伊斯特萬·塞普西的托卡伊精華葡萄酒—品味傳說中的葡萄酒

文 David Allen MW 編、譯 張恬熙

我可以很高興地說：我大女兒嘗到的第一杯葡萄酒，可能就是她所品嘗過最好的酒。在她只有9個月大的時候，莉莉和我們去了位于匈牙利托卡伊產區的小鎮：馬德。我們一家人與一群人一起參觀了伊斯特萬·塞普西的酒窖，這可是個不可思議的機會。伊斯特萬·塞普西是托卡伊產區最杰出、最受尊重的生產商，也可以說他是世界上最好的甜酒生產商之一。

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.

伊斯特萬·塞普西是一個非常謙虛的人，他身上承載了托卡伊產區的大部分歷史。伊斯特萬是拉茲科·莫塔·塞普西（據說他在1630年釀造了第一款阿蘇葡萄酒）的后裔，在共產主義氛圍下經營著地方合作社性質的酒窖，接著與休·約翰遜和彼得·溫丁·戴爾斯一起創立了皇家托卡伊酒莊，這個酒莊是托卡伊文藝復興的先驅，伊斯特萬則是托尼·王的Királyudvar酒莊第一位釀酒師，現在他一直在自己精心打理的葡萄園中釀造托卡伊品質最好、最受歡迎的葡萄酒。

走下陡峭的臺階進入酒窖品鑒可真是驚心動魄！這些是典型的托卡伊酒窖，是從軟巖中鑿出的低天花板洞穴，墻壁和屋頂都覆蓋著厚厚的天鵝絨般的霉菌。我們品嘗了干型福爾明特（Furmints）、哈爾斯勒維路斯（Harslevelüs）、薩摩羅德尼（Szamorodni）和6簍貴腐葡萄酒，這些都是由塞普西親自用“酒賊”移酒器從桶里舀出來，每款都很棒。對于我們團的大多數人來說，這段經歷都令人嘖嘖稱奇。但莉莉卻覺得很無聊，她坐在木桶上玩著一個硅膠塞，逐漸失去了興趣。我會告誡孩子們讓他們不要接觸酒精，因為這對年輕大腦的發育可能有傷害，但是當伊斯特萬分發最后一款酒（一款由他釀造的2000年份Eszcencia級別甜酒，如糖漿般黏稠，看起來像金色花蜜）時，我發現這款酒的酒精含量小于2%，這是莉莉可以一試的酒款。我把一根手指伸進了自己的玻璃杯里，讓她嘗了一口。甜美的杏子、蜂蜜以及蜜餞果皮的味道，一下子就讓她喜笑顏開。

這是一款非常棒的葡萄酒，含糖量為550克/升。即使從Eszcencia級別（好的蘇岱酒含糖量在120-140克/升，而德羅-西門內可能達到400克/升）來說，也是非常甜。同樣令人印象深刻的是，其15.5克/升的酸度可以完美地平衡這種驚人的甜度！

Tokai Eszcencia（可不要將它與Aszú Eszencia弄混了）會是你遇到的最與眾不同的葡萄酒之一，而塞普西就是這一風格的大師。Eszcencia只會用阿蘇果實的自流汁釀制，這種腐爛的葡萄是在感染了灰葡萄孢菌后再采摘，每一顆果實中都含有濃縮的糖和酸。在托卡伊，這些漿果會被制成糊狀，在發酵前或者發酵過程中浸泡在基酒中。當阿蘇果實等待再發酵時，在它們自身重量作用下會釋放出極少量令人難以置信的濃縮果汁，Eszencia就是由這種果汁釀制而成。Eszencia會在136升的小木桶中進行發酵，這種小型的木桶叫G?nci。由于果汁中的糖分濃度實際上太高，所以無法發酵。酵母菌只能在木桶的最頂端工作，桶頂凝結的水珠充分稀釋了液體的表面。這種葡萄酒已經發酵了8年，但酒精含量不到2%—它太濃了，以致最初的裝瓶嘗試都失敗了，因為葡萄酒太黏稠，無法通過過濾器。

Eszencia是稀有且昂貴的葡萄酒，產量極低。大多數人會遇到5簍或6簍托卡伊葡萄酒，但若有機會品嘗到Eszencia，尤其是來自頂級生產商釀造的Eszencia，那真是相當于品嘗葡萄酒世界的頂級酒款之一。

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 G?nci. 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.