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2012-4-8 10:11
We like our wine to be dry, don’t we? Unless, of course, it is unashamedly very sweet (and even this, alas, is a minority taste). But the supposedly dry wines on our shelves can vary substantially in how much unfermented sugar they contain – and those that fall between dry and sweet present real challenges.
Sweetness in wine, known as “residual sugar” or RS, is usually measured in grams per litre of liquid, although Americans generally express it as a percentage. It is impossible to get RS levels down to zero (wine starts out as very sweet grape juice) but the general threshold of perception of sweetness is around 2g/l (or 0.2 per cent). Most fine red wine is well below this, often less than 1g/l, so doesn’t taste at all sweet. It’s a different story with mass-market brands. Yellow Tail, the archetypal “critter” brand so successful it now accounts for almost half of all Australian wine imported into the US, is famously relatively sweet – as is one of the most successful brands of California Chardonnay, Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve. These brands are likely to notch up sugar levels of at least 5-6g/l. Some of the California whites naughtily labelled Chablis, even though it is a controlled geographical appellation in Europe, can notch up well over 10g/l of sugar, often in the form of deliberately added sweet grape juice concentrate. Those who routinely analyse wine report that, in general, inexpensive products – reds as well as whites and pinks, made in California, Australia, Chile and New Zealand – have notably higher sugar levels than Europe’s “dry” wines: 3-8g/l rather than 1-2g/l. Because of New Zealand’s relatively high latitudes, acid levels in the grapes tend to be higher than in wine regions closer to the equator. The higher the acid, the less sweet a wine tastes, so Kiwi wines’ sweetness tends to be less obvious than those grown in hotter climes. Sweetness can be used deliberately by a winemaker to counteract excessively high acidity. Some of France’s cheapest “dry” white labelled Vin de Pays des C?tes de Gascogne from armagnac country, for example, tends to be extremely high in acidity, so winemakers often soften this by boosting the natural sugar level. This technique may be applied to some commercial whites from Italy where high yields leave the grapes very high in acid. European reds that are sold as dry but often in fact contain up to 8g/l of residual sugar include some of the less artisan wines from Sicily and Puglia in southern Italy. Another factor that can affect how sweet a wine tastes is temperature. At a recent blind tasting, we were, unbeknown to us, served the same wine twice, once at room temperature and once well chilled. We all thought the chilled version of this sweetish wine (60g/l residual sugar) was drier than the warmer one because acidity is more prominent at lower temperatures. Although virtually all red wines are relatively dry, the level of residual sugar in white wines can vary enormously – from under 2g/l to hundreds of grams per litre in naturally sweet wines made from really ripe grapes. Wines at each end of the sweetness spectrum are generally easy to identify and we more or less know how they are going to taste. But a considerable proportion of white wines lie somewhere in between dry and very sweet. It can be very frustrating to buy a bottle of wine and find that it is much sweeter (or drier) than expected. The wines of Alsace have been particular sinners in this respect. They can vary from bone dry to medium sweet without any indication on the label to help the consumer. This has driven a handful of producers such as Zind Humbrecht to devise their own systems for indicating sweetness. In the US, where Riesling has had a head of steam behind it (largely thanks to Washington state’s Chateau Ste Michelle and its joint venture with Erni Loosen of Germany’s Mosel Valley), an American-based organisation called the International Riesling Foundation has also come up with a graphic to be used on wine labels to show the degree of sweetness. It was to test how well this scale, the Riesling Taste Profile, from dry through gradations of medium dry and medium sweet to sweet, could be applied to a wide, international range of Rieslings that 25 of us tried to grade the sweetness levels of 26 examples ranging in sweetness from 0.92 to 207.50g/l. We were shown International Riesling Foundation guidelines of extreme complexity beforehand that indicated what influence acidity and the level of pH (the intensity of the acidity), should have in addition to the residual sugar level. One of the tasters was Wendy Stuckey, responsible for Chateau Ste Michelle’s highly successful Washington state Rieslings. She confessed that, when deciding exactly which point on the Riesling Taste Profile should be applied to each wine, they took no notice of the formulae and did it all on how it tasted. I’m not sure average consumers can be bothered with comparing nuances of gradation. They probably just want to know whether a wine is dry, medium dry, medium sweet or sweet – and many consumers will already be prejudiced against any wine not in the first category. This is a great shame since many delicious fine white wines taste a little sweet, though, thanks to counterbalancing acidity, are far from cloying. I have listed some of my favourites on page 37. The only trouble with medium dry and medium sweet wines is working out how to serve them. If, like a German Kabinett and Sp?tlese, they are low in alcohol, they may well be too light to stand up to anything other than the most neutral white fish dish and are best drunk on their own. But whites such as the richer examples from Austria and Alsace, medium dry Chenins made in the image of Vouvray and Tokaji have quite enough body to accompany food and can be delicious with rich shellfish, creamily sauced savoury dishes and smooth patés. -------------------- Jancis’s picks Medium dry to medium sweet These whites taste richer than bone dry. ? Mullineux 2010 Swartland, South Africa ￡15 ? Botani Moscatel, Seco 2008 Sierras de Málaga, Spain ￡11 ? István Szepsy, Estate Furmint 2008 Tokaj, Hungary ￡20 ? Dom Zind Humbrecht, Turkheim Riesling 2008 Alsace ￡19 ? Frankland Estate, Smith Cullam Riesling 2010 Frankland River, Australia ￡28 ? Hirsch, Heiligenstein Riesling 2009 Kamptal, Austria ￡25 ? Dr Loosen, ürziger Würzgarten, Sp?tlese 2009 Mosel, Germany ￡16 Huet, Le Mont Demi Sec 2008 Vouvray, Loire, ￡23 (Harrogate Fine Wine Co 01423 522270). Vouvray, made from Chenin Blanc, is perhaps the archetypal off-dry white. Huet has made the greatest examples. 简希丝?罗宾逊上一篇文章：
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一般人都喜欢喝味很淡的葡萄酒，是吧？当然除非是特甜的那种（即便如此，这种口味也不多见）。但酒柜里的红酒因所含未发酵糖份的含量不同而显得千差万别——那些处于味淡与甜之间的酒实在让人难以抉择。
葡萄酒中的含糖量（所谓的残余糖分，即RS）以每升酒中所含糖的克数来表示，美国人则通常以百分比来衡量。残余糖分不可能降至没有（酒刚酿出时就是很甜的葡萄汁），但衡量是否是甜酒的门槛约为每升2克（即0.2%）的含糖量。多数高档红葡萄酒的甜度都要比这低得多（常常低于每升1克），所以压根就尝不出甜味来。 对于销量大的葡萄酒来说，则是另当别论。黄尾葡萄酒(Yellow Tail)这个贴有澳洲特有袋鼠标志的品牌在美国市场大获成功，如今几乎占了该国澳洲进口葡萄酒的一半，它就以味甜著称——肯德杰克逊酒庄精选(Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve)的加州霞多丽(Chardonnay)也是如此。这几种葡萄酒的含糖量可能至少达到了每升5-6克。即便莎碧 (Chablis)属于欧洲某些地区特产的葡萄酒，但某些自诩为莎碧、产自加州的白葡萄酒的含糖量超过了每升10克，通常是有意添加适量浓缩葡萄汁。 作常规酒类分析的专家发布报告称：产于加州、澳洲、智利以及新西兰的廉价白、红以及桃红葡萄酒的含糖量通常比欧洲的淡味型酒要高很多：达到每升3-8克，而不是每升1-2克。由于新西兰的纬度相对高一些，葡萄中的酸度总是比赤道附近的产酒区来得高。酸度越高，葡萄酒的甜味就越尝不出来，所以与那些产于气候较为温暖地区的葡萄酒相比，猕猴桃酒的甜度不太明显。 酿酒师可以有意使用甜度来“中和”一下过高的酸度。法国有些很便宜的干白，如产自阿马尼亚克县加斯科涅丘(C?tes de Gascogne, Armagnac)的Vin de Pays酒的酸度就特别高，因此酿酒师通常用提高天然甜度的方法让酒味变得柔和些。产自意大利的某些商业白葡萄酒可能也应用了此方法，该国的葡萄产量很高，所以酿出酒的酸度非常高。当作干红销售、但实际含糖量却高达每升8克的欧洲红酒就包括了产自意大利西西里岛以及该国南部普利来地区(Puglia)某些极普通的工匠葡萄酒。 影响酒甜度的另一大因素是温度。在最近举行的一场盲品(Blind Tasting)中，我们这些品酒师在事先毫不知情的情况下，两次品尝的实际上是一模一样的酒，第一种为常温酒，第二种是冰镇过的酒。品过的人都认为这款甜酒（每升含糖量60克）的冰镇酒要比常温酒的味要来得淡，原因就是低温酒的酸度更为明显。 虽说几乎所有红酒的味都很淡，但各种白葡萄酒之间的残余糖分差别却很大——从每升不到2克至天然甜酒（由自然成熟的葡萄酿制）的每升几百克，不一而足。特甜与不甜的葡萄酒通常很容易识别，因为我们多少知道些它们品起来是啥味。但很多白葡萄酒介于味淡与特甜之间，有时买了一瓶葡萄酒后发现比预想得要甜（或淡），这很让人扫兴，产自阿尔萨斯(Alsace)的葡萄酒尤其给人这种“刻骨铭心”的感觉。它们的口感千差万别，从极淡到中度甜型，消费者从酒瓶的标签上看不出有啥差别。这使得辛特—鸿布列什酒庄(Zind Humbrecht)在内的诸多酒庄设计自己的甜度标示体系。 在美国，雷司令的销量遥遥领先（这很大程度上要归功于华盛顿州的圣米歇尔酒庄(Chateau Ste Michelle)以及它与德国摩泽尔河谷(moselle valley)的路森博士酒庄(Erni Loosen)的合资公司），总部位于美国的国际雷司令基金会(International Riesling Foundation)也想出了在酒瓶标签上用图解的方式来标示酒的甜度。 我们25位品酒师给产自全球各地的26种雷司令（从每升0.92克至每升207.5克）样酒确定甜度，以检测雷司令酒口感度（the Riesling Taste Profile，从味淡依次到不太甜、中度甜最后到甜）标准的实际效果。我们事先看了国际雷司令基金会所制订的异常复杂的标准指南：即除了残余糖分外，酸度以及pH值（酸碱度）会对酒有何影响。其中一位品酒师是温迪?斯塔基(Wendy Stuckey)，她负责产自华盛顿州圣米歇尔酒庄、异常畅销的雷司令酒。她坦承他们这些品酒师在决定如何用精准的雷司令口感度来比对每一款酒时，并没有把规则当回事，而是根据实际口感下鉴定。 我不知道普通消费者是否会不厌其烦地使用这些彼此之间差别不大的口感度标准。他们可能只想知道某款酒是不甜、不太甜、中度甜还是甜——许多消费者已经对第一等级品牌以外的酒产生了偏见，这的确令人感到非常遗憾，由于酸的中和作用，许多口感好的上乘白葡萄酒略带甜味，那种享受难以言表。我在下面列举了自己最喜欢喝的几款葡萄酒。 不太甜与中度甜葡萄酒唯一的问题是如何与菜肴搭配得当。如德国珍藏酒(German Kabinett)与晚秋清甜酒(Sp?tlese)的酒精度很低，酒味淡，只能搭配味道最为中性的白鱼喝，而且最好是自斟自饮。但产自澳洲及阿尔萨斯、仿照沃莱(Vouvray)与托卡伊(Tokaji)酿制的白诗南（Chenins，不太甜）等酒味醇厚的白葡萄酒则是很好的佐餐酒，搭配很难消化的贝类海鲜、厚汁类可口菜肴以及滑爽的肉酱，再惬意不过了。 简希丝品酒经验 从不太甜的酒到中度甜酒 以下几款白葡萄酒比干白的酒味要醇厚得多 ?南非斯瓦特兰地区(Swartland )2010年酿制的马利诺酒(Mullineux)售价为15英镑 ? 西班牙Sierras de Málaga地区2008年酿制的Botani Moscatel Seco酒售价为11英镑 ? 匈牙利托卡伊地区(Tokaj)福尔明酒庄(Estate Furmint)2008年酿制的István Szepsy酒售价为20英镑 ? 阿尔萨斯辛特—鸿布列什酒庄(Dom Zind Humbrecht)2008年酿制的Turkheim雷司令酒售价为19英镑 ? 澳大利亚法兰克兰河(Frankland River)法兰克兰酒庄(Frankland Estate)2010年酿制的史密斯?库伦雷司令酒(Smith Cullam Riesling)售价为28英镑 ? 奥地利坎普谷(Kamptal)赫希酒庄(Hirsch) 2009年酿制的海利根施泰雷司令酒(Heiligenstein Riesling)售价为25英镑 ?德国莫泽尔地区路森博士酒庄酿制的ürziger Würzgarten酒与晚秋清甜酒售价均为16英镑 卢瓦尔河谷(Loire)沃莱酒庄2008年酿制的Huet与 Le Mont Demi Sec酒售价均为23英镑（由哈罗盖特精细酒业有限公司(Harrogate Fine Wine Co)出品，电话：01423 522270）。由白诗南(Chenin Blanc)酿制的沃莱酒或许是最原汁原味的微甜白葡萄酒，各款Huet酒就是最好的明证。 译者：常和 简希丝?罗宾逊上一篇文章：
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