【No.76】西方文化之葡萄酒鉴赏常识-黑皮诺/赤霞珠/梅乐/西拉

Hello,mydearfellows!WelcometobrickbybrickEngl...

Hello, my dear fellows! Welcome to brick by brick English NO.69! Yes, today is Sunday and is the day for Tong’s wine adventure episode 2. I hope some of you got intrigued last time in episode 1.

大家好,我是李通！欢迎来到点点英语！ 今天我会继续带领大家来了解关于葡萄酒的知识。

As I promised you last time, I am gonna introduce you with some common grape varietals. Due to the time frame and the fact that there are hundreds if not thousands of different grapes, I could only mention some popular ones. 由于葡萄的种类成百上千，在这里呢只能给大家介绍几种最常见的品种了。

Ok, mesdames et messieurs, shall we start! (Errrr…. Sorry about my French, but there will be some French involved, anyway…)



In the world of red wine, I probably have to mention the following four:pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and shiraz. Those four are probably the most iconic and classical styles.

今天要给大家介绍的是四中最具代表性的红葡萄酒，他们分别是黑皮诺，赤霞珠，梅乐和西拉。

Okay, first, my personal favorite, pinot noir. This variety is generally light and has the pinkish color, whilst the other red wines are normally dark red. The reason to that is this grape has a relatively thinner skin, and as you should know, most flavors and color of wine come from the skin. Also, the climate in which pinot noir grows is mostly cool and this also contributes to the lighter taste. And pinot noir also carries a lot more fruit aroma than the others.



黑皮诺的特点就是它的颜色是泛粉红色的，这主要是因为它的果皮比较薄，颜色比较浅。同时由于它生长的环境气温也比较低，它的味道也相对要淡一些，当然黑皮诺的最诱人之处在于它丰富的果香气息。Next, Merlot and cabernet sauvignon, those two are IMO very close to each other, they both are dark in color and definitely in the intense and strong end of the spectrum. In terms of aromatics, they probably resemble some dark berries or coffee or chocolate. Cabernet sauvignon, in particular, has the thickest skin and hence the longest aging potential, that's why people leave them in the cellar for years before drinking.



接下来是梅乐和赤霞珠，这两种就都是属于颜色和味道很重的红酒，这主要是因为它们的葡萄皮很厚，导致他们的单宁丰富，味道饱满。从香气上来说，它们通常富含黑色水果，巧克力或是咖啡的感觉。由于赤霞珠厚实的果皮中含有很多复杂化学物质，所以它是非常理想的窖藏对象。



Unfortunately, for merlot, I just never liked it, it always tastes dull and flat. Well, I don't know, maybe I just never had a good one. 很遗憾我对梅乐从来都是无感，它老是尝起来有些平淡无奇，让人打不起精神。The lucky last, shiraz. Quite similar to CS, shiraz has thick skin and dark flavor, but its skin doesn't have as much tannin as CS. So it has less tannic structure and doesn't require long aging time. Oh, I should mention aging a little bit here, it’s simple really, just leave the wine in a dark and cool room for a few years, and the wine will become mature and tender. As far as I can remember, the most memorable flavors of shiraz are the black pepper and the spicy smell. Yeah, pretty special.



最后我们来聊一下西拉，虽然西拉也是一种皮厚的葡萄，但它的单宁含量却比较少，所以也就无需长时间的窖藏来软化单宁酸。说起窖藏呢，其实很简单，它的目的就是在不见光和凉爽的室内让酒中的刺激性比较强的化学物质分解，这样酒的味道就会更加柔和。西拉最令人难忘的味道就是它所富含的各种香料和烟熏的味道，真的是别有风味！百说不如一品，赶紧去买几瓶自己尝尝吧！

OK，I think it is enough for today, otherwise you would get too drunk. And in the next week we will enter the world of white wine. So, there is a long way to becoming a wine connoisseur. Catch up next week!

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