意態由來釀不成
小時候看英語殘片，每次有羅馬大軍凱旋而歸定必大杯酒大塊肉，羊角盃盛着的葡萄酒，血紅色的喝得人興奮不已。大兵哥摟著穿很少布的衣服的埃及侍女打情罵俏，多香艷！
想像中的紅葡萄酒應該是香噴噴的果子味丶醉死人的香甜。總以為就一定比綠寶橙汁更好喝。然而長大了喝酒的第一次經驗卻令人卻步。尤其是啤酒；苦澀的槐花味難喝死了！真不明白為什麼大人們會這樣的樂此不疲。
然後跟很多香港人一樣，我的酒路歷程是杜松子酒、白蘭地、威士忌、伏特加、龍舌蘭、香檳、白葡萄酒、紅葡萄酒……唯一比較接近小時候對葡萄酒的想像只有蜜桃紅。當然以有限的消費能力、用來消暑解渴的夏天佐膳酒還是可以接受的。，
喝了十年左右的酒，大名鼎鼎的波爾多五大上榜、也滿足不了我小時候對葡萄酒的憧憬。唯一比較接近的，是1947年的栢翠斯五公升。1996年，為城中美食大亨搜購的。大主顧招呼朋友喝的當然不能有閃失；晚膳前四個小時開瓶醒酒。甫開瓶透氣了一刻, 應有的香氣開始浮現；醒酒器蓋上備用。瓶底帶渣的酒，用咖啡濾紙過濾了，就是我的花紅。櫻桃、山楂、藍棗和酸梅子的味道，猶如果醬，酒精和單寧早已變得柔和十分軟滑而且不嗆口不刺鼻，甚有玉液瓊漿的感覺！那一刻，多麼渴望做浮士德！撒但：我的靈魂拿去吧！此刻只想美酒！
是否越老越嘮叨？總覺得我們今天一切消費品都不如前！食物如是，酒更甚！少時在尖沙咀樂道棕櫚樹扒房開一瓶60年代的《石塘咀》，香徹整個地庫！去年喝了一瓶2000的奧比安丶1997的茂桐和一瓶、一瓶2009《雙小丑》。沒有一瓶不是膺品。為顧存酒主的驕傲，沈默地養金魚吧！
直到我遇上了史提芬班威夫，要滿足兒時對美酒的幻想，不須要賣靈魂了。他的釀酒風格是信手拈來、率性而為。不率人的性而是葡萄的性。他愛就每年收成的天氣特質，用同一品種，製作不同類型的酒；時而辛、時而甜、有時氣泡丶有時靜止。真的因材施製，充份發揮葡萄的天然本色，不矯情飾行。
史提芬并不是科班出身，但卻仰慕當世各《橙酒》大師；借鏡其精髓自創一格。他的《麝香泡》就是仿效斯洛文尼亞國酒莫飛雅的《純漿》汽酒，不除渣，帶渣瓶內陳。天真爛漫中又帶典雅貴胄，驚艶處如電影《戀戀山城》續集中女主角曼奴山泉裸舞的一幕，誰不怦然心動！
三年前喝這酒，被她的白玫瑰、壽眉茶丶茘枝、杏仁、甜香料 ，層層疊疊。聞香花果滿溢，口感卻辛乾。餘韻悠長，收結的微酸恰到好處，惹人追飲。今年年初喝更見豐滿濃郁，白桃香和薑花香更明顯。有一日家中獨酌，餘酒用香檳栓再封。經過三天的氧化，那和歌山水蜜桃和妃子笑茘枝香滲人心肺。越飲越愛。估計這酒連渣瓶內陳，興許還有十餘年窖藏潛力。
酒不在貴，有心則醇。不需要花巧，也無須過份雕啄。殊途同歸，放諸各酒皆準，難不成當年枉殺嘉仕伯。謝謝史提芬救了我的靈魂。
Indescribable Beauty
When I was a kid, every time I watched old Hollywood movies, Roman soldiers eat and drink massively after the victory. Gargling red wine in the golden goblet, cuddling Egyptian waitress who dress very little. How excited they are!
I imagined the red wine should be overwhelmed with the aroma of fruits and honey. It must be at least more delicious than Greensport orange juice. However my first experience with alcohol was not that pleasant. Especially beer, the bitterness is so unagreeable. I could hardly understand why adults are so fond of it.
Like many Hong Kongers of my age, my drinking path is from gin, brandy, vodka, tequila, champagne, white wine red wine, only the Matues Rose tasted similar to my childhood imagination. Well, with my limited spending power, it is acceptable as a summer thirst quenching wine.
After drinking for A decade or more, the top five of the classify Bordeaux still cannot satisfy the longing of my childhood dream wine. A bottle of 1947 château Petrus Jerobaum I drank in 1996 was almost there. I procured it for a famous foodie tycoon in town. It was for entertaining his guests. I open the wine four hours before the party for breathing. Aromas it should have started emerging after a quarter. I then covered the decanter and filtered the muddy racked wine with a coffee filter paper. That was my bonas. Cherry, hawthorn, jujube, plume came layer after layers. Alcohol and tannins were very mellowed and subtle. That was the wine I dreamed of. That moment I envied Faust. Hello Satan! Take my soul and give me good wine in return, please!
Not sure if I complain a lot because I am getting old. Lately I feel things are not so good as the old times. Food is the case and wine is even worse. I recalled I opened a bottle of Chateau Certan at the Palm Grill Restaurant on the Lock Road in TST in 1988. The entire restaurant in the basement was filled with its aromas. Last year I had not so good experience with a bottle of 2000 Haut Brion, 1997 Mouton Rothschild and Clerc Milon 2009. I strongly doubt if those were real ones. To keep the pride of the wine owner, I kept silent.
To satisfy my childhood imagination of good wine, I guess I do not need to sell my soul when I came across Stephane Bannwarth’s wine. His making of wine comes at his finger tips and be as the grape. He decides what to make according to the performance of the each varietal of each different harvest. Sometimes sweet, sometimes dry, sometime still and sometimes sparkling. He let grapes speak for themselves and never be pretentious.
Stephane is not formally trained as an oenologist. He admires many orange wine masters and mimic their philosophy and develops his own style. His <<Muscat Frizz >>copies the <<Puro Rose>> of Movia of Slovenia. It is undisgorged and aged on lees in the bottle. It turns up to be innocent with serenity. It is as stunning as the nude dancing scene of the movie Manon de Source. Who can hold the stirring!
Three years ago, I was fascinated its aromas of white rose, white peony tea, lychee, almond, sweet spice. It was complex in a naive way, overwhelmed with fruits and floral notes on the nose but stone dry on the palate. The finish was long with a clever acidity at the end that lured me kept drinking. I tasted another bottle in January, it was getting more voluptuous with remarkable white peach and ginger. One day I was drinking home alone and could not finish the whole bottle. I sealed it with a Champagne stopper. 3 days later, it turned up to be like Wakayama white peach and Concubine’s Smile Lychee. I guess cellar potential of this bottle with lees can be another decade or more.
Good wine does not have to be expensive. It depends on the passion of the maker. It does not have to be over crafted and noisy. Same philosophy to all alcohol, I should not have crucified Carlsberg. Thanks Stephane to have save my soul!
羅蘭班威夫麝香泡2016 0.75L
Laurent Bannwarth Muscat Frizz 2016 0.75L
原價 Original HKD 468
早鳥優惠 Early Bird 12 bottle瓶 HKD4776
P.S. Wine is naturally muddy. Pressure inside the bottle is 6 times the Earth’s atmosphere. Please chill up to 2 degree centigrade from bottom to top before opening to avoid splashing. Keep it in freezer for 1.5 hours. Open once it leaves the freezer and your hands should avoid direct contact to the bottle to create a temperature difference. Get your big glass stand by when opening.
備註：此酒天然混濁。瓶內氣壓為大氣六倍。開平前請從頂至底冷藏至攝氏2度。可以放冰格1.5小時。拿出冰箱請馬上開。避免手部直接觸碰酒瓶導致瓶內溫差。準備酒杯接酒。
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-Pre-arrival products ETA early June 2022 預售貨品估計6月初抵港。
-100% advance payment to secure order. 百分百預付已確認訂單。
-Availability upon written confirmation. 供應量以書面確認為準。
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- In case we loss the bid, full amount will be refund without interests within 14 working days. 如不中標，全數貨款14工作天以內不含利息奉還。
-Min order HKD3000 for free delivery . Order below HKD 3K sur-charge HKD120 for HK Island， HKD200 for KLN, HKD300 for NT. 港幣三千元訂單以上香港九龍免運費。 港幣三千以下訂單附加本地運費 港島HKD120/九龍HKD200/新界HKD300。
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-Limited production of 800 to 1200 bottles per year. 每年限量生產800至1200瓶。