For most people I know, holidays are a time to relax. And in the English language, “relaxing” is becoming ever more synonymous with drinking. But for us wine writers, things are different. Outside holiday time, our diaries are stuffed with back-to-back tastings. I certainly don’t ask for pity, just incredulity at the number of wine tastings we might be invited to in one day – between one and six from September to June with just two or three weeks off for Christmas.
對大多數人來說,假日意味著休閒。在英文中,休閒(relaxing)已經漸漸成爲飲酒的代名詞。不過對我們這些葡萄酒專欄作家來說,情況就不同了。除去假日以外,我們的日記內容幾乎被連續的背靠背(back-to-back)品嚐會所填滿。當然,我這可不是博取大家的同情,不過我們每天要去參加的品嚐會實在是太多了——除了耶誕節的那兩三週假日以外,每年從九月到六月的這一段時間裏,幾乎每天下午我的時間都被品嚐會所佔滿。