The Poetic Life with Wines

西班牙藝術家Salvador Dalí說，「Qui sait déguster ne boit plus jamais de vin mais goûte des secrets.」 ———品味之人飲下的，不是葡萄酒，而是秘密。
而對於Bettane與Desseauve來說，葡萄酒絕不僅僅是商品，而是流淌著的一個個動人故事。
‘Qui sait déguster ne boit plus jamais de vin mais goûte des secrets.’Said by Spanish artist Salvador Dalí. For those with impeccable taste, what they drink is more of secrets than merely wines.
As for Bettane and Desseauve, wine is more than just a product. Wine tells stories.

被譽為“雲端上的葡萄酒奧斯卡”， Le Grand Tasting是巴黎羅浮宮唯一接納的酒展，由《Guide des vins》作者、極具影響力的酒評人Michel Bettane與Thierry Desseauve打造，是歐洲資深酒友再忙也不能錯過的盛會。每年出版的 《Guide des vins》更被法國民眾、超市、酒窖、餐廳譽為「選酒聖經」。

Le Grand Tasting是由兩位酒評人創辦的葡萄酒盛典，年復一年，它的名聲早已超越巴黎和法國邊界，開始在倫敦、香港、中國內地流行……而Le Grand Tasting Wine Awards評比大賽的勢頭，也從巴黎蔓延至香港。

Famed as ‘Academy Award of Wines’, Le Grand Tasting is the only exhibition allowed to be held in the Louvre Museum in Paris, which is organised by the authors of Le Guide des vins as well as the world’s greatest French wine specialists, Bettane and Desseauve. Published every year, Le Guide des vins is praised by French people as the Bible of Wine Selection.
Le Grand Tasting is a wine festival that was created by Bettane and Desseauve more than13 years ago, this “meet the winemakers” experience is also taking place is Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Le Grand Tasting Awards is a wine competition that gains more popularity in Paris and Hong Kong.

在Le Grand Tasting Wine Awards HK 2019 （下稱“Le Grand HK 2019”）， 我們有幸對酒評人Desseauve進行了一次專訪。
說起與其他葡萄酒評比大賽最大的區別，大概就是Le Grand HK 2019邀請的評判不僅有品酒專家，還有一部分則是葡萄酒愛好者和普通消費者。Le Grand Tasting Wine Awards 舉辦的宗旨並非是尋找那些完美無缺的“天選之釀”，而是在一定的價格範圍內，尋找性價比高的葡萄酒。相較於高高在上地評述，Bettane與Desseauve更希望能從消費者的角度出發：對於普羅大眾而言，每個人對“好酒”的期望各不相同，品嘗酒釀所獲得的愉悅感也不盡相似。Desseauve說，專家與非專家的組合，更能碰撞出不一樣的花火，匯聚不同的觀點，傾聽更“接地氣”的反饋。所謂「知之者不如好之者，好之者不如樂之者」，Le Grand HK 2019就是他們為葡萄酒愛好者搭建的一個倡導快樂喝酒、快樂學習的媒體社交平台。
時不時聽到一些所謂專家說，相比起新世界，還是舊世界的葡萄酒更為優雅，堪稱正統。Desseauve卻不這麼認為：「不同的地區氣候風土各不相同，適宜種植的葡萄品種自然也不一樣。其二，各地使用的釀酒方式有所區別，風味自是不同。再者，飲酒也需“因地制宜”。」他以自己的切身體會舉例，「比如我在法國的時候覺得加州酒的酒體過重了，難以入口。」但當他自己身處加州的時候，才發現那原本略為厚重的酒體，卻與當地的氣候、陽光和食物完美搭配。「所以評價一款酒其實是很複雜的一件事，要考慮到很多的因素。」
「您與葡萄酒的關係像是什麼？」當問到了這個問題，「啊……」Desseauve突然停頓了下來，認真的思考起他與葡萄酒的關係，似乎想給這段複雜的關係，下一個定義明確的答案，「就是生命中不可割裂的一部分吧。作為法國人，葡萄酒生來就流淌在我們的身體里。酒絕不僅僅是一款商品，每一瓶酒的背後，都是一個關於產地風土人情的故事。」停頓、思考、堅定，短短的幾句話，裡頭藏著的是Desseauve對葡萄酒那永恆的的愛，任何人都無法輕易撼動的愛。
王小波說，「只擁有此生此世是不夠的，還要擁有詩意的人生。」
於Desseauve而言，與美酒相伴的人生，就是最詩意的人生了吧。

At Le Grand Tasting Wine Awards HK 2019, we have the honour to have an interview with Mr. Desseauve.
During the competition, the wine is elected by a jury composed of a minimum of three members, two thirds of which have proven competencies in wine tasting. The tasting is blind. The price bracket and the region are the only information made available to the tasters. Le Grand Tasting Wine Awards is not about searching for the 100-point wine from an authority. It is a blind tasting to select the best wines within a specific price category – all about the price-pleasure factor of the wines available in the market. From Desseauve’s perspective, though ideas and preferences of both professionals and non-professionals can vary, they are able to listen to different opinions as the recognition of non-professional amateurs, guided by experts, reassures consumers.
Sometimes we hear voices like ‘Old world wines are of more elegance than new world wines.’ Yet Desseauve definitely disagrees with that. He said, ‘Climate and terroir differ in every wine regions. And there’re different grape varieties suitable to be grown in different regions. Secondly, as styles and methods of wine-making vary, taste varies too. Also, we should adjust our measures to local conditions. He takes his own experience as an example. When he tasted California wines in France, he found it a bit too heavy. But when he tried the same wine in California, his mind has been changed as the climate, sunshine and food matched perfectly with the wine. ‘So it’s never a simple job to critic wines. We have to include a lot of elements.’
“How do you define your relationship with wine?” When asked the question, “ah…” Desseauve came to a pause and seriously think about his relationship with the wine. It seems that he is trying to conclude a definition of complex relationships, “It is part of life and cannot be divided. As the French, wine flows in our body. The wine is not just a product, but tells stories.” Pause, thinking, firmed, a few words, what’s implied is his eternal love for wine.
Chinese writer Wang Xiaobo said, “it’s never enough just to have a normal life, but also to have a poetic life.”
As for Desseauve, life with wines is probably the most poetic life.