【北隆河自然酒先鋒Dard & Ribo】
ZF076B - Dard & Ribo Hermitage 2023
售價：$750/支
種類 Type：Red Wine 紅酒
葡萄品種 Grape Varieties：100% Syrah
產區 Region：France / Rhone Valley/ Crozes Hermitage
酒精度 ABV：12.5%
容量 Volume：750ml
酒莊 Winery
Dard & Ribo 兩位北隆的自然酒傳奇，是早在七八十年代第一批主張 sulfur-free 的釀酒先鋒 「 My dad never sulfured the wines and I basically just followed in his footsteps.」 當時甚至Natural wine 一詞還未被使用。
佢地好早在七十年代已經開始釀酒，Dard 十五歲時爸爸離世，佢跟其他青年一樣照樣上學玩運動，但同時佢繼續幫手打理爸爸遺留下的一公頃葡萄園。隨後遇上生命裡的好柏檔，大家有著公同理念。
「My first year with François, we made wine the way we were taught to in school and knew that this was not our style. It did not interest us 」
破舊立新是走上傳奇之路的必經階段。
Rene Jean Dard & Francois Ribo 兩位年過半百的老頭兒釀酒組合，帶著非常濃厚的神秘色彩，在網絡上絕少有佢地資訊，全因兩位經常拒絶同行釀酒師或客戶到訪，又不參與任何隆河官方組織或自然酒相關協會，唔使多講各大小酒展或試酒更加唔駛諗會有機會搵到佢地。
「 If we are known today, it’s only because of our wines. Very few people actually know what René-Jean Dard and François Ribo look like. Getting to the cellar is pretty complicated, and we almost never accept appointments We don’t feel our job is to do sales.」
拒接電話係例行工事 「As we stand and chat with René-Jean, the phone rings twice from trade customers interested in buying their wines. He politely lets them down—there’s none for sale. This happens every day.」
唔出差，唔做 sales & marketing 相關工作 「 We sell 3% of our wines to consumers, so their is no incentive to have them visit us.. Sometimes (very rarely!) we’ll visit another country. We’ve never been to the US though.」
像神隱一樣專心做酒
在日本備受酒友追捧，巿場一瓶難求，所以你絶少能夠在香港買到。
產區 Region
話說兩位仁兄，在1984參加了村的跳舞歌唱晚會，飲到High High 地撞左入其中一間農舍與一位老人繼續飲，席間得知原來呢位老人想退休將葡萄園出售，兩位後生仔第二朝酒醒，立即火速跟呢位老人簽約……無人知點解呢位老人肯將這塊田賣比兩位咩都未開始既後生仔，正如Rene-Jean所講，或者呢位老人當時睇到佢地二人擁有某種做葡萄農的特質……結果佢地就咁得到了Crozes-Hermitage的田，Rene-Jean補充似佢地年輕時買田的機遇，在現今已經近乎無可能發生，由於現在地價太高，資訊發達，基本被財團和大酒莊壟斷，飲醉酒撞到對手賣應無咩可能再發生
有關釀造 Winemaking
「 We always made wine that we liked to drink. It might sound selfish, but we never thought about what our customers would think about the wines. 」
唔遷就巿場大眾口味，唔隨波逐流，正如 Dard 的父親一開始釀酒純粹自己喝一樣，釀酒就沒有任何商業考慮和包袱，專心釀好自己心目中理想的酒。
聽一下專業行家對 Dard & Ribo 的評語：
「 Dard & Ribo genuinely capture the spirit and essence of the Rhone Valley. For the Connoisseurs and enthusiasts alike, each bottle promises a unique experience – a delightful dance of silky, bright fruit with spicy , savory undertones, every sip is unmistakably , Dard et Ribo, offering an ultra-drinkable experience that leaves one craving more.」
「 In French, the grape variety Syrah is a masculine noun. However, René-Jean of Dard et Ribo describes it as a feminine grape. He says that while it starts off supple in its youth, with time (as it ages), it gains strength and becomes more powerful. 」
一般北隆的 Syrah 都給予「酒體好硬，剛烈」 的感覺，而 Drad & Ribo 有能力做到剛柔並重，他家的酒你會充份感受到Elegance 與 Freshness ，又不失 Syrah 本身宏力的結構和強度。
兩個老頭兒的率性真係嚇親人，除左佢地經當因唔跟規矩被官方組織刁難和罰款，被同業歧視等等，打開 Drad & Ribo 的酒，亦會好奇怪點解會係黑色膠塞？ 話晒係北隆傳奇？
「 Yes, there are real, 100% corks but they cost a fortune. We decided fuck it, let’s pass to plastic. We also chose to have black ones to make a statement: we are definitely using plastic and not trying to trick you that's it's cork」
Dard & Ribo 有提過膠塞不會影響葡萄酒瓶內的熟成進化過程，因為瓶內的進化熟成，係靠酒塞與酒之間的空氣，而並不是橡木塞，另外膠塞亦有效防止TCA 或因木塞隨年月而失去彈性令葡萄酒敗壞，當然用膠塞對葡萄酒marketing 係好差，飲家觀感覺得佢係一支低質平價酒，無論任何人點睇，老實講兩位老人家都唔會理你，佢地只會專心釀酒。
「 In French, the grape variety Syrah is a masculine noun. However, René-Jean of Dard et Ribo describes it as a feminine grape. He says that while it starts off supple in its youth, with time (as it ages), it gains strength and becomes more powerful. 」
一般北隆的 Syrah 都給予「酒體好硬，剛烈」 的感覺，而 Drad & Ribo 有能力做到剛柔並重，他家的酒你會充份感受到Elegance 與 Freshness ，又不失 Syrah 本身宏力的結構和強度。
