酒如其人:強(qiáng)大氣場(chǎng)包裹親和靈魂

上海外灘27號(hào)建成于1920年，原為英國(guó)貿(mào)易商怡和洋行的產(chǎn)業(yè)。這座歷經(jīng)百年風(fēng)霜的復(fù)古主義建筑幾經(jīng)易手——它曾經(jīng)是日本海軍的情報(bào)處，又做過上海外經(jīng)貿(mào)委的辦公樓。如今，這座氣場(chǎng)強(qiáng)大的9層建筑更名“羅斯福”，由美國(guó)的羅斯福基金會(huì)投資改建成頂級(jí)的餐飲會(huì)所。二樓的酒窖占據(jù)1100平方米，藏有16個(gè)酒類分銷商在此寄售的20萬(wàn)瓶2500個(gè)品牌的酒，高檔的售價(jià)50萬(wàn)人民幣。酒窖為歐洲莊園風(fēng)格，一排排深色木制酒柜，混凝土墻面無(wú)任何裝飾，地面為石材，沒有吊頂。Tom Hinde告訴我，在一扇推拉架之后藏著一個(gè)隱秘的包房，供尊貴的客人使用。里面存放著頂級(jí)酒，包括來(lái)自他的家鄉(xiāng)納帕谷的傳奇嘯鷹紅酒。

這時(shí)候Tom的老板姚明從我們身邊走過。身高2米29的姚明氣場(chǎng)當(dāng)然是強(qiáng)大的，正如這座宏偉的歐洲建筑。然而第一次如此近距離見到姚明，卻感覺他是個(gè)友好親切的普通人。Tom Hinde是姚明葡萄酒公司的總裁兼釀酒總監(jiān)，他告訴我，說來(lái)也巧，姚明的這種為他贏得無(wú)數(shù)中外粉絲的個(gè)性正好跟納帕谷紅酒的風(fēng)格不謀而合。2011年12月1日，姚明納帕谷葡萄酒在羅斯福舉辦盛大的上市會(huì)。首批5000箱僅供中國(guó)市場(chǎng)；另一批500箱的1.5升限量版將于2012年初發(fā)布。

“姚明愛上了納帕谷的赤霞珠葡萄酒，這種酒氣場(chǎng)很強(qiáng)大。”Tom解釋道，“而我的任務(wù)就是讓納帕谷的葡萄大放異彩，展示納帕谷最好的一面。”納帕葡萄酒結(jié)構(gòu)分明，個(gè)性鮮明，丹寧味甜美，正好映射了姚明的性格。

姚明與納帕葡萄酒結(jié)緣始自他的火箭隊(duì)隊(duì)友、剛果球星Dikembe Mutombo的啟蒙。Dikembe煞有其事轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)酒杯的樣子讓姚明神往，漸漸地他也成了一個(gè)紅酒迷。如今，姚老板認(rèn)認(rèn)真真地投入于酒莊主的角色。

姚葡萄酒公司告訴《私人飛機(jī)》，姚明和Tom一直肩并肩地投入到整個(gè)葡萄酒釀造的過程中。姚明提出他對(duì)釀造的意見，但全權(quán)交給Tom去做最后的決定。Tom是釀酒的老手，上世紀(jì)90年代曾經(jīng)擔(dān)任Kendall-Jackson酒莊的總經(jīng)理，后來(lái)又出任Flowers酒莊的總裁。

姚明完全尊重Tom貫徹全天然的釀酒哲學(xué)——這意味著在葡萄種植、發(fā)酵到調(diào)配釀制的整個(gè)過程中，采取最低程度的干預(yù)，一切皆遵循古法，以自然的方式進(jìn)行。

我們也開瓶品嘗。這款酒充滿新世界的活潑，水果味豐富，討人喜歡地甘甜，應(yīng)該很適合搭配當(dāng)下流行的跨界調(diào)理。釀制風(fēng)格和技術(shù)是波爾多的，以82%的赤霞珠、8%的梅洛、7%的麗珠和3%的小維鐸為原料——這些都是盛產(chǎn)于法國(guó)波爾多地區(qū)的葡萄品種。

姚明說，他的團(tuán)隊(duì)強(qiáng)調(diào)長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)計(jì)劃，公司打算在納帕谷購(gòu)買酒莊，并擁有自己的釀酒廠。

納帕谷風(fēng)云人物很多，Robert Mondavi， Joe Heitz， Louis Martini和Jack Jamie Davies都深深地影響了如今納帕谷的風(fēng)貌。可惜這些人物并不為中國(guó)的消費(fèi)者所熟悉。中國(guó)葡萄酒消費(fèi)者更青睞法國(guó)大牌，尤其是拉斐和Mouton。但是如今，納帕有了姚明這樣一位重量級(jí)大使，中國(guó)葡萄酒的版圖是否會(huì)因此改寫呢？

在NBA打了9年球的姚明很喜歡美國(guó)文化。他愛上了德州的牛排，喜歡林肯紀(jì)念碑、華盛頓紀(jì)念塔和曼哈頓時(shí)代廣場(chǎng)這樣的地方。加州一直是他的最愛之一。誰(shuí)能抗拒加州的陽(yáng)光、美食、葡萄酒和好萊塢呢？不過，現(xiàn)在的姚明不那么需要加州通往上海的直達(dá)航班了。也許姚明是納帕谷的莊主，但是他已經(jīng)幸福地衣錦還鄉(xiāng)。

The House of Roosevelt on Bund 27 is an imposing 1920 building built for Jardine Matheson， a prominent colonial British trading firm， and now in the hands of the American power family， the Roosevelts. The second floor of the nine-floor building is an imposing wine cellar of 1，100 square meters， 2，500 labels， and 20，000 bottles， easily the largest cellar in the booming town of Shanghai and possibly the entire country. It is all stone floors and dark wood shelves with raw concrete walls and uncovered ceiling， suggesting a European villa. Tom Hinde told us that there was a \"secret\" cellar hidden behind a sliding shelf with all the super premiums， including Screaming Eagle from his native Napa Valley in the chilly vault.

Tom’s boss and partner Yao Ming passed us at that moment. At 7-foot-6-inch， he looked imposing enough， yet strangely personable and friendly at the same time. I learned quickly enough that this unique and appealing character profile was exactly what Tom Hinde， president and director of winemaking， Yao Family Wines strived to express in the 2009 Yao Ming Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. 5，000 cases have been released exclusively to the China market through Pernod Ricard the importer， with a big launch at the wine cellar of Roosevelt on December 1st， 2011. Another 500-case limited release， Yao Family Reserve， is scheduled for early 2012.

“Yao Ming fell in love with Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon， which happens to be a very imposing wine varietal and region，” explained Tom， “My job as winemaker is to showcase the best of Napa Valley， to highlight the grapes from those vineyards.” Napa Valley wine， big， structured， and delicious with gentle tannins， is what Yao Ming likes and coincidentally， quite a lot like the star himself.

Yao’s love affair with Napa Valley wine started at dinners with his Houston Rocket teammate， the Congolese Dikembe Mutombo. Yao Ming was fascinated with the way Dikembe swirled his glasses. Yao gradually became a connoisseur himself and is now taking the proprietor’s role rather seriously.

Yao Family Wines told U-Jet that Tom and Yao work together throughout the entire production process. Yao gives his input on the wines and blends along the way， but fully trusts in Tom to make all the final decisions and produce the outstanding wines. Tom is an experienced hand in wine， having been general manager of Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates in the 1990s and then president of Flowers Vineyard.

Tom has a free hand in adopting the “artisan” technique -- minimal intervention in the winemaking process， from growing and fermenting all the way to blending， all natural and done in a traditional manner.

We tried a bottle and found the wine very new world – lively， straightforward， with forward aromas and tinge of cheery， blackberry and cassis， but a bit austere on the palate. It is blended in Bordeaux style， with 82% Cabernet Sauvignon， 8% Merlot， 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot， all Bordeaux varietals. We were told the wine will age well and can be enjoyed for many years to come.

Yao Ming and his team plan to purchase vineyards and establish a winery in Napa Valley， with a goal to make Napa Valley wines for the long-term.

Napa Valley has produced its fair share of legends， such as Robert Mondavi， Joe Heitz， Louis Martini and Jack Jamie Davies， hugely influential in shaping the Valley into what it is today. But these figures are unfamiliar to the Chinese， and in China， French wine still reign supreme， with big names such as Lafite and Mouton. Now Napa Valley cannot have a better ambassador than Yao Ming. Will China’s wine landscape be shifting quickly?

Apart from Napa， there are many wonderful things about American culture that Yao enjoyed while living in the United States. He loved the steaks in Texas; he visited the Lincoln Memorial， Washington Monument and Times Square in Manhattan and loved them. California will still be one of Yao’s favorites place in the world. He loves the weather， food， wine， Hollywood movies， and of course the direct flights to Shanghai， which he no longer needs that much. Napa’s new wine proprietor now lives happily in native Shanghai with his family.