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In 1989, when the French franc (remember?) was cheap and a pre-Ryanair wave of British romantics sought a slice of la France profonde, we bought half a house in Languedoc. It was a small village in Burgundy that had shown me how much more rural rural France seemed than rural Britain but I was worried that a holiday house in such an important wine region might be an oxymoron.
时间回到1989年，那时候法国法郎还不那么值钱，（现在还有人记得这种货币么？）一波比瑞安航空(Ryanair)还要早的英国浪漫主义者(British romantics)来了一场深度法国(la France profonde)探寻——我们出手在朗格多克(Languedoc)购买了一屋半宅——尽管勃艮第(Burgundy, Bourgogne)的一个小村庄让我意识到英国的乡野在法国的乡野面前简直是小巫见大巫，不过在这么重要的葡萄酒产区有个度假屋会让我很焦虑。
Back then, Languedoc and Roussillon, its Catalan neighbour to the south-west, were producing wines that seemed centuries less evolved than the great wines of France. I liked the idea that an array of styles was available in the region, but felt safe from feeling I ought to be spending my precious summer weeks of R&R visiting wine domaines.
那时候，勃艮第西南部有一个貌似比法国伟大葡萄酒产区落后一百年的葡萄酒产区，也就是讲加泰罗尼亚语的朗格多克和鲁西荣(Roussillon)。这里拥有多种多样的葡萄酒。我承认这很棒，但是一想到要把珍贵的夏季养生休假时光耗费在拜访酒庄上，又觉得有些舍不得。
When we arrived, grapes were virtually the only crop grown in Languedoc and it was their produce that largely filled the notorious EU wine lake with thin, characterless red that no one wanted to drink. Successive schemes were put in place to drain this lake and transform the landscape so that vines on the least propitious (flat and fertile) land were grubbed up. This left a more significant proportion growing in more promising sites at higher elevations, on slopes and on poorer soils so that yields were naturally lower and the resulting wine more interesting and concentrated. Only a small proportion of the vines that used to surround our house remain.
我们去朗格多克的时候，葡萄真是漫山遍野的唯一种植物，这些葡萄也正是填满名声不佳的所谓欧洲酒湖(EU wine lake)的主要来源，谁都不愿意去喝这些单薄而且也没有特色的红葡萄酒。为了降低酒湖的量，欧盟实施了连续多年的葡萄树拔除计划，这里的景色也有了很大的变化——最不适合种植葡萄的地方（也就是地势平坦而且土壤肥沃的区域）的葡萄植株被连根拔掉。这样做造成的结果就是那些海拔较高且土壤比较贫瘠的坡地结出的果实占了整体产量中的更高比例，而这些地段的自然条件决定了它们的单位产量本身就比较低，果实的品质当然更高，酿造的葡萄酒更加吸引人，更加浓郁。现在放眼一看，我们房子周围的葡萄树也被拔除得所剩无几了。
I am ashamed to say that my visits to Languedoc wine producers are still rare. That is because I treasure the contrast between my weeks with family and friends at the house and my busy travelling schedule the rest of the year. But it isn’t because the wines are not worthy of attention.
很惭愧地讲，我拜访朗格多克葡萄酒厂的次数依然寥寥无几，这是因为每年疲于繁忙出差的我，特别珍惜与亲友团聚的时光。当然这并不是说朗格多克的葡萄酒不值得引起我的关注。
This summer I was struck by just how much great wine is being produced here (white and pink as well as red), and what wonderful bargains most are. And I was thrilled to see continued proof of the excitingly tense dry whites that can be grown on higher ground in Roussillon. These wines are so full of individuality, encompassing a range of terrains, grape varieties and winemaking methods, that I could not help comparing them with the narrower range of flavours available from, say, Bordeaux and Burgundy — whose wines are generally much more expensive (although some cult Languedoc wines, such as Grange des Pères and Peyre Rose, are exceptions).
这个夏天，我被朗格多克彻底征服：这里能够酿造出如此多的佳酿（无论白葡萄酒、桃红葡萄酒还是红葡萄酒都是如此），而且它们中的绝大多数都物美价廉。不仅如此，在鲁西荣高海拔地区葡萄园产出的干型白葡萄酒香气紧实，其品质之高之稳定也让我着实惊叹。这些葡萄酒都非常有个性，包含了多种地形、葡萄品种和酿酒方法，让我忍不住将其与风格范围略窄一些的产区来进行一番比较，比如波尔多(Bordeaux)和勃艮第：这些产区的葡萄酒通常要贵得多。当然了，有些朗格多克膜拜酒也不便宜，比如格兰奇佩斯 (Grange des Pères)和佩尔玫瑰(Peyre Rose)。
I am not referring here to the international varietals, often from the larger, more commercial producers, that tend to carry the IGP Pays d’Oc appellation. Some of these are perfectly nice (and good value) but many are pretty dull.
我在这里指的并不是采用国际化葡萄品种、通常酿自规模更大更商业化的生产者、往往属于奥克产区餐酒(IGP Pays d’Oc)的葡萄酒：除了少数很棒（也很有性价比）之外，它们大多都比较无趣。
It is perhaps significant that of the 28 wines chosen by a professional panel as this year’s collection of ambassador wines for the Pays d’Oc, half of them were white, with Chardonnay and Viognier being most common — 14 as opposed to 12 reds and two rosés.
专家组今年选择了二十八款葡萄酒作为奥克地区(Pays d’Oc)精选代表，其中一半是以葡萄品种霞多丽(Chardonnay)和维欧尼(Viognier)居多的白葡萄酒，相对于这十四款白葡萄酒，红葡萄酒占有十二席，桃红葡萄酒占有两席。可以说这是一个有意义的现象了。
Not long ago, Languedoc vineyards were dominated by the dark-skinned Carignan grape. Then there was a vogue for planting Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon — neither particularly suitable for the region. But now, as elsewhere, it is recognised that the traditional varieties work best. So reds tend to be blends of Grenache Noir, its “hairy-leaved” version Lladoner Pelut, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Carignan; whites are drawn from Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, Clairette, Piquepoul, Maccabeu (Viura), Bourboulenc, Rolle (Vermentino), Roussanne, Marsanne and Viognier. These can have seriously individual flavours.
不久以前，朗格多克的葡萄园由皮色深浓的佳丽酿(Carignan)葡萄主宰，后来又流行起了长相思(Sauvignon Blanc)和赤霞珠(Cabernet Sauvignon)这两个尤其不适合种植在当地的品种。不过现在，大家形成了一个放之四海而皆准的公认观点：还是传统葡萄品种在这里表现最佳。所以红葡萄酒最好的还是黑歌海娜(Grenache Noir)、有多毛叶子版本黑歌海娜之称的拉多内佩鲁(Lladoner Pelut)、西拉(Syrah)、穆合怀特(Mourvèdre)、神索(Cinsault)和佳丽酿；白葡萄酒则来自白歌海娜(Grenache Blanc)、灰歌海娜(Grenache Gris)、克莱雷特(Clairette)、皮克普勒(Piquepoul)、马卡贝奥(Maccabeu)(又叫做维欧拉(Viura)) 、布尔布朗克(Bourboulenc)、罗尔(Rolle)（又叫做维尔门蒂诺(Vermentino)）、瑚珊(Roussanne)、玛珊(Marsanne)和维欧尼。所有这些葡萄品种都有自己独有的风味特征。
The wines that excited me this year were made from a mix of local grapes, grown — organically and sometimes biodynamically — in individual conditions, by small, independent producers.
今年给我兴奋感的葡萄酒来自一系列当地的葡萄，它们出自小型的独立生产者之手，通过有机或生物动力法进行种植，风土条件也各有不同。
Tom Hills created Domaine La Lauzeta only in 2015, but with notable success. He produces small amounts of wine in a cramped garage in the St-Chinian village of St-Nazaire de Ladarez, after years spent working as a sugar trader in Russia and the US and growing coffee in Nicaragua. He has identified some fine parcels of vines and enlisted the help of the excellent local consultant Claude Gros and winemaker Amélie Czerwenka. I was impressed by his Jauzimen rosé last year but the reds I tasted this year showed this was no flash in the pan.
汤姆?希尔斯(Tom Hills)在2015年才创立洛姿塔酒庄(Domaine La Lauzeta)，但已经获得了巨大的成功。从事了多年的俄美蔗糖贸易和尼加拉瓜的咖啡种植之后，他在位于圣纳泽尔-拉达赫(St-Nazaire de Ladarez)地区圣-西尼昂(St-Chinian)村庄的狭小车库里酿造了少量葡萄酒。他发掘了一些很好的地块，获得了当地优秀酿酒顾问克劳德?格罗(Claude Gros)和酿酒师艾美丽?切尔文卡(Amélie Czerwenka)的帮助。去年他酿造的桃红葡萄酒若丝芒(Jauzimen)给我留下了深刻的印象，而今年的红葡萄酒品尝让我确定这样的成功不会是昙花一现。
Julien and Delphine Zernott arrived from the Loire in 2003 and have painstakingly renovated the cool, isolated terraced vineyards above Poujols that constitute their Domaine du Pas de l’Escalette, north of the Terrasses du Larzac, a rocky, windswept subregion of the Languedoc. They wisely ignored advice to pull out such indigenous grapes as Carignan Blanc and Terret Bourret and now find their nervy dry white blend particularly sought after by sommeliers.
2003年，朱利安(Julien)和德尔菲尼?泽尔诺(Delphine Zernott)从卢瓦尔(Loire)来到朗格多克，在多风多石的拉赫扎克阶地(Terrasses du Larzac)北边，通过艰苦的努力，整治了普若尔(Poujols)上方气候凉爽的阶梯型葡萄园，使其成为了他们巴德埃斯卡莱特酒庄(Domaine du Pas de l’Escalette)的一部分。他们非常明智地没有接受拔除白佳丽酿(Carignan Blanc)和特雷布雷(Terret Bourret)这样的原生葡萄品种的建议，现在这些品种调配酿造的白葡萄酒非常令人兴奋，成为了侍酒师眼中的香饽饽。
Domaine Sainte Marie des Crozes is run by Christelle Alias, whose father Bernard renovated the estate at the end of the last century. From hillside vineyards in the northern reaches of Corbières, on the Montagne d’Alaric, she produces a range of memorably named and packaged reds.
特里斯泰尔?阿里亚(Christelle Alias)运营管理着父亲贝纳德(Bernard)在上个世纪末翻新的圣玛丽庄园(Domaine Sainte Marie des Crozes)，她采用位于艾拉里克山(Montagne d’Alaric)的上科比埃(Corbières)产区北部山坡葡萄园的原料酿造了一系列名字和包装都令人难以忘记的葡萄酒。
Brigitte Chevalier abandoned her career exporting bordeaux to establish Domaine de Cébène in the distinctive Faugères appellation in northern Languedoc. Like all these producers, she has been making differentiated, expressive wines with a real sense of place.
布里吉特?舍瓦里耶(Brigitte Chevalier)放弃了自己的波尔多葡萄酒出口生意，在朗格多克北部独具特色的佛耶(Faugères)产区建立了塞比纳酒庄(Domaine de Cébène)。与这些生产者一样，她一直在酿造的是有真正地域特色、与众不同且非常有表现性的葡萄酒。
I was lucky this year in being able to taste widely and pleasurably without venturing further than a few steps from the front door.
这一年能够在不用出家门多少步的情况下尝到这些不仅类型多样而且还如此令人快乐的葡萄酒，实属我的幸运。
I benefited from the research of an old friend from Cumbria, ex-wine merchant Richard Neville, who happens to have settled with his wife not too many villages from us. For the past few years, he has volunteered to collect samples from up-and-coming producers for me and this year he excelled himself.
我从理查德?内维尔(Richard Neville)那里受益很多，这位曾经做过酒商的老朋友与他的妻子碰巧定居在离我只有几个村子的地方。这些年来，他一直承担着为我提供出自那些非常有进取心的生产者之手的佳酿，从现在的情况看来，今年他又一次超越了自我。
Then there are consignments of bottles that just seemed to end up on my doorstep, usually delightfully out of the blue. Examples: wines from Domaine Paul Meunier-Centernach, based in the old St-Arnac co-op; and German-owned Domaine Courbissac in the wild hills above La Livinière, the first official sub-appellation within Minervois, which may be joined by Cazelles and Laure if their applications are successful.
现在还总有葡萄酒运送到我的门前，而且时常让我有惊喜，举几个例子吧：来自保罗莫尼尔酒庄(Domaine Paul Meunier-Centernach)的葡萄酒，这座庄园驻扎在古老的合作社圣阿纳克(St-Arnac)；还有德国人执掌的库比萨克酒庄(Domaine Courbissac)，位于利维涅(La Livinière)地区的上部山丘地带,这是米内瓦(Minervois)产区内的第一个官方亚产区(sub-appellation)，卡则勒(Cazelles)和劳雷(Laure)这两个地区如果也能申请成功的话，也会和它一样。
