低緯度高海拔的中國葡萄酒

Tersina Shieh

云南省的天氣溫熱，本來不適合葡萄的生長，但因為有高海拔的彌補，所以品質還不錯。香格里拉的葡萄園位于滇西北毗鄰川藏的青藏高原，種植面積2000余畝，最高海拔達2900米。目前在云南僅有不到10家酒廠，其中3家僅生產冰酒。托朋友戴鴻靖的福（他也是一位釀酒師），我們得以在寒冷的1月里拜訪了其中4家酒莊，親身體驗了在如此偏遠的地區釀酒，究竟是件多么有挑戰的事情。

香格里拉酒業是云南最大的國有酒莊，這家酒莊成立于20年前，成立初期本打算釀造青稞酒，但酒莊卻在產區內發現了一批健康的老藤葡萄。接著，香格里拉酒業便開創了葡萄種植的先河，如今，酒莊正從分布在168個鄉村和320個地塊的800多公頃葡萄園里采購葡萄。經理李達帶我們參觀了幾個葡萄園。在海拔2200米左右的一些葡萄園里，種植著以赤霞珠為主的紅葡萄品種，但在大約5年前，酒莊也開始種植品麗珠、西拉和梅洛。霞多麗種植在海拔2800米-2900米較高的葡萄園中。我們只品嘗了霞多麗、西拉和瑪桑這三種葡萄酒，它們擁有新鮮的酸度和活潑的果味。霞多麗葡萄酒讓我感到驚喜，我還以為這款酒會橡木桶味過重，但事實并非如此。

我們繼續沿著湄公河，順著一條蜿蜒的道路前往茨中村。150年前，法國的傳教士在茨中引入了釀酒技術，茨中教堂的圍墻內仍然種植著老藤玫瑰蜜（一種歐美雜交葡萄品種）。白舸是一位常駐上海的法國人，他曾在2010年拜訪茨中村后，呼吁要恢復傳教士的釀酒活動。最終，他在2013年建立了霄嶺酒莊。這是一個只有3公頃的小酒莊，種植著赤霞珠、梅洛、佳美娜和霞多麗，這些葡萄分別散布在附近的4個村莊里。酒莊前2個年份的葡萄酒是由瑞士釀酒師釀制，但從2017年起，白舸聘請了一位在勃艮第和索諾瑪都有釀酒經驗的中國釀酒師：牟超。我們品嘗了還在橡木桶里的樣本酒，包括：2018年份梅洛和赤霞珠，以及2017年份赤霞珠/梅洛的混釀，這些葡萄酒將橡木的味道完美融合，展現了良好的潛力。酒莊在2019年只生產了15000瓶葡萄酒，但白舸正計劃嘗試種植更多的葡萄品種，包括黑皮諾和西拉。

第二天，我們冒險來到海拔2600米的阿東村，這里是國際知名的云南酒莊敖云的故鄉。迎接我們的是陡峭的山坡以及令人嘆為觀止的雪景葡萄園，酒莊經理雷米·文森特向我們詳細地介紹敖云酒莊是如何建成以及它的風土特色。很顯然，葡萄園里會蓋上這么厚一層雪的情況并不常見，我們真的很幸運能夠見到如此壯觀的景色。曾就職于酩悅·軒尼詩的已故釀酒師托尼·喬丹生前歷時四年，在中國艱辛地尋找最適合種植葡萄的地區，敖云酒莊就是他所找到的答案。酒莊會在葡萄栽培團隊的嚴格監督下，從28公頃的赤霞珠、品麗珠、西拉和小味兒多葡萄園以及處于2200米-2600米海拔范圍內的120戶農田里采收葡萄。敖云酒莊每瓶葡萄酒的零售價約2500港元（300美元），這是中國最貴的葡萄酒，但也自有它的原因。酒莊的平均產量只有20百升-25百升/公頃，所有的葡萄酒都會在桶中陳釀約15個月（50%新桶和50%一年桶）。由于高海拔地區的葡萄酒往往表現力不足，所以混釀過程會在香港低海拔處進行。最終釀成的葡萄酒只有兩萬瓶。我們品嘗的2018年份和2019年份桶中樣酒來自不同的村莊，這些葡萄酒都很濃郁、漂亮、優雅。

沿著敖云酒莊這條路一直走，就到了我朋友戴鴻靖的小酒莊，他生產的葡萄酒酒標是“小圃釀造”。酒莊的霞多麗來自附近的葡萄園，采用野生酵母發酵后浸皮，然后在舊橡木桶中進行陳年。戴鴻靖釀造的葡萄酒與敖云酒莊風格完全不同，非常清新、純凈，令人興奮。我不禁開始聯想人和風土的因素究竟會給葡萄酒帶來多大的影響。顯然，葡萄采收的時間以及葡萄酒的制作方式會對最終的風格有著重要的影響。2018年葡萄酒是戴鴻靖在云南釀出的第一個年份（霞多麗和赤霞珠），此外他還用來自寧夏的葡萄釀出了6款葡萄酒。

李達、貝特朗、雷米和戴鴻靖都認為，香格里拉為葡萄樹的生長提供了更加有利的風土條件。香格里拉以北，海拔6740米高的梅里雪山阻隔了來自印度洋的潮濕空氣，因此該地區處于干燥的生長季，年降雨量在300-600毫米之間。山區的風土以及高海拔導致晝夜溫差大，夏季涼爽，平均氣溫在23°C左右，這讓葡萄可以緩慢成熟并且將酸度保持得很好。雷米進一步解釋道：由于香格里拉受到山影的影響，所以日照時間比波爾多少了2個小時。然而，如此高海拔地區形成的強烈紫外線會使單寧更加成熟。葡萄的轉色期也會比波爾多長15-25天，采收期則是從9月的第一周開始持續10周，一直到11月的第二周結束。李達說，冬天的溫度往往在-8℃至-10℃，但不會持續太久，為了保護葡萄藤則需要進行埋土。

這樣看來，香格里拉比煙臺和寧夏更具優勢。煙臺處于中國東部沿海地區，雨量充沛。寧夏處于中國西部地區，由于葡萄生長期短常會導致單寧不成熟，尤其是赤霞珠。當然，香格里拉也并非全無挑戰，這里交通不便，電力也不太可靠。香格里拉的酒莊距離麗江比較近，與葡萄園之間的距離約300公里，到了葡萄采收期時需要用卡車運輸5個多小時來進行下一步的加工。我們在訪問產區時，山口和機場的主干路因為天氣不好而關閉了。為了從麗江到離葡萄園最近的德欽，我們坐著巴士行駛了400公里，花了10個小時！另一個問題就是勞動力，酒莊需要在夏季蘑菇采收期時與蘑菇行業競爭勞工。除此以外就是費用，僅葡萄栽培費用，包括葡萄園租賃和勞動力在內，就高達5500元/畝（超過9萬港元/公頃）。

除非香格里拉的基礎設施和交通能夠有極大的改善，不然這里的葡萄酒依然會是小眾且價格高昂。我們必須要接受這個事實：這就是來自失落秘境的葡萄酒。

Yunnan provine maybe too warm for vine growing but it is more than compensated by the high altitude. The vineyards in Shangri-la， the Tibetan highland in the northwest of Yunnan adjacent to Sichuan and Tibet， are planted above 2，000， and up to 2，900m.

At present， there are less than ten wineries in Yunnan of which three are only making ice wine. Thanks to friend and winemaker Ian Dai， we visited four of them in the cold month of January， experiencing first hand the challenges of making wine in such a remote place.

Shangri-la Winery is state-owned and the biggest in Yunnan. The company was set up 20 years ago with the intention to make Barley wine but came across some healthy old vines in the region. It then pioneered grape growing and is now sourcing grapes from over 800 ha of vineyards spread among 168 villages and 320 blocks. Manager Li Da showed us a few vineyard sites. The slightly lower vineyards at around 2，200m are planted with red grape varieties dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon but the company also started planting Cabernet Franc， Syrah and Merlot about 5 years ago. Chardonnay was planted at higher vineyard site between 2，800 and 2，900m. We tasted only three wines， Chardonnay， Syrah and Marsan（Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon） and they were good with fresh acidity and lively fruit characters. I was pleasantly surprised by the Cabernet Sauvignon which I half-expected might be too oak dominate but it was not the case at all.

We continued down the Mekong River on a winding road to CiZhong ， where winemaking was introduced by the French missionaries around 150 years ago and there are still old vines of Rose Honey （a Vitis Vinifera x Vitis Labrusca hybrid） grown within the church walls of CiZhong. Bertrand Cristau， a Frenchman based in Shanghai， had a calling to revive the missionaries winegrowing activity after his first visit to the region in early 2010. He eventually set up Xiaoling Estate in 2013， a small outfit with only 3 ha of Cabernet Sauvignon， Merlot， Carmenere and Chardonnay scattered in four villages nearby. The winemaker for the first two vintages were a Swiss winemaker but since 2017， he engaged a Chinese winemaker Mu Chao with experience in Burgundy and Sonoma. The barrel samples we tasted， 2018 Merlot， 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2017 Cabernet/ Merlot blend， were well-integrated with discreet oak and showed good potential. They only made 15，000 bottles in 2019 but Bertrand is planning to experiment with more grape varieties such as Pinot Noir and Syrah.

The next day we ventured to the village Adong at 2，600m above-sealevel， home to the most internationally-known Yunnan wine Ao Yun. We were greeted by the stunning snow-covered vineyard view against steep slopes and vineyard manager Rémi Vincent， who thoroughly explained the set up of Ao Yun and its terroir. Apparently， it is not common at all to have that much snow on the vineyard and we considered ourselves lucky to be treated with such an impressive view！ Ao Yun was the result of a painstaking 4-year search for the perfect wine-growing site in China by the late winemaker Tony Jordan of Mo？t-Hennessy. The estate sources grapes from 28ha of Cabernet Sauvignon， Cabernet Franc， Syrah and Petit-Verdot between 2，200 and 2，600m altitude tended by 120 families under the strict supervision of Ao Yun viticulture team. Retailed at around HK$2，500（USD300） per bottle， it is the most expensive wine from China and for a reason. Average yield is only 20-25hl/ha and all wine is aged in barrel（50% new and 50% one year old） for around 15 months. Since wine is less expressive at high altitude， blending is done in the lower altitude of Hong Kong. Only 20，000 bottles of wine are made. The 2018 and 2019 barrel samples we tested were from different villages and they were all dense， pretty and polished.

Just down the road of Ao Yun is the mini-winery of my friend Ian， who makes wine under the label Xiao Pu. The Chardonnay was sourced from vineyards close by， fermented with wild yeast and skin contact then aged in old barrels. The wine is the complete opposite style of Ao Yuns– fresh， pure and exciting. I couldnt help but wonder the human terroir factor. When the grapes are picked and how the wine is made certainly have a major impact of the final style. 2018 is Ians first vintage in Yunnan（Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon） and he also makes 6 wines with grapes sourced from Ningxia.

Li Da， Bertrand， Rémi and Ian all believe Shangri-la presents a more favourable terroir for growing vines. The Meili Snow Mountain at 6，740m above sea level north of Shangri-la blocks the humid air from Indian Ocean therefore the area enjoys a dry growing season with between 300 and 600mm annual rainfall. The mountain terroir and high altitude result in high diurnal temperature difference and cool summer with average temperature around 23oC that allows grapes to ripen slowly and retains acidity. Rémi further elaborated that comparing to Bordeaux， the vineyards receive 2 hours less sunshine because of the shade created by the mountains. However， the intense UV light at such high altitude enables riper tannin. The veraison period is also 15-25 days longer than in Bordeaux and harvest can be up to 10 weeks from the first week of September until the second week of November. Li Da said winter temperature can be -8 to-10oC but it is not over a prolong period therefore vines do need to be buried under soil for protection.

In this respect， Shangri-la has advantages over Yantai in the eastern coast of China where rainfall is abundant， and Ningxia in the west where the short growing season often results in unripe tannin especially in Cabernet Sauvignon. However， Shangri-la is not without challenges. The region is not easily accessible and electricity not reliable. The winery of Shangri-la Winery is closer to Lijiang， some 300km from the vineyards and grapes have to be trucked over 5 hours for processing at harvest. When we were there， the main road over the mountain pass and airport were closed because of bad weather， and it took us 10 hours for a 400km bus ride from Lijiang to Deqin， the town closest to the vineyard sites！ The other issue is labour as the wineries have to compete with the mushroom industry for labour during mushroom picking season in summer. On top of this is the cost， only viticultural expense including leasing of vineyard and labour is a whopping RMB5，500/mu （over HK$90，000/ha）.

Unless the infrastructure and transportation are vastly improved， wine from Shangri-la will remain niche and premium. Perhaps we just have to accept the fact that the wine indeed comes from a lost paradise.