varieties that make up the remaining 7% have become almost commercially non-existent. We're trying to change that."

    Last year, winemaker Matthew Rorick of Forlorn Hope tried to narrow his focus down to four grapes. He ended up working with 21 different varieties. "I'll get a call saying, 'I found somebody growing Picpoul.' How can I say no to that?!"