With the Wines of Montsant, It’s All in the Drinking

来源: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/dining/wine-school-montsant.html

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[1] Tasting a wine for evaluation is something wine professionals are compelled/kəm'pɛl/ to do. But it’s not the best way to assess a wine. It’s a compromise./‘kɑmprəmaɪz/

compelled/kəm'pɛl/

* v. 迫使（compel的过去式及过去分词形式）；强迫

compromise./'kɑmprəmaɪz/

* n. 妥协，和解；折衷

[2] Critics for consumer wine magazines, judges in wine competitions, and sommeliers/ˌsəməl'je/ in restaurants must evaluate dozens of bottles in a sitting, and to actually drink that much wine poses obvious challenges. The solution is to take a sip of wine, taste and swirl, take its measure, then spit it out.

[3] It’s not a perfect system, for many reasons. But tastings are the only way to get a sense of many wines in a sitting without keeling over from alcohol poisoning. It’s the method we use at our wine panel tastings.

[4] Nonetheless, the tasting often fails to give a complete picture of a wine. It eliminates/ɪ'lɪmɪnet/ the context that allows a wine to show its best, truest self, often revealed with food and company, and in the spirit of a gathering.

eliminates/ɪ'lɪmɪnet/

* vt. 消除；排除

[5] Taking that away places wine in an often unnatural role, as the center of attention. Professionals generally try to make up for that by imagining how a wine would fare/fɛr/ in more appropriate /ə'proprɪət/ circumstances. But that is not always easy, especially when tasting a series of possibly very disparate /'dɪspərət/ wines.

fare/fɛr/

* n. 票价；费用；旅客；食物

* vi. 经营；进展；遭遇；过活

* fare in 表现

* disparate /'dɪspərət/

* adj. 不同的；不相干的；全异的

[6] In such tastings, the more boisterous/'bɔɪstərəs/, assertive /ə'sɝtɪv/ wines often dominate quieter bottles.

boisterous/'bɔɪstərəs/

* adj. 喧闹的；狂暴的；猛烈的

* assertive /ə'sɝtɪv/

* adj. 肯定的；独断的；坚定而自信的

[7] I was thinking about this as I tasted the wines we have been focusing on in Wine School over the last few weeks. Yes, I know. One of our precepts /'pri:sept/ is that we drink wine, we don’t taste it. And I do drink it, every time.

precepts /'pri:sept/n. 戒律；格言；训令（precept的复数形式

[8] But I habitually/həˈbɪtʃʊəlɪ/ taste the wines, too, before serving them with a meal. The idea is to see how they change over time and as new elements are added.

habitually/həˈbɪtʃʊəlɪ/

* adv. 习惯地；日常地

[9] As usual in Wine School, I recommended three bottles in a particular genre and invited readers to drink them and to share their thoughts in the comments.

[10] The subject over the last month has been the red wines of Montsant, from the Catalonian region of northeastern Spain. It’s an often underrated/ˌʌndə'ret/ wine, which tends to be overshadowed /'ovɚ'ʃædo/ by those of Priorat, a neighboring region with wines that are generally bigger and more majestic /mə'dʒɛstɪk/.

underrated/ˌʌndə'ret/

* vt. 低估；看轻

* overshadowed /'ovɚ'ʃædo/

* vt. 使失色；使阴暗；遮阴；夺去…的光彩

* majestic /mə'dʒɛstɪk/.

* adj. 庄严的；宏伟的

[11] Montsant and Priorat are like Gigondasand Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the southern Rhône valley of France, in that Gigondas is often thought to be a diminutivedɪ'mɪnjətɪv/ and cheaper version of the grander Châteauneuf. But though Gigondas and Châteauneuf have much in common, and are made of a similar set of grapes, the grapes are grown in different soils in different places, and so make different wines, each with its role at the table.

diminutivedɪ'mɪnjətɪv/

* adj. 小的，小型的，微小的

[12] Similarly, Montsant and Priorat are Catalonian neighbors. Both are made historically with the garnacha and cariñena grapes, better known in English as grenache and carignan, though nowadays they are often supplemented with international varieties like cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah and tempranillo.

[13] But as the soils and microclimates of Montsant vary from their neighbor, the wines of Montsant are better understood without the reflex comparison. They are very much their own wines and can be excellent.

[14] The three bottles I recommended were Orto Vins 2013 Pedra Roja, Celler de Capçanes 2014 Peraj Petita and Venus La Universal’s 2014 Dido.

[15] As I tasted the three wines, one of them, the Peraj Petita, seemed diminisheddə'mɪnɪʃ/ compared with the other two. At first, it seemed a bit tight, with a slightly funky aroma /ə'romə/. But with exposure to air, the funkiness disappeared, leaving a meaty, herbal /'ɝbl/ aroma. On the palate, it was earthy with notes of red fruits and flowers, but it still seemed a bit subdued/səb'dud/ and reticent/'rɛtɪsnt/.

diminisheddə'mɪnɪʃ/

* adj. 减弱的；减退了的

* v. 减少；削弱（diminish的过去分词）

* aroma /ə'romə/

* n. 芳香

* herbal /'ɝbl/

* adj. 草药的；草本的

* subdued/səb'dud/

* 柔和的

* reticent/'rɛtɪsnt/

* adj. 沉默的；有保留的；谨慎的

[16] The Dido offered some of the same earthy, herbal, floral qualities, but it was more exuberant, with flavors that seemed exotic and juicy. The Pedra Roja, too, was more vibrant, with a stony earthiness, floral notes and ripe, enticing flavors of red fruits.

[17] I liked them all. But had I stopped there, I would have judged the Peraj Petita to be the least of the three wines. With a simple meal, though, of salt-and-pepper sausages with sautéed onions and peppers and a big green salad, the wine came to life.

[18] No longer was it reticent. It was now deliciously complementary. A bite of the sausage, peppers and onions followed by a sip of the wine synthesized into a whole greater than the sum of the parts.

[19] By contrast, the other two wines did not integrate as well with the meal. They were each individually delicious — the Pedra Roja a bit more complete than the Dido — but the Peraj Petita was the better character actor.

[20] Which wine was the best? It’s hard to answer that question in a simple way. The best with this meal? Or the best in some sort of abstract sense?

[21] If these wines were part of a larger mass tasting, and if these were scored, say, on the popular 100-point scale used by so many wine publications, it would be easy to see that the Peraj Petita would not have been the highest rated. Yet with my meal, it gave me the most pleasure.

[22] You can see the paradox/'pærədɑks/. The best-rated wine of a group can turn out to be the worst choice.

paradox/'pærədɑks/

* n. 悖论，反论；似非而是的论点；自相矛盾的人或事

[23] This is one of the most fascinating/'fæsɪnetɪŋ/ things about wine: It cannot be defined by ratings. There is no such thing as a single “best.” With a bottle that has the potential to age for decades, for example, people often agonize/'æɡənaɪz/ over when to open it, not wanting to miss that moment when it is at its best.

agonize over

* vi. 感到极度痛苦；挣扎

* vt. 使极度痛苦；折磨

* agonize over a problem: 苦苦思索一个问题

fascinating/'fæsɪnetɪŋ/

* adj. 迷人的；吸引人的；使人神魂颠倒的

* v. 使…着迷；使…陶醉（fascinate的ing形式）

[24] Yet no point in a wine’s arc of evolution can be singled out as the best. It will have many great moments, which will show a particular side of the wine and will appeal to differing tastes, though admittedly /əd'mɪtɪdli/ some occasions will be better than others.

In the arc of history 在历史的长河中

singled out 单独拎出来

admittedly /əd'mɪtɪdli/

* adv. 公认地；无可否认地；明白地

[25] Similarly/'sɪməlɚli/, there is no best wine with leg of lamb, pizza, oysters/'ɔɪstɚ/ or Peking duck. Many wines will be great.

[26] The point is that while it is important to learn about the characteristics of many wines, how they evolve and pair with various foods, it’s just as important to understand your own tastes, and how they, too, will change and evolve and differ in certain situations.

[27] I find it reassuring/ˌriə'ʃʊrɪŋ/ that in a world increasingly drawn to simple solutions, so long as they are emphatically /ɪmˈfætɪklɪ/ stated, wine remains intractable /ɪn'træktəbl/ and beautiful in its complexity /kəm'plɛksəti/.

reassuring/ˌriə'ʃʊrɪŋ/

* adj. 安心的；可靠的；鼓气的

* emphatically /ɪmˈfætɪklɪ/

* adv. 着重地；强调地；断然地

* intractable /ɪn'træktəbl/

* adj. 棘手的；难治的；倔强的；不听话的

[28] Most readers found these wines to be unpretentious /ˌʌnprɪ'tɛnʃəs/ and enjoyable. Boris of Seattle called them “playful and happy,” while Dan Barron of New York found them “easygoing and accessible,” and Joseph in France said they were “just plain fun to drink.”

unpretentious /ˌʌnprɪ'tɛnʃəs/

* adj. 谦逊的；含蓄的；不炫耀的；不铺张的,

* 朴素的

[29] Like me, George Erdle of Charlotte, N.C., noted how a wine behaved differently on its own and with food, though he had an opposite experience. He found the Peraj Petita delicious on its own but lacking when paired with a dish of cannellini beans and ham. And he loved the Pedra Roja with duck confit ˈkɒnfiː / .

duck confit ˈkɒnfiː /https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_confit

[30] One reader, Miquel Hudin in Priorat, took me to task for choosing entry-level wines, which he believes were simple and did little to indicate the great strides/straid/ in the region over the last decade. I took his criticism/'krɪtə'sɪzəm/ seriously, as Mr. Hudin, formerly a sommelier in California, wrote the book “Vinologue Montsant: A Regional Guide to Enotourism in Catalonia.”

strides/straid/

* n. 大步；步幅（stride的复数形式）

* v. 跨过；迈步（stride的第三人称单数形式）

[31] He was correct: I could have sought/sɔt/ out more profound/prə'faʊnd/ examples from Montsant. But those bottles would have been even harder to find than the three I selected, which were not easy, and they would have been much more expensive.

profound/prə'faʊnd/

* adj. 深厚的；意义深远的；渊博的

[32] Price is not the final consideration for Wine School, though it is a factor. More important is that these bottles inspire/ɪn'spaɪɚ/ curiosity/ˌkjʊrɪ'ɑsəti/. If you liked these wines, perhaps you will seek out even better examples from Montsant.

[33] That is the ultimate goal of Wine School. Dry facts about a wine or a region are widely available, but the spirit of exploration is too often in short supply. If any of the wines we’ve tasted encourage you to dig deeper on your own, you won’t need me to give you extra credit. The satisfaction will be right there in the bottles.

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Sentence

Yet no point in a wine’s arc of evolution can be singled out as the best

The point is that while it is important to learn about the characteristics of many wines, how they evolve and pair with various foods, it’s just as important to understand your own tastes, and how they, too, will change and evolve and differ in certain situations.

Wine remains intractable /ɪn'træktəbl/ and beautiful in its complexity /kəm'plɛksəti/.

I took his criticism/'krɪtə'sɪzəm/ seriously

More important is that these bottles inspire/ɪn'spaɪɚ/ curiosity/ˌkjʊrɪ'ɑsəti/.

That is the ultimate goal of Wine School.