什么是Cabernet Pfeffer？这种模糊的葡萄酒突然很受欢迎

“It’s a rural, parochial remnant of a very isolated region in California that only now people are rediscovering in some weird way,” said Morgan Twain-Peterson, winemaker atBedrock Wine Co.，这使得一个品种赤霞珠镍锌葡萄酒，并在红色混合中使用它。

The grape is also shrouded in mystery. No one knows how the plant material got to Cienega Valley from its native France, nor how exactly it got its name. Until recently, in fact, no one knew for sure what itwas。Theories abounded: It was a genetic crossing of the grapes Trousseau and Cabernet Sauvignon. No, it was actually a synonym for the Bordeaux grape Gros Verdot. No, it was a catchall term for a field blend of multiple grape varieties. It’s been called Manseng, Pinot St. George and a host of other names.

Those theories have all been put to rest now, thanks to genetic testing performed by UC Davis showing that Cabernet Pfeffer is one and the same as Mourtaou, a grape from southwestern France that’s all but extinct in France now. Yet the folktales persist. “Itis穆塔努说，“葡萄酒老板瑞安科比说，酿酒师将植物材料提交给UC Davis进行测试。他发现人们令人沮丧的是，人们一直娱乐其他理论，尤其是赤霞珠 - Trouseau假设。

Even if its origins are understood, Cabernet Pfeffer nevertheless continues to offer plenty of mystery. As to how it was imported from France in the late 19th century, why it was planted only in the Cienega Valley and how 15 acres of it managed to endure more than a century’s worth of trials including Prohibition — no one has a definitive answer.

毫无疑问，谜团在一瞬间增加了诱惑加利福尼亚州’s historic wine grapes are all the rage。这个故事的傻瓜，葡萄酒似乎很镜头。但与一些古色古香的玻璃葡萄栽培采用不同，这一事实上是一个美味的葡萄酒。

“Every few years someonetries to revive a ‘heritage grape，'“”酿酒师Josh Hammerling的伯克利的锤子磨碎了。“往往是新奇。这个实际上味道不错。“

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每个人都同意了几个赤霞珠菲特的事实。在18世纪后期，德国移民名为William Pfeffer在萨拉托加拥有葡萄托儿所。此次左右，葡萄种植在Cienega山谷中。在现在已知的葡萄园，四个种植幸存下来，作为ENZ，WIRZ，GEMELLI和透明。

但Pfeffer先生如何与Cienega葡萄园相连？这是合理的，假设托儿所可能会在自己之后被命名为他的一个产品，或者人们将通过他的名字从他购买的葡萄藤。Pfeffer是德国人的“胡椒”是巧合的，这恰好是葡萄酒的盛行味道？“赤霞珠”是如何混合在其中的？

Pat Wirz, owner of theWiz葡萄园较亩的赤霞珠Pfeffer于1903年种植了5英亩，认为Pfeffer先生与另一位被称为奥尔沃尔博士的德国移民友好，他拥有现在的Gemelli葡萄园。“但我不知道其中哪一个导入来自法国的扦插，”威尔斯两个德国人说。穆塔狗是否曾经在欧洲拥有有意义的粉丝基地同样是未知的。

The whole thing sounds like a long, convoluted game of telephone, making for ripe conditions for spurious theories. The plant’s leaves resemble those of Trousseau, a red grape from France’s Jura region, which may explain the longstanding Cabernet-Trousseau crossing theory. And some genetic tests from the late 1990s and early 2000s, predating the Mourtaou match, did actually return false results. One turned up a probable match for Gros Verdot, a Bordeaux grape variety. (This is likely because Mourtaou’s genome was not added to the UC Davis database until relatively recently, so it may have shown matches with grapes that are genetically related, but not identical.)

The farmers who grew Cabernet Pfeffer in the Cienega Valley in those early years were probably not obsessing over its identity. For them, its appeal would have been clear: UnlikeMission, the wine grape that dominated in California until the late 19th century, Cabernet Pfeffer is easy to grow and easy to make into wine. The vine’s loose clusters make it resistant to mildew. Its yields are generous. The fruit holds on to color and acid well even in hot conditions — suggesting that it could be especially作为加州的气候温暖有用。它的结构借给了葡萄酒的化学稳定，即使经常缺乏。“当他们制作加州'勃艮第'或'克莱特岛'时，它可能检查了很多人们正在寻找的东西，”“彼得森说。

Or maybe its planting in Cienega wasn’t quite so calculated. “We’ve got to be careful not to ascribe too much thought process to things that were going on in the Wild West,” said伊恩品牌, who will release a Cabernet Pfeffer from the 2020 vintage. “A lot gets lost in translation.”

他说，有一个时间威尔被认为是拉出他的葡萄藤，因为他无法让酿酒师对购买水果感兴趣。酿酒师对八年前唯一的唯一原因是因为他们想要购买Wirz的雷曲葡萄。“我在那里撕裂了雷司令，但帕特真的很高兴向我展示这个驾驶室Pfeffer块，”妮可沃尔什说，他们在2014年开始她的葡萄酒标签。“我持怀疑态度。我从来没有听说过它。但我说得好，帕特，我会带一些。“

The Wirz Cab Pfeffer has since become Ser’s flagship wine.

It may have taken 120-odd years, but the style of wine that Pfeffer naturally delivers is finally popular. If the market once rewarded dark, concentrated, hefty reds — the prototypical California Cabernet Sauvignon — it’s now come around to打火机，半透明，更精致的选择。Santa Cruz Winemaker Ryan认为他的Cabernet Pfeffer现在可靠地是他最畅销的红色。

它的许多球迷比较内比奥罗的葡萄,一个Italian variety that produces savory, light, brick-colored reds with formidable tannins. When talking to his customer base at his Berkeley tasting room, Hammerling describes it as “something like a semi-carbonic Gamay or Trousseau,” terms now familiar tonatural-wine acolytes。Cab Pfeffer wines are dependably full of red-fruit flavors like strawberry, cranberry and pomegranate, and many winemakers employ碳腐蚀— a fermentation technique that tends to bring out a fruit-candy note.

但是，任何东西都是赤霞珠pfeffer签名是pfeffer本身。“这对我来说是一个非常鲜明的白胡椒，”沃尔什说。“不是你在锡拉的黑胡椒。每个葡萄园都有自己的表情，但我总能得到那个白胡椒。“

现在，Wirz更多的酿酒师对水果感兴趣而不是他能容纳。每个酿酒师采访过这个故事都表示他们想获得更多的驾驶室Pfeffer葡萄比目前收到的乐趣。Kobza说，幸运的是，谦虚地是扩大的这将使Cienega Valley的总宴列净种植面积超过25％。

“I know it’s notfrom加利福尼亚州, but it’s been isolated for such a long time to one little part of California that I would say it is Californian, in a sense,” said Kobza. “In the context of this long, unfinished story, it seems like there’s a possibility that it may really grow substantially in the next 10 years.”

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以斯帖莫布里森是《旧金山纪事报》ior wine critic. Email:emobley@sfchronicle.comTwitter:@Esther_mobley

Recommended bottles of Cabernet Pfeffer, a.k.a. Mourtaou

由赤霞珠镍镉 - 或Mourtaou制成的葡萄酒，因为一些酿酒师愿意称之为态度 - 往往是轻盈和半透明的颜色，显示出精细的红色水果和辛辣辣椒，但用坚固的单宁的骨干。这里列出的所有葡萄酒都表达了这一般的概要，但每个都有自己的特质。注意：这些葡萄酒均来自San Benito County的Cienega山谷。Enz Vineyard位于Lime Kiln Valley，位于较大的Cienega谷美国葡萄栽培区域内是一个子名称。

Ser Cabernet Pfeffer Enz Vineyard Cienega Valley 2018 ($40, 13.4%).Maraschino cherry, strawberry candy, white pepper.

STIRM CABERNET PFFEFFER SAN BENITO County 2020（33,12.9％）。地球，尘土飞扬的单宁，野性。

Tessier Mourtaou Siletto Vineyard San Benito County 2021 ($38, 11.53%).Cranberry, bubble gum, plum.

锤击“狂野的一个”赤霞珠enz vineyard石灰窑谷2020（12.9％）。香料，丁樱桃，紫罗兰。

Kobza Mourtaou Wirz Vineyard Cienega Valley 2018（22,13％）。Cracked pepper, mushroom, iron.

Bedrock Cabernet Pfeffer Enz Vineyard Lime Kiln Valley 2020 ($48, 13%).香水，蔓越莓，抓绒单宁。

DeRose Cabernet Pfeffer Cienega Valley 2018 ($40, 14.5%).Ripeness, currant jam, cedar.

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