Platypus 鴨嘴獸釀酒師

Shopping for wine often requires plunging into the unknown. That is especially true this year for Champagne, because a new wave of small grower-producers on the shelves can mystify even the seasoned wine lover: ÉricRodez, Guillaume Sergent, Suenen, Bourgeois-Diaz, for a start. Who are these guys?

選購葡萄酒往往會陷入到未知的領域裡。
而今年的香檳尤其如此，即使是經驗老道的葡萄酒高手也可能會被新興的獨立酒莊們所迷惑。在開始之前，誰是:ÉricRodez, Guillaume Sergent, Suenen, Bourgeois-Diaz

If you love Champagne, you will want to get to know these small producers, some of whom I’ve encountered for the first time.

假如你喜歡香檳，你絕對會希望能去認識獨立酒莊們。

Pierre Gimonnet 酒莊-Google Map

Once, in another universe maybe 25 years ago, shopping for Champagne was not complicated. You simply had to familiarize yourself with a few of a couple of dozen big houses.   

約25年前，購買香檳是不一件複雜的事情，您只需要記得某些大廠就可以了。如Krug, Taittinger ,Moet。

These grandes marques, or great brands, all professed to have a house style, which they adhered to year after year by blending wines from different terroirs within the Champagne region and from different vintages. Whereas fine wine from almost every other region in the world sought to express the particularities of place and vintage, Champagne prided itself on a mingled consistency year after year.But that easy world began to change in the 1990s with a trickle of grower-producers, small farmers who grew their own grapes and made their own wines, into the international market.

這些知名的品牌，都非常專業地穩定生產屬於自己風格，他們年復一年仰賴著調和式手法，混合來自於不同風土與不同的年份。反之其他世界不同區域的酒莊則企圖推出屬於該區域的風土以及年分特色。而香檳則自豪的抱持傳統調和式的風味。

傳統香檳製程-轉瓶

Without the vast blending capacity of the big houses, these grower-produced Champagnes, like other wines, displayed the singular qualities of terroir and often differed from vintage to vintage. They offered a stark contrast to the too-often-bland consistency of the big houses.

排除掉大廠的調和式釀酒，那些獨立酒莊生產的香檳，如同世界其他的酒款，顯現著獨特的風土特性與年份之間的差異，獨立酒莊與大廠的釀造表現產生了強烈的對比。

With time, as they became more familiar, they began to challenge the notion(概念) of what Champagne was. No longer could the big houses coast (cost)on their well-marketed definition of Champagne as a celebratory beverage of the cellar. No, the success of the grower-producers redefined Champagne as a wine and forced the entire region to raise its game.

時過境遷，當獨立酒莊們逐漸熟悉釀造，小酒農們試圖重新定義”什麼是香檳?”。香檳不再是大廠花費在完美行銷策略下所定義的慶祝飲品。小酒農們成功重新定義了香檳迫使整個香檳區重新洗牌。※ 原文為coast海岸，John與同事討論認為是cost，如有錯誤煩請糾正。

It also greatly increased demand for these smaller producers, even if they still account for only a small percentage of sales. In 2014, almost a million bottles of grower Champagne were shipped to the United States, up from about 273,000 in 2000, according to the Comité Champagne, a trade association. While this accounted for only 5 percent of the Champagne shipped in 2014, that percentage had more than tripled from the 1.4 percent shipped in 2000.

這項成功也大大的增加了獨立酒莊香檳的需求，雖然他們在市場僅佔有少數銷售數量，從2000年的27萬瓶，在2014年達到約100萬被運送到美國。根據香檳委員會Comite Champagne的調查從2000年的1.4%至2014年大幅增加了三倍到5%之多。

Some in the initial wave of grower-producers have become almost ubiquitous in New York. This is especially so in the domains of inexperienced sommeliers who, in the same manner as those who turned their backs on Bordeaux a few years ago, insist on stocking only grower-producers, out of a misplaced conviction that the big houses are unfashionable.

在這一波浪潮中，獨立酒莊香檳在紐約無所不在，一些在香檳領域不熟悉的侍酒師們，開始堅持只使用獨立酒莊香檳，使得大廠退出流行。

Excellent grower-producers like Pierre Peters, Pierre Gimonnet, Larmandier-Bernier and Egly-Ouriet are no longer rarities. A second wave of producers like RaphaëlBérêche, Cédric Bouchard and Ulysse Collin are now highly sought, and some, like Jacques Selosse and Jérôme Prévost, have become cult figures.

絕佳的獨立酒莊如Pierre Peters, Pierre Gimonnet, Larmandier-Bernier and Egly-Ouriet也不再稀有。其他生產者RaphaëlBérêche, Cédric Bouchard and Ulysse Collin也被高度的關注中，像是Jacques Selosse 和 Jérôme Prévost儼然成為膜拜酒一般。

All of which leaves American importers thirsting for new grower-producers, and accounts for the flood of unfamiliar Champagnes. I’m seeing on the shelves this season. Some of these names are definitely worth getting to know, like ÉricRodez, whose wines I’ve come to love.

美國的進口商渴望有新的獨立酒莊香檳，這導致很多不熟悉的香檳在市場上氾濫，我正在架上尋找，一些你我必須知道的香檳像是ÉricRodez , 我一直以來的愛

Rodez is not a new producer. The family has been making Champagne for generations, but I’ve only just begun to see the wines in the New York market.

Rodez 並不是一位新的獨立酒莊，他的家族從事香檳釀造超過一個世紀，但是我才剛開始看到這些酒在紐約市場上出現。

Rodez 的白中白香檳

Rodez is centered in Ambonnay, which is known as pinot noir country, but the producer makes an unusual, superb blanc de blancs ($65) from Ambonnay chardonnay. It is richer and fuller than the blanc de blancs you might find from, say, Vertus, but pure and beautifully balanced with great finesse and minerality. Rodez also makes a more conventional blend of chardonnay and pinot noir, Cuvée des Crayères ($58), that is voluminous yet graceful, lively and absolutely delicious.

Rodez 位於Ambonnay 中心，這是一個Pinot Noir的產區，但是Rodez釀造出與眾不凡，出色的Ambonnay白中白香檳，這支酒豐富且濃郁比一般市售的白中白都來的好，非常的純淨，完美的平衡與礦物感。Rodez也生產了常見的黑中白Cuvée des Crayères，口感強勁但意外的優美，充滿了生命力的一款黑中白。

     
白中白為 100% Chardonnay 釀造而成           黑中白則為100% Pinot noir 釀造而成

Unlike Rodez, Guillaume Sergent is new, not having created his own brand until 2011. But Les PrésDieu ($48), Sergent’s extra brut blanc de blancs, will get your attention. Though it was bottled very young (Sergent doesn’t have the resources to age the wines properly) it’s unusually graceful and elegant, with creamy mineral flavors.

不同於Rodez , Guillaume Sergent是一家新興酒莊直到2011年才發展自有品牌，但是Les PrésDieu, Sergent的干型白中白，絕對會引起你的注意。雖然Sergent香檳非常年輕(Sergent 暫時沒有足夠的資源去將香檳陳年)，但是這支香檳表現優美高雅帶有濃郁的礦石風味。

I also loved an extra brut blanc de blancs ($60) from another young producer, Suenen, which showed finesse and precisionalong with savory, chalky flavors. Yet another delightful blanc de blancs, Conversation ($46), from J. L. Vergnon, a producer who has been available off and on in the United States, was rich, creamy and mineral-laden.

我也同樣喜歡由新興的獨立酒莊Suenen生產的干型白中白香檳，均衡滑順且細緻帶著香檳區白堊土穰風味。但是另一款令人滿意的由J. L. Vergnon白中白香檳 : Conversation 口感豐富濃郁，充滿礦石風味。

I had heard of VeuveFourny&Fils before, but somehow had never encountered the Champagne in New York. My loss. This small producer makes wonderfully interesting wines, like its entry-level Grande Réserve ($44), a beautifully detailed blend of 80 percent chardonnay and 20 percent pinot noir with great balance, finesse and tension.

我曾經聽過VeuveFourny&Fils，但是不知道為什麼從來都沒有進口到紐約，這個獨立酒莊生產出很多美好有趣的玩意，像是入門款的Grande Réserve，80%chardonnay與20%Pinot Noir 完美的平衡柔順，札實的口感。

By contrast, the Champagnes of Bourgeois-Diaz are entirely different. A Bourgeois-Diaz brut ($46), a blend of pinot meunier, pinot noir and chardonnay, was rustic and loosely knit rather than elegant, but fresh, balanced and full of vibrant life.

相較之下，Bourgeois-Diaz的香檳則是全然的不同，Bourgeois-Diaz干型香檳由pinot meunier, pinot noir 與 chardonnay混釀而成，純樸，結構雖不紮實，非優雅的類型，但是個性鮮活平衡充滿了生命力。

Not surprisingly, these Champagnes will be available in only a few markets around the United States. For one thing, most grower-producers don’t make enough wine to be distributed nationally. It’s entirely possible that consumers in, say, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and Portland, Ore., will find different sets of grower-producers.

我不驚訝的，這些香檳只在美國的幾個區域販售，一方面，大部分的獨立酒莊並不具有足夠的量去供給全美市場，這完全是依照客戶的取向，全美各大城市都可以尋找到不同的獨立酒莊香檳。

For another, dealing with the complicated three-tier system for distributing wine in the United States — in which producers must often deal with different distributors (and laws) in each state to reach retailers — can be far more confusing and time-consuming for small producers than following the simpler rules of the European Union.

另外，在美國的複雜經銷制度下，這些獨立酒莊必須經常的在美國各州之間去更換代理商，造成酒莊的混亂與浪費時間相較於歐洲的簡單代理制度。

“The U.S. is getting more attention because the economy is good, but the three-tier system is discouraging,” said Sam Heitner, director of the U.S. Champagne Bureau, a marketing arm of the Champagne trade. “But if the E.U. picks up, they may go elsewhere, where they don’t have to deal with multiple distributors.”

美國香檳公會理事長抑是美國香檳界的大腕Sam Heitner說” 經濟回溫後美國酒界更加關注這些香檳，但是這樣的經銷制度著實的令人無力”假如歐洲放棄與美國打交道，獨立酒莊將會拓展的世界各地，那個不需要理會這種經銷制度的國度。

By the way, Champagne lovers have long been taught that the easy way to tell the grower-producers from the bigger houses is to read the fine print on the label, where a tiny code distinguishes among NM for négociant-manipulants, or merchant-producers (including grandes marques); RM for récoltant-manipulants, or grower-producers; and CM for coopérative-manipulants, or co-ops; along with a few less important categories.
 

順帶一提，香檳粉絲們早就告訴我們如何從酒標上區別獨立酒莊與大廠，

※因為John很懶，摘入自Wine & Taste。Wine & Taste是一個非常棒的知識寶庫。
https://www.winentaste.com/magazine/tutorial_celebrity_champagne_types/

But the strict definition for each category can complicate matters. Say, for example, that a family grower-producer is passed from the parents to their three children. Under French law, the estate will have to be equally divided among the siblings. Perhaps one will own the production facilities and the others the vineyards. The producer will then have to buy the grapes from the two vineyard owners, transforming what had been an RM into an NM. Same estate, just organized differently.

但是這各分類可能會把事情複雜化，譬如小農莊的父母將酒莊交棒三個孩子管理，在法國的法律中，父母的土地將會被均分給其子女，或許其中一位擁有釀造廠，其他人分配到葡萄園。釀造者就必須去跟另外兩位購買葡萄，造成這款父母經營的RM變為NM。同樣的農莊僅只有家庭成員改變而已。

Or a small family estate may buy a few well-chosen lots of grapes to supplement its own vineyard. This, too, renders it an NM, even though it possesses an RM point of view.

或是小型獨立酒莊購買了一些別人精選的葡萄，就拍謝ㄟ，這也會變成NM，幾使是在RM酒莊釀的也是一樣。Sorry阿~客官。

文章翻譯至紐約時報Eric Asimov The Pour : http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/dining/new-champagne-brands.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fthe-pour&action=click&contentCollection=dining&region=stream&module=stream_unit&versio