A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to field the kind of question that every wine professional dreads being asked: 'I have a bottle of fill-in-the-blank that I've had in my cellar for the past 30 years and I'm wondering if the wine is any good.'
几个星期前，我有机会回答每位葡萄酒专家都被问烦了的一类问题："我有一瓶什么什么酒在窖里藏了30年，不知道这酒到底怎么样？"
The answer is almost always 'No' and this time was no different. The wine in question was a 1965 Pouilly Fuisse. The questioner was a musician-turned-educator named Barry. Not only was the wine he had somewhere in his house in New Jersey no good, it probably wasn't that good to begin with, I told him. The vintage wasn't exactly stellar to start and added to that was the fact that some 97% of the wines in the world are made to be consumed right away. Fortunately, Barry didn't seem that surprised or even sad, though he noted the bottle had once belonged to his dad.
这种问题的答案几乎总是"不怎么样"，这次也不例外。提问者名叫巴利(Barry)，一位从音乐界改行的教育工作者，他问的是一瓶1965年产的Pouilly Fuisse。我跟他说，不仅他在新泽西州住处某个地方藏的那瓶酒不怎么样，或许这酒一开始就不怎么好。年份本非上佳，而世界上约97%的葡萄酒都是买来就喝的。还好巴利看上去并不怎么意外甚至是难过，不过他也说，这瓶酒曾经归属于他的父亲。
And so the other night, when we had Barry to dinner, I decided to open the oldest bottle of Pouilly Fuisse that I had a 1996 Chateau Fuisse Pouilly Fuisse Vielles Vignes. It happens to be the only Pouilly Fuisse that can actually age. A Chardonnay made from vines up to 80 years old, it's really more old white Burgundy than a mere Macconais. I hoped it would show well though I feared that 14 might be pushing it a bit. The wine was actually pretty good goldish in color and tasting a bit like brioche and almonds not the least bit oxidized or over the hill. I was delighted at how well it showed. Barry seemed pleased enough though perhaps not as impressed. 'Nice,' he commented. 'But I don't know much about wine.'
于是在前几天晚上邀请巴利共进晚餐的时候，我决定打开我最老的一瓶Pouilly Fuisse，这是1996年产的Chateau Fuisse Pouilly Fuisse Vielles Vignes。恰好这是唯一可以储藏的Pouilly Fuisse。作为一种葡萄树年龄最高达80岁的霞多丽(Chardonnay)，与其说它是一款Macconais，还不如说它是勃艮第(Burgundy)白色陈酿。我希望它会有很好的表现，但也担心14年的储藏时间可能有些不利。而实际上，这瓶酒非常不错，颜色橙黄可人，尝起来有点像奶油蛋糕和杏仁，一点也没有氧化或者过老。我很高兴这瓶酒的表现。巴利似乎也很高兴，不过可能不像我这样深为赞叹。他说，不错，但我对葡萄酒不了解。
Then just make sure you drink any wines that you buy now within the next year or so, I said.
我说，那么不管买什么酒，只要保证一年左右以内喝掉就行了。
Lettie Teague
- professional [prə´feʃənəl]
a.职业的 n.自由职业 (初中英语单词) - cellar [´selə] n.地窑，地下室 (初中英语单词)
- jersey [´dʒə:zi] n.毛织运动衫；毛线衫 (初中英语单词)
- actually [´æktʃuəli] ad.事实上；实际上 (初中英语单词)
- fortunately [´fɔ:tʃənətli] ad.幸运地 (高中英语单词)
- decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
- chateau [´ʃætəu] n.城堡；公馆，邸宅 (英语四级单词)
- delighted [di´laitid] a.高兴的；喜欢的 (英语四级单词)
京公网安备 11011202003401号
