【英语生活】佳士得将拍卖勃艮第珍品葡萄酒

February is turning out to be a big month for well-heeled Burgundy lovers. La Paulée de San Francisco, Daniel Johnnes tribute to the Burgundy's La Paulée de Meursault, runs from Feb. 22 to 25 this year (Johnnes alternates annually between New York and San Francisco).

In the meantime, Christie's is auctioning off Henri Jayer's wine cellar in Hong Kong this Friday.

Jayer was arguably the most revered winemaker of the 20th century, the man who helped to redefine Burgundy and inspire several generations of acolytes. Fifteen years after his retirement, and six years after his death, his wines are among the most sought after treasures in the wine world, rivaling those of Domaine Romanée Conti in the hearts of Burgundy fanatics.

Jayer was born into a winemaking family in Burgundy and produced his first vintage in 1945. In 1951 he leased several choice parcels in Vosne Romanée and Nuits St. George, and bought his first parcel of an abandoned vineyard called Cros Parantoux, which he painstakingly cleared and planted. Although the land was classified as premier cru─the second tier of the Burgundy qualitative scale─his Vosne Romanée Cros Parantoux became even more sought after than his Grand Cru Richebourg and Echezeaux.

Jayer's meticulous attention to the vineyard and his distaste for the fertilizers and pesticides which inundated the soils of Burgundy in the post-war years, as well as the new high yield clones of pinot noir, helped to inspire a reaction in the direction of natural farming. His traditionalist cellar practices, including the reliance on wild yeasts and his refusal to filter, were equally influential.

It's hard to exaggerate the reverence with which Burg lovers hold the wines of Jayer, or to avoid using the word 'cult.' I know collectors who flew to Paris in the nineties in order to drink mature Jayer wines at le Tour d'Argent, which had a large selection at prices that reflected their release cost, which was far below the contemporary retail price. If you and your buddies drank five or six twenty-year-old bottles, the price differential more than paid for a business class ticket.

As they say of ocean front real estate─they're not making any more of it. But unlike ocean front real estate the stock of Jayer wines is diminished, as many of the remaining bottles get consumed every year.

As they become more scarce, the question of provenance and authenticity becomes more important, which is why the Christie's sale is creating so much excitement among hardcore Burgnuts. These wines constitute the remainder of Jayer's personal cellar, all of which have rested in Burgundy since their birth. Christie's reports that the corks are all original although the wines have been pristine new labels and capsules.

Needless to say, bargain hunters need not apply. These are legendary wines that will provide bragging rights along with, one presumes, drinking ecstasy.

The location of the auction is further confirmation of Hong Kong's ascendancy in the wine auction market, and seems to give weight to rumors that Chinese buyers, formerly obsessed with First Growth Bordeaux, are becoming increasingly interested in burgundy.

Those who can't justify spending the equivalent of a new Lexus for a half case of wine should look for the wines of Jayer's nephew Emmanuel Rouget, and Meo Camuzet. Both domain's wines were once made by Jayer and continue to reflect his influence.

二月份将成为阔绰的勃艮第酒爱好者的节日。葡萄酒盛会La Paulee de San Francisco将在今年2月22日到25日举行，这是约翰内斯(Daniel Johnnes)推出的旧金山版本的Paulee de Meursault。（约翰内斯每年在纽约和旧金山轮流举办这一活动）。

Christian Bon贾伊尔(Henri Jayer)此外，佳士得拍卖公司(Christie's)本周五将在香港拍卖贾伊尔(Henri Jayer)葡萄酒酒窖中的藏品。

贾伊尔也许称得上是20世纪最受尊敬的葡萄酒制造者，他不但帮助重新定义了勃艮第葡萄酒，还启发了几代葡萄酒学徒。在他退休15年之后，也就是在他去世的六年后，他的葡萄酒仍然是葡萄酒界最受追捧的珍品，在勃艮第葡萄酒痴迷者的心中可以同罗曼尼•康帝(Romanee-Conti)酒庄的酒相媲美。

贾伊尔出生在勃艮第一个酿酒家庭，1945年他酿造出了自己的第一桶葡萄酒。1951年他在Vosne Romanee和Nuits St. George租下了几处上好葡萄园，并购买了他的第一处葡萄园。该葡萄园名为Cros Parantoux，此前已遭废弃，他在这里花了很大的功夫，不辞劳苦地清理和种植。尽管这片葡萄园被归类为一级（premier cru），但他的Vosne Romanee Cros Parantoux 比他的特级葡萄园(Grand Cru)酿出的Richebourg和Echezeaux更受追捧。

贾伊尔对葡萄园一丝不苟的经营，以及他对肥料、杀虫剂和高产的黑比诺(Pinot Noir)克隆品种的摒弃，促成了人们对自然农业方向的向往。战后的数年里，肥料和杀虫剂曾经在在勃艮第地区大量使用。他的传统主义的酒窖做法，包括对野生的酵母菌的依赖和拒绝使用过滤器，都同样产生了深远的影响。

想要描述勃艮第葡萄酒爱好者对贾伊尔葡萄酒的崇敬，怎么夸张都不为过，甚至不用“膜拜”这个词都很难。我就认识一些收藏家，上世纪90年代他们专程飞往巴黎，就是为了在银塔餐厅(le Tour d’Argent)品尝贾伊尔葡萄酒，那里精选了各种酒，其价格如实地反映了这些葡萄酒的初始成本，远低于当时的零售价格。如果你和你的同伴喝上五到六杯20年的葡萄酒，省下的钱足以买一张商务舱机票，而且还有富余。

人们在谈论海景房时通常都会说，海景房的数量也就那么多了。但是和海景房不同，贾伊尔葡萄酒的库存正在减少，因为每年都要消耗掉不少。

随着这种酒变得越发稀缺，其来源和是否纯正变得越来越重要，这也正是佳士得的拍卖会让如此多铁杆勃艮第迷兴奋不已的原因所在。这些葡萄酒是贾伊尔个人酒庄存货的一部分，这些酒自从被酿造出来就一直储存在勃艮第。佳士得的报告称，这些酒就连瓶塞都是原装的，虽然加上了新的标签和金属瓶盖。

不用说，想买便宜货的就不用来了。这些都是葡萄酒中的传奇珍品，买家在享受美酒的同时也获得了吹牛的资本。

拍卖选择在香港举行，这更加印证了香港在葡萄酒拍卖市场的地位正在不断上升。此前有传言称，原本执迷于一等列级酒庄(First Growth)的波尔多的中国买家正在越来越对勃艮第产生兴趣。如此看来，这种传言也并非完全空穴来风。

那些认为花一辆新的雷克萨斯(Lexus)的钱买半箱酒不值得的人应该去看看贾伊尔的侄子鲁热(Emmanuel Rouget)和卡米泽(Meo Camuzet)的葡萄酒。这两个酒庄的酒曾一度由贾伊尔酿制，而他的影响也一直流传至今。