第一章 Conjuring with Grapes (1) (2)
We had been invited to dinner at the hotel particulier of Mumm in Reims. There was our old friend, the Man with the Magnum, and as the courses came and went so did the’85 Cordon Rouge and the’85 Grand Cordon Rose. For the finale, another magnum, this time unlabeled, was nursed to the table as carefully as though it were an extremely rich old aunt from whom one was hoping to inherit. I looked at the menu and saw that it was simply noted as a Very Old Vintage.
I held my glass up to the light and watched the whispers of tiny bubbles rising from the bottom. Whatever else the years had done, they hadn’t subdued the sparkle. They had, however, given the wine a very slightly toasted bouquet, the pain grillé nose of a truly venerable champagne. It tasted rich and delicate and dry, and it was thirty years old. There and then, I made up my mind never to drink cheap champagne again. Life is too short.
真正的好香檳具有提神醒腦的功效。這是香檳酒上乘品質的最好證明。你看，直到下午兩點半，我們不僅人是醒著的，而且頭腦還相當清醒，正好可以迎接下午的功課，去研究葡萄由一串串變成一瓶瓶的演進過程。
我們從白丘的白葡萄園開始。這片葡萄園一年中有很長一段時期，都是杳無人煙，隻有寥寥數個移動緩慢、吃苦耐勞的人影，在田間查看葡萄的生長情況。但現在是農忙時節，園中狹長的綠色走廊，擠滿了秋收的采摘者。這時正是采收葡萄的好天氣，暖和又幹爽。而晚春的霜降帶來的損害也比預期要少。今年將是個很好的豐收年。
人們把一籃又一籃的葡萄送到了田尾的收集點，再用卡車或拖拉機運到克拉蒙村的瑪姆酒莊。那裏的榨酒機早已恭候多時了。這些用來折磨葡萄的榨汁機是一種木製的、巨大的圓形設備，側邊都是百葉板。這巨無霸一口足以吞下幾噸葡萄。然後，一塊巨大的木製壓板自上而下，以非常非常慢的速度落下，壓在葡萄上，將它們壓破，擠榨出汁，之後源源流入地下的大桶裏。
葡萄遭受這樣無情的壓榨，前後共需三次。第一次榨出的是最上等的葡萄汁，叫作“葡萄酒酒頭”；第二次榨的汁，則用在混成酒上；最後一次壓榨的殘汁，蒸餾以後用來釀成當地人喝的“白蘭地”，也就是他們說的、會促使你胸部長毛的“渣釀香檳”。一滴也不浪費，太不可思議了。同一批葡萄居然能變出兩種差別這麼大的酒。一種雅致、清淡；另一種呢——嗯，我剛好喜歡渣釀酒，但你恐怕永遠不會用“雅致”一詞來形容它。
我們沿著葡萄汁走過的路線來到了發酵桶這邊。此時，我要提醒大家的是，萬一有人建議你吸一口發酵期的香檳氣味，請你婉言謝絕。我就犯了這個錯誤，傾身靠向一隻敞開的酒桶，想以鑒賞家的派頭嗅上一嗅，結果我差點從離地十英尺高的平台上跌下來。當時我隻覺得鼻子像是針紮一樣難受。我感到一陣子頭暈目眩，懇請挪到生產線上氣味不那麼厚重的地方休養生息。接著，我們便棄此酒桶，轉往地球內部探險去也。