It's impossible to give definitive advice about 'perfect' storage conditions, both because it's a controversial topic - it's the kind of thing wine geeks can argue about all day - and because there are so many factors involved, including the wine itself, of course.

讲到"完美"的葡萄酒储藏条件，要我们提供最正宗的建议是不可能的。既因为这是一个葡萄酒爱好者们可以争吵一整天的富有争议的话题，还因为它牵涉到包括葡萄酒本身在内的很多因素。

A great majority of the wines that most of us drink every day - Pinot Grigio, Beaujolais, many lower-priced Merlots and Chardonnays, for instance - are meant to be drunk right away anyway.

我们大多数人每天喝的绝大多数种类的葡萄酒：比如比诺格里乔（Pinot Grigio）、博若莱（Beaujolais），以及许多低价格梅洛（Merlot）和霞多丽（Chardonnay），买了就是为了马上喝掉的。

For wines we might want to keep around a while, this is critical: Barring true abuse - bright sunlight, very high temperatures and so on - the issue isn't that a wine will quickly turn to vinegar if it's not kept in cellar-like conditions, but rather that it will age more quickly than it otherwise would. In other words, that bottle of Bordeaux might be at its peak in 2015 instead of 2020. Does that worry you?

至于那些我们想保存一段时期的酒，至关重要的是避免对酒真正有害的因素，比如明亮的阳光和极高的室温等等。问题不是酒如果不在地下酒窖那样条件中保存就会很快变成醋，而是如果没有那种条件，酒会老得更快。换言之，那瓶波尔多（Bordeaux）可能在2015年而不是2020年就达到成熟顶峰值。这是你担心吗？

For years, we simply kept our wines in racks on the floor, away from direct light and heat. We drank them long before they could be harmed, and we really liked them there because we enjoyed looking at them. We didn't think of wine as something to be bought and put away. It was a part of our everyday life and our household, an omnipresent adventure beckoning in plain sight.

多年来，我们只是把酒放在搁在地上的酒架上，避开直接的光照射和热辐射。在酒受到损害之前，我们早就把它们喝光了。我们很喜欢把酒放在那儿，因为看着它们就是一种享受。我们并不认为葡萄酒买来后是要藏起来的，而是觉得酒是我们的日常生活和家庭的一个部分，无处不在。

There are many myths surrounding wine storage, some perpetrated by the wine-storage industry, some by historical accident and some by people with state-of-the-art systems who feel that their hardware proves their credentials as oenophiles. For a marvelously provocative, myth-busting look at all of this, check out Matt Kramer's book, 'Making Sense of Wine.' Among his conclusions: 'What constitutes undesirable high heat really begins at about 70 degrees.' (The emphasis is his.) But here's the most important point of all: Your biggest concern about wine storage shouldn't be about the wine; it should be about you. Here's what we mean by that.

有许多有关储藏葡萄酒的说法，其实是似是而非的迷思，造成这些误导人的观念的原因各有不同，有些是葡萄酒贮藏业故意为之，有些是由某一历史事件造成，而另一些则是由那些拥有最先进的贮藏系统的人造成的，这些人觉得自己的先进硬件设备证明了他们品酒专家的头衔。去翻翻马特克莱默《读酒》一书吧。此书非常棒，打破了这些迷思，令人深受启发。他书中的结论包括：70度（21摄氏度）左右以上才算得上真正的有害高温。但这里有一点最最重要，即你储存葡萄酒时最关心的不应是酒，而应是你本人。以下让我们来解释我们为什么如此说。

Our country cabin has radiant heat from the concrete floors (when it works) and no air conditioning. It is a Usonian home in a community designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, which means the house is at one with nature - and natural temperatures. Dramatic fluctuations in temperature aren't a good thing for wine and, of course, we do have very fine wines that we expect to keep for many years. So we bought a wine cooler. It holds about 200 bottles, and we keep it at about 55 degrees. It works fine. On rare nights off from the column, when we're drinking our special wines, this is where the wines most often come from. (We don't recommend any one brand or kind of cooler over another. We bought ours simply because the company was located nearby.)

我们在乡下的小木屋，混凝土地板里会辐射出热量（在屋子还好的时候），里面也没有空调设备。它是一个简单的桑年（Usonian）房子，坐落在由弗兰克• 劳埃德赖特（Frank Lloyd Wright）设计的一个社区中，这意味着房子是大自然的一部分，房子里面的温度和外面一样。气温的急剧波动对葡萄酒来说可不是什么好事，而我们有些确实想要保存多年的精品葡萄酒。因此，我们买了个藏酒的恒温箱，它大约可藏200瓶酒。我们把温度设在55度（12.7摄氏度）左右。这个办法很管用。在为数不多的那些夜晚，当我们不写专栏来此度假喝些不同寻常的酒的时候，大部分就是从这个恒温箱里取出来的。（我们对买什么牌子或类型的恒温箱没什么可推荐的。我们买的那款，仅是因为那家公司就在附近而已。）

Keeping Things Cool
把酒存放在凉爽的地方

In our Manhattan apartment, we have a wine cellar, of sorts, that was built into a closet. It has individual slots for more than 700 bottles. It is not climate-controlled, but because of its placement in the apartment, it keeps a fairly constant temperature somewhere around 65, though the wines nearer the top of the closet are probably routinely warmer.

在我们曼哈顿的公寓里有一个类似酒窖的储藏室，它是预先建造在壁橱里的。它有很多格子，共能储藏700多瓶酒，它无法调节温度，但由于其在公寓所处的位置，温度总是能保持在华氏65（18.3摄氏度）左右相当稳定的水平，尽管靠近柜子顶部的葡萄酒可能温度总是更高一点。

Given a choice, we prefer the Manhattan closet, hands-down, even though its conditions are far less ideal. Why? Because the wine cooler in the country is like a refrigerator, with the wines on big shelves. We open the door, peer in and try to figure out what the heck is in there. It probably works best for people who mostly buy cases of the same wine. On the other hand, we can walk into the Manhattan closet. We keep American wines on the left - Cabernet in a couple of rows, Pinot in the next and so on - drinkables on the far right, dessert wines straight ahead. The little closet is pretty; it has a riot of colors from the necks of the bottles, a diversecollection of old friends and new discoveries. We can easily and gently pull out several bottles to look at them, enjoying the tastes and memories they evoke. We can tell, from a glance, when we're short on Burgundy. We can stand in that little closet and travel all over the world, and as far back in time as our memories allow.

如果要我们选择，我们无疑更喜欢曼哈顿的壁橱，即使它的条件远非理想。为什么呢？因为位于乡村的葡萄酒恒温箱就像一台冰箱，里面大货架上放着葡萄酒，而打开箱门，我们要朝里面张望，搞明白里面到底藏着什么东东。这样的恒温箱可能最适合那些主要买整箱的同类葡萄酒的人。而我们在曼哈顿公寓里的酒窖可以径直走入。我们把美国酒放在左边- 赤霞珠（Cabernet）排成几排，皮诺酒（Pinot）陈放在旁，诸如此类。还可喝的酒在最右侧，餐后甜酒就在正对面。小壁橱很漂亮可爱，各个瓶颈组成的色彩缤纷灿烂，收藏品种繁多，里面从喝了多年的老牌子一直到新发现的酒应有尽有。我们可以很容易地轻轻地取出几瓶酒，望着它们，享受其甘美的玉液以及它们所唤起的记忆。我们只要瞥上一眼，就知道勃艮第（Burgundy）快喝完了。站在小壁橱里，我们的思绪能飞向世界各地，缅怀过去的美好记忆。

Emphasizing Enjoyment
重视享受的过程

If you are going to have wine storage, we think the joy we get out of our little closet is worth keeping in mind. The question isn't what is best for the wine, but what is best for your enjoyment of the wine. And that brings us to another point. In our Manhattan apartment, we also have a tiny wine cooler that holds just 17 bottles and cost less than $200. Why have a wine cooler that holds just a few bottles? Because it keeps wine at around 55 degrees, and that's the temperature where we most enjoy both reds and whites. It's also small enough that we can never lose sight of what's in there, and it fits discreetly in our tiny apartment, not an unimportantconsideration. We can put our wines for, say, a few days of blind tastings in it, pull a few out every day - and replace them - and they'll be the perfect temperature for us. Ditto for some of our lesser treasures that we plan to drink soon. It's not about how best to keep the wine; it's about how we like to drink it.

如果你想贮藏酒，请想一想我们从公寓中的小酒窖中得到的快乐。问题不在于什么对葡萄酒是最好的，而在于对你享受葡萄酒的过程来说什么是最好的。
这又要讲到另一点：我们的曼哈顿公寓里也有一个小型的恒温箱，里面只能存17瓶酒，价格不到200美元。为什么要买一个只能存放这么几瓶酒的箱子呢？原因是它能让酒保持在华氏55度左右，这是我们无论喝红酒还是白酒时最喜欢的酒的温度。它也足够小，这样我们就永远不会看不清里面所剩的酒，而放在我们的小公寓里它一点也不显眼，非常合适，而这一点并非是无关紧要。比方说，我们可以放入足以盲品数天的葡萄酒，每天取出几瓶并换上几瓶新的。这些酒的温度对我们而言理想到近乎完美。那些我们计划不久喝掉的非名贵酒，也作如此处理。重要的不是如何最佳储存葡萄酒，而是我们想如何享用它们。

Our overall general advice is not to worry about storage. Buy a case of wine, put it in a closet and enjoy it. If you're thinking about doing something more complex and expensive than that, all sorts of companies sell wine units these days, from coolers to massive built-ins. Wine magazines are full of ads for them. Two places to look are wineenthusiast.com and iwawine.com, because they are big players in the field and their offerings will give you some ideas about what is out there and how much it all costs.

总的来说，我们一般的忠告是：不要为储存酒而操心。买上一整箱葡萄酒，放在壁橱里，然后开始享用。如果你想要做点更复杂和更花钱的事，如今有各种各样的公司都在做葡萄酒储藏柜的生意，从恒温箱到大型的内装柜箱应有尽有。葡萄酒杂志登满了它们产品的广告。有两个地方可以去看看：wineenthusiast.com和iwawine.com，因为它们是这个领域中的大公司，他们的产品会让你对市场上出售的产品及售价多少有点概念。

One more thing: Another question we're asked all the time is a kind of follow-up. OK, I have a wine cellar; now, how do I stock it? There's this sense that, if you're 'serious' about wine, you must go out and buy a case of Bordeaux, two cases of Burgundy, six bottles of Port and so on. Again, relax. Let this happen organically. When you have a wine you like, buy another bottle of that and put it in the cellar. If you have a wine that really seems young to you - maybe it tastes hard and tight, or it makes your mouth pucker - buy two more. Before you know it, your cellar will be filled - and it will be filled with wines really worth collecting: ones you enjoy.

还有一件事：我们总被问到的另一个类似后续的问题。好，现在我有了一个酒窖，那我该怎么把它填满呢？有人会这样想：即如果你对葡萄酒真地很"认真"，那你就必须去买上一箱波尔多酒（Bordeaux），两箱勃艮第酒（Burgundy），6瓶波特酒（Port），等等等等。还是一样，别那么紧张，顺其自然吧。当你喝了一瓶你喜欢的酒后，那就再买一瓶放在酒窖里。如果弄到了一瓶看上去年份很新的葡萄酒──也许是味道太烈、太紧，或令你噘嘴那就再买上两瓶。不知不觉间，你的地窖就被填满了。而你的酒窖填满的是值得珍藏的酒：你喜欢的酒。

Dorothy J. Gaiter / John Brecher

• instance [´instəns] n.例子，实例，例证 (初中词汇)
• sunlight [´sʌnlait] n.日光 (初中词汇)
• otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中词汇)
• dramatic [drə´mætik] a.戏剧的；戏剧般的 (初中词汇)
• column [´kɔləm] n.柱；柱状物；纵队 (初中词汇)
• recommend [,rekə´mend] vt.推荐；使受欢迎 (初中词汇)
• apartment [ə´pɑ:tmənt] n.一套房间 (初中词汇)
• cellar [´selə] n.地窑，地下室 (初中词汇)
• closet [´klɔzit] n.橱；私室；盥洗室 (初中词汇)
• constant [´kɔnstənt] a.坚定的；坚贞的 (初中词汇)
• mostly [´məustli] ad.主要地；多半；通常 (初中词汇)
• collection [kə´lekʃən] n.收集；征收；募捐 (初中词汇)
• gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中词汇)
• consideration [kən,sidə´reiʃən] n.考虑；原因；体谅 (初中词汇)
• replace [ri´pleis] vt.放回；复置；取代 (初中词汇)
• complex [´kɔmpleks] a.复杂的 n.综合企业 (初中词汇)
• expensive [ik´spensiv] a.费钱的，昂贵的 (初中词汇)
• storage [´stɔ:ridʒ] n.贮存；存储器 (高中词汇)
• critical [´kritikəl] a.批评的；关键性的 (高中词汇)
• everyday [´evridei] a.每日的，日常的 (高中词汇)
• surrounding [sə´raundiŋ] n.周围的事物 (高中词汇)
• historical [his´tɔrikəl] a.历史(上)的 (高中词汇)
• emphasis [´emfəsis] n.强调；重点 (高中词汇)
• radiant [´reidiənt] a.发光的 n.光源(体) (高中词汇)
• concrete [´kɔŋkri:t] a.具体的 n.混凝土 (高中词汇)
• community [kə´mju:niti] n.团体；社区；公众 (高中词汇)
• refrigerator [ri´fridʒəreitə] n.(电气)冰箱 (高中词汇)
• shelves [ʃelvz] shelf的复数 (高中词汇)
• dessert [di´zə:t] n.(餐后)甜食 (高中词汇)
• enjoyment [in´dʒɔimənt] n.享受；愉快；乐趣 (高中词汇)
• massive [´mæsiv] a.厚实的；魁伟的 (高中词汇)
• vinegar [´vinigə] n.醋 (四级词汇)
• hardware [´hɑ:dweə] n.五金器皿 (四级词汇)
• marvelously [´mɑ:viləsli] ad.奇异地；奇迹般地 (四级词汇)
• manhattan [mæn´hætən] n.曼哈顿 (四级词汇)
• unimportant [ʌnim´pɔ:tənt] a.不重要的，平凡的 (四级词汇)
• lesser [´lesə] a.较小的；次要的 (四级词汇)
• undesirable [,ʌndi´zaiərəbəl] a.&n.不受欢迎的(人) (六级词汇)
• diverse [dai´və:s] a.完全不同的 (六级词汇)