中英双语新闻-气候变暖使英格兰葡萄酒更热销

WARM WEATHER MAKES ENGLISH WINE A HOT COMMODITY
气候变暖使英格兰葡萄酒更热销
By Jancis Robinson
Friday, June 29, 2007

Wine is a particularly sensitive barometer of climate change. While drought has become such a problem in Australia that the authorities have been threatening to turn off the irrigation water in some of that country's most important bulk wine-producing regions, some of the more obvious beneficiaries of global warming today are wine producers in such relatively cool countries as Canada, Germany, Belgium, Denmark – and England.
葡萄酒是气候晴雨表，对气候变化尤为敏感。干旱已成为澳大利亚面临的难题，政府当局一直威胁说，要关闭该国部分最重要的散装葡萄酒生产区的灌溉用水，而与此同时，当今全球变暖较为明显的受益者，则是那些位于气候较为凉爽国家的葡萄酒制造商，比如加拿大、德国、比利时、丹麦以及——英格兰。

English Wine Week begins on Saturday. In less than a generation English wine has gone from being a joke to a serious investment prospect. Tales of champagne producers worried about their increasingly hot vineyards and prospecting southern England for suitable alternatives may have been exaggerated by the British media. But my colleague Steven Spurrier is discussing the possibility of a joint venture with Duval Leroy of Champagne on his wife's sheep farm in Dorset.
“英格兰葡萄酒周”最近开始了。在不到一代人的时间里，英格兰葡萄酒就从受人嘲笑变成真正具有投资前景。有人说，香槟制造商担心葡萄园变得越来越热，并且在英格兰南部探寻适宜的替代地点，这种说法可能被英国媒体夸大了。但我的同事Steven Spurrier却正在与香槟省的Duval Leroy商讨在他妻子位于Dorset的绵羊农场建合资企业的可能性。

Vines were widely grown in England and Wales from Roman times until well into the Middle Ages. Subsequently vine-growing was left to those living closer to the equator, until the mid-20th century when Major-General Sir Guy Salisbury-Jones revived the habit at Hambledon in Hampshire (serving sherry to this particular visitor because it was less precious than his domestic ferment). For several decades vine-growing was typically a retirement occupation for the well-heeled with a paddock to spare but it has become increasingly professional as temperatures have risen. Denbies, 20 miles south-west of London, is England's biggest vineyard, with 250 acres on prime Surrey slopes. It is now a tourist destination with visitor train, restaurants and so on. English wine has attracted investors from both Britain and abroad with arguably the most renowned producer, Nyetimber, having changed hands twice since 2001 and having grown from 35 to 259 acres in the past year.
从罗马时代一直到中世纪，英格兰和威尔士各地普遍种植葡萄树。后来葡萄栽培则让较为靠近赤道的人来做了，直到20世纪中叶少将Guy Salisbury-Jones爵士才在汉普郡的Hambledon复兴了这一习俗（给这位特殊的访客奉上雪利酒，因这酒不如他本国发酵的珍贵）。数十年来，葡萄栽培都是拥有小牧场的富人退休之余的典型职业，但随着温度的升高，葡萄栽培已日益变得专业化了。伦敦西南20英里处的Denbies是英格兰最大的葡萄园，占地250英亩，位于条件一流的萨里斜坡上。现在这里是旅游目的地，有游客列车和饭店等等。英格兰葡萄酒吸引了来自本国和海外的投资者，按说还有最知名的制造商Nyetimber。2001年以来，Nyetimber已经转手两次，面积从35英亩发展到了去年的259英亩。

It is no coincidence that Nyetimber's speciality is sparkling wine made in the precise image of champagne, using the same grapes – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier – planted in a corner of Sussex prospected for its similarity to the chalky downs of Champagne. To make fine fizz it is essential that the grapes are not too ripe and the acidity remains refreshingly high. England's relatively marginal climate for grape growing is a positive advantage for makers of sparkling wine, a product that can be difficult to make in many warmer New World wine regions.
Nyetimber的专长是完全以香槟造型制造的起泡葡萄酒，使用同种葡萄——种植在苏塞克斯郡偏僻地区的Chardonnay、Pinot Noir和Meunier，看中的是当地与香槟省的白垩丘陵地类似，这并非巧合。要酿造优质的起泡葡萄酒，葡萄不能熟过头，酸度要要够高、够劲。英格兰相对边缘的气候，对起泡葡萄酒酿造商而言是种植葡萄的有利条件，在许多较热的美洲葡萄酒产区，起泡葡萄酒就难以酿造。

It used to be the case that in any 10-year span, English vineyards would produce only one or two decent crops. There would be two or three years in which the grapes failed to ripen at all and sugar had to be added in fiendish quantities to get the fermentable sugars up to worthwhile levels. In other years rain, wind or low temperatures and cloud played a part in delivering rotten grapes in small quantities. This year, with the growing cycle more advanced than it has ever been known, England just could be rewarded with its sixth decent vintage in succession.
过去的情况通常是这样：在任意的10年时间中，英国的葡萄园只能收获一或两次像样的葡萄。会有两或三年葡萄根本不能成熟，必须加入大量糖，才能把可发酵糖提高到起作用的程度。在其它年份，刮风、低温和多云天气都会导致产生少量腐烂葡萄。今年，由于生长周期比以往任何年份都更为提前，因此英格兰可以连续第六年获得葡萄丰收。

Last week figures were released for the 2006 English wine harvest (which includes the produce of Welsh vineyards – the term English is retained to distinguish the produce of fresh grapes grown in Britain from “British wine”, a much less appetising animal made from reconstituted grape concentrate imported in bulk from cheap suppliers). The 3.37m bottles constitute the third biggest crop ever from these islands. The number of UK vineyards officially registered with the Wine Standards Branch of the Food Standards Agency rose from 350 to 365 last year. And the total area under vine has risen from 793 to 923 hectares (2,280 acres) with the total area planted rising by almost one-third in the past three years.
上周公布了2006年英格兰葡萄酒收成的数据（其中包括威尔士葡萄园种植的葡萄——保留英格兰这一用语，以将不列颠种植的新鲜葡萄酿造的酒和“英国葡萄酒”区别开来，英国葡萄酒指的是口感差很多、从廉价供应商处批量进口的还原葡萄浓缩汁酿造的酒）。337万瓶成为了这些岛上有史以来第三大的产量。在英国食品标准局(Food Standards Agency)的葡萄酒标准处正式注册的英国葡萄园数量，去年从350个上升到了365个。葡萄种植总面积从793公顷增加到了923公顷（2280英亩）。过去三年里，种植面积增加了近三分之一。

As a result of England's warmer weather, winemakers are much less dependent on beet sugar in their attempts to make wines with a respectable alcohol level. Only a few producers have so far realised their special position in a world where increasing numbers of wine drinkers are actively looking for lower-alcohol wines.
由于英格兰气候变暖，葡萄酒酿造商对于用甜菜糖来让葡萄酒产生一定酒精度的依赖程度大大降低了。当今世界，越来越多喝葡萄酒的人在积极寻找酒精度更低的葡萄酒，因此至今仅有少数酿酒商实现了他们的特殊定位。

I have tasted scores of English wine offerings in the past few weeks and still feel the sparkling wines are superior to the still ones but there are now some still, dry whites I can recommend too (see below). Stanlake Park, Bacchus 2005 is very well made, super-clean and fruity with England's characteristic zippy acidity. Bacchus, like so many grapes planted for still wines in England, is an early-maturing German variety. Camel Valley's Cornish 2006 Bacchus is even better with lovely zest. More expensive but creditably delicate is Chapel Down's Tenterden Bacchus Reserve 2005 but, like most English wines, it is difficult to buy other than direct from the vineyard. The English wine business would probably crumble and die without its farmgate sales.
我品尝了过去几周上市的许多英格兰葡萄酒，仍然觉得起泡葡萄酒要比无泡葡萄酒好，不过现在有些无泡干白葡萄酒我也可以推荐（见下）。Stanlake Park, Bacchus 2005酿造得非常好，超纯净，葡萄味中带有英格兰特色的清新酸味。Bacchus和英格兰这么多为无泡葡萄酒种植的葡萄一样，是早熟的德国品种。Camel Valley的Cornish 2006 Bacchus甚至更好，有着可口的风味。价钱更贵但品质也的确更好的是Chapel Down的Tenterden Bacchus Reserve 2005，但和大多英格兰葡萄酒一样，除了直接从葡萄园购买意外很难弄到。假如没有在农场门口的销售，英格兰葡萄酒行业很可能分崩瓦解。

English wine today is, as well as being refreshingly crisp, technically well made and clean tasting. (‘Twas not always thus.) Even among the oaked wines the oak is generally well judged nowadays. The most common fault in the wines is lack of flavour, presumably not helped by the coolish climate but possibly associated with ambitious yields in some cases. If there is one varietal that cannot be accused of a lack of flavour it is the German vine crossing Ortega – but when it comes to this body-building grape, less is most definitely more. The reds tend to be works in progress半成品for the moment but there are some very pretty pinks, often appetisingly dry.
如今，英格兰葡萄酒不仅清爽宜人，而且酿造技术上乘，口感清澈。（并非从来都是如此。）即便在橡木桶装葡萄酒中，如今橡木味也一般评价不错。葡萄酒的最常见缺点是风味贫乏，这大概不是因为气候凉爽造成的，在某些情况下很可能与产量过高有关。假如有一个品种人们无法指责它缺乏味道，那就是德国的杂交葡萄树Ortega——但说到这种大个葡萄时，少绝对即是多。红色的往往暂时还是半成品，但还有些很漂亮的粉红葡萄酒，通常都干醇可口。

When Peter and Annette Dart bought the Stanlake Park estate in Windsor Great Park in 2004 they also acquired the well-run vineyard established there from the 1980s by Jon Leighton. Known originally as Thames Valley Vineyards, then as Valley Vineyards, it also has the peculiarly English attribute of a well-equipped modern winery installed in a 17th-century barn. They have renamed the wines Stanlake Park and have established a co-operation with the South African winemakers Kathy and Gary Jordan. This is a model which others might benefit from – the idea being that South African wines are under-marketed in the UK and offer varietals and wine styles that are complementary to what England does best.
Peter和Annette Dartt于2004年买下位于温莎大公园的Stanlake Park时，还收购了Jon Leighton 80年代开始建在那里、经营良好的葡萄园。该葡萄园最初叫做Thames Valley葡萄园，然后改名Valley葡萄园，它还具备特有的英伦特色：建在17世纪谷仓中、设备完善的现代化葡萄酒厂。他们把葡萄酒更名为Stanlake Park，还与南非酿酒商Kathy和Gary Jordan建立了合作关系。这是一个其他人也可能受益的模式——其想法就是南非葡萄酒在英国的营销做得不够充分，但提供的葡萄品种和葡萄酒风味则与英格兰最好的葡萄酒呈互补状态。

Most English wines seem a pound or two too expensive when compared with bottles produced on a bigger scale in a more generous climate, but the blended Denbies Surrey Gold 2005 and drier Three Choirs Willowbrook 2006 are particularly fair value.
与产自更温和气候、更大生产规模的葡萄酒相比，大多英格兰葡萄酒似乎都要贵上一两镑，但混合型的Denbies Surrey Gold 2005和更干的Three Choirs Willowbrook 2006价格都特别公道。