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.
对大多数人来说,假日意味着休闲。在英文中,休闲(relaxing)已经渐渐成为饮酒的代名词。不过对我们这些葡萄酒专栏作家来说,情况就不同了。除去假日以外,我们的日记内容几乎被连续的背靠背(back-to-back)品尝会所填满。当然,我这可不是博取大家的同情,不过我们每天要去参加的品尝会实在是太多了——除了圣诞节的那两三周假日以外,每年从九月到六月的这一段时间里,几乎每天下午我的时间都被品尝会所占满。