让人既爱又恨的葡萄酒 餐饮达人的心声

Ariana Rolich, an American- and Spanish-wine buyer at Chambers Street Wines in New York, is an aficionado of the old Silver Oak, and has several like-minded customers who, she notes, are quite different from lovers of the new wines (which Chambers Street does not stock).
纽约Chambers Street Wines 酒行负责采购美国和西班牙葡萄酒的阿里安娜·罗利克(Ariana Rolich)是传统Silver Oak葡萄酒的拥趸，她说有很多跟她志同道合的客户，他们跟喜欢新式酒的人很不一样。Chambers Street不卖新式Silver Oak葡萄酒。

'People are surprised when they see the bottles in our store,' Ms. Rolich said when I mentioned my own shock at seeing them during a recent visit. 'Sometimes I have to gently take the bottles out of customers' hands when I realize they expect them to taste like the Silver Oaks they know.' Right now the store has a selection of Silver Oak Cabernets from the 1970s and '80s, and one 1998 wine, all of which the store purchased from individuals.
最近去Chambers Street时我看到了以前的酒。看我表示震惊，罗利克说：“人们在我们店里看到这些酒都很惊讶。有时我不得不轻轻地把酒从顾客手里拿过来，因为我意识到他们期望这些酒的味道和他们所知道的Silver Oaks一样。”目前店里有70年代和80年代的Silver Oak解百纳，还有一瓶1998年的酒，都是从个人手里收购而来。

What does Ms. Rolich recommend the new Silver Oak lover buy instead? 'Probably the White Cottage Cuvee or a Matthiasson red,' she said, naming two small, cultish California producers. Although White Cottage winery has since closed, the makers of Matthiasson would probably be surprised to hear their wine was considered to be a Silver Oak alternate. 'I might also suggest a younger Rioja, since they use American oak in Rioja, too,' Ms. Rolich added. 'Essentially you have to give them the most luscious wine that you have.'
那么对于喜欢新式Silver Oak葡萄酒的人，罗利克推荐买什么呢？她说：“White Cottage Cuvee或者Matthiasson红葡萄酒吧。”她提到的是两家小规模的小众加州生产商。虽然White Cottage酒庄已经关了，但听到自己的酒被认为是Silver Oak 的替代品，Matthiasson的酿酒师应该会感到惊讶吧。罗利克说：“我可能还会推荐比较年轻的里奥哈(Rioja)，因为他们在里奥哈也用美国橡木。起码应该把你手里最香甜美味的葡萄酒给他们。”

Although I'm a fan of wines that are luscious, I've never been fond of an overt use of oak. I last tasted Silver Oak many, many years ago. In fact, it was the first wine I was able to identify blind -- I was given a glass at a Vermont resort and told to guess its identity. I got it on my first try. I wanted to see what I thought of it today.
尽管我喜欢香甜美味的葡萄酒，但我向来不喜欢橡木味太重。我上次尝Silver Oak是好多年前。事实上，这是第一款我能够盲品出来的酒——我在佛蒙特州(Vermont)的一个度假村时，有人让我尝了一杯，让我猜是什么酒。我一口就猜中了。我想知道现在我怎么看这款酒。

So I bought a bottle of 1982 Silver Oak Alexander Valley ($106) and the 2008 and 2009 vintages of both the Napa and Alexander Valley wines ($110 and $60, respectively). (Silver Oak releases its wines much later than most California Cabernet producers, who are on their 2010 and 2011 vintages.)
于是我买了一瓶1982年的Silver Oak Alexander Valley（106美元），还有2008年和2009年产自纳帕谷和亚历山大谷的年份酒（分别为110美元和60美元）。（Silver Oak比大多数加州解百纳生产商推出葡萄酒的时间都晚，他们现在都在推2010 和2011年的年份酒。）

For my tasting, I invited a couple I know to join me. The husband was a Silver Oak-loving fellow who had even visited the label's property long ago. I offered them dinner, too -- steak, of course.
我邀请了一对认识的夫妇和我一起品酒。丈夫喜欢喝Silver Oak，很久以前甚至参观过酒庄。我还请他们吃了晚餐——当然是牛排。

The results could be summed up by that word that frustrates all wine drinkers: inconclusive. While I'd been impressed by how well the 32-year-old 1982 Alexander Valley Cabernet was holding up, with a still-firm acidity, soft tannins and a brown-sugared apple sort of fruit, my Silver Oak-loving friend was of a different opinion. He's used to lots of young, luscious fruit, and thought it was 'too old.' The fruit was faded and the notes were more earthy.
结果可以用那个让所有葡萄酒爱好者沮丧的词来总结：没有结论。我惊讶于32年陈酿的1982年Alexander Valley Cabernet能够保持得如此之好，酸度依然稳固，单宁柔和，红糖煎苹果般的果香，但我那位喜欢Silver Oak的朋友看法不同。他习惯浓郁的未成熟葡萄的甘甜果味，觉得这个“太老了”。这款酒的果味淡了，更具泥土芳香。

We were all pleased by both of the 2008 Cabernets -- the wife's and my favorite was the more restrained Alexander Valley, while the husband liked the Napa, which was a bit richer and more full-bodied than the Alexander Valley bottling. None of us much cared for the 2009 wines, which were both much oakier, the fruit sweeter and more overt. The 2009 Napa bottling in particular was decidedly young, but also tiring to drink -- it was sweet, with over- the-top ripeness. 'And it's certainly not cheap,' the wife said of the $110 price tag.
我们对两款2008年的解百纳都很满意——我和那位妻子最喜欢比较内敛的亚历山大谷，而那位丈夫喜欢纳帕，味道比亚历山大谷浓郁，酒体更饱满。我们都不太喜欢2009年的酒，橡木味都比较浓重，果味更甜也更明显。2009年的纳帕毫无疑问很年轻，但喝起来也很无聊——很甜，成熟的过头了。那位妻子评价这款110美元的葡萄酒说：“肯定也不便宜。”

However sexy it might be to hate Silver Oak, I simply found that I couldn't. Maybe it was because I was surprised by how well the 1982 wine showed at such an advanced age, or maybe it's because I've had much worse wines. Or maybe just because it went so well with the steak.
无论对Silver Oak表示反感显得多酷，我发现我还是做不到。也许是因为我对那瓶1982年的酒过了这么多年仍然保持得这么好感到惊讶，也许是因为我尝过更糟糕的酒。又或许只是因为它和牛排是绝配。