点评:Let me start by saying I am biased…because Clos Apalta is my favorite wine in the world and has been for more than 20 years. So having the opportunity to tour and taste at the winery, itself, was a bucket list thing (an understatement). The facilitation by Mitzi to get us the tour and a reservation at their Michelin rated restaurant was our first hint that we were in for a world class experience. Then we met Jorge, our guide (TOKAYO!), whose English was better than our own and certainly better than our Spanish. He drove us up from the visitor center, giving us a comprehensive history and overview on long the way. Our first thought upon seeing the winery itself was, wow…that is so cool but kind of small. We were used to sprawling wineries with various outbuildings and storage and processing and etc. Here we were looking up the mountain to a relatively modest but amazingly architectural round building reaching to the sky. Which is when we discovered that Clos Apalta is a VERTICAL winery…the building…is built 10 stories INTO THE GROUND to lessen its impact on the environs. We entered at the top…and then walked down 8 stories on our tour…a central spiral staircase that was so awe inspiring, we also decided to walk UP at the end of our tour…too. We didn’t descend into the two stories remaining for bottling and storage. We will let the photos speak for themselves. After our tour, the tasting…5 wines…did I mention Clos Apalta is my favorite wine in the world…with vintages going back to 2012. As for lunch…another Michelin rated restaurant that was beyond what we could have expected (along with three more wines paired to our various courses). The only regret was having to leave. Gracias, Tokayo. Gracias, Clos Apalta.
翻译:首先声明,我可能有点偏心……因为克洛斯·阿帕尔塔酒庄(Clos Apalta)是我最爱的葡萄酒,而且已经超过20年了。所以,有机会参观酒庄并品尝美酒,简直是我人生愿望清单上的一项(这还远远不够)。米兹(Mitzi)帮我们安排了这次参观,还帮我们预订了米其林星级餐厅,这让我们意识到,这将是一次世界级的体验。之后,我们遇到了导游豪尔赫(Jorge)(TOKAYO!),他的英语比我们好,西班牙语也比我们好得多。他开车带我们从游客中心上去,一路给我们讲解酒庄的历史和概况。看到酒庄的第一感觉是:哇……真棒,不过感觉有点小。我们以前见过的都是那种规模庞大、拥有各种附属建筑、储藏室、加工间等等的酒庄。而眼前这座酒庄,虽然规模不大,但建筑风格却令人惊叹,它矗立在山上,直插云霄。正是在那时,我们发现克洛斯·阿帕尔塔酒庄(Clos Apalta)竟然是一座垂直酒庄……这座建筑……为了减少对环境的影响,向下延伸了十层。我们从顶层进入……然后沿着中央的螺旋楼梯向下走了八层……那楼梯令人叹为观止,以至于我们在参观结束后也决定再走上去。我们没有下到剩下的两层,那里是装瓶和储存区。就让照片来说明一切吧。参观结束后,我们品尝了五款葡萄酒……我有没有说过克洛斯·阿帕尔塔是我最爱的葡萄酒……他们的年份可以追溯到2012年。至于午餐……我们去了另一家米其林星级餐厅,体验远超预期(餐厅还为我们搭配了三款葡萄酒)。唯一的遗憾就是不得不离开。谢谢,东京。谢谢,克洛斯·阿帕尔塔。