2008年11月29日 星期六

德国 葡萄酒的 "质重于量"生产策略

德国风行葡萄酒

德国人爱喝啤酒世人皆知,但德国啤酒消费量明显下滑却是不争的事实。去年一年,德国人喝啤酒的数量已退居到1993年的最低消费水平。与此相反,爱喝葡萄 酒的德国人正在大幅增加。据"德国葡萄酒研究所"的调查结果,德国每人每年平均饮用20.6升葡萄酒。更令葡萄酒爱好者感到高兴的是,劣质葡萄酒已逐渐从 德国市场上消失。今天德国葡萄酒产区的酒农,致力生产国际高质量产品。本台特约记者Claudia Hennen在秋收季节走访了一趟德国山坡地上的葡萄酒产区。

本年度德国葡萄酒皇后玛丽丝说:“葡萄酒广告中的个人感情色彩浓厚,看过的人因受到感染,或多或少留下了印象。而这也是葡萄酒皇后的使命:使葡萄酒人格化,从而达到促销的目的。 ”

今年新出炉的葡萄酒皇后玛丽丝,黑发、碧眼,是德国葡萄酒的新代言人。她的脸上绽开了灿烂的笑容。22岁的玛丽丝是弗兰肯人,受过酿酒专业教育,上 任后已履行了首次亲善大使的任务:造访了黑森州莱茵高地区哈滕海姆的"汉斯朗葡萄酒酿造厂"。酒厂主人约翰.马克西米里安.朗,是享誉国际的德国葡萄酒酿 造商。他2005年份的特制上等雷司令葡萄酒,刚赢得全世界最著名葡萄酒大赛的金牌奖。朗先生表示:“我们经营的酒庄是家族企业,没有支付庞大广告和公关 费用的财力,但却必须让外界得知我们生产高质量的葡萄酒。参加比赛可说是自我宣传的最佳途径,因为产品再好,没人知道也是白搭。”

 Bildunterschrift:

"汉斯朗葡萄酒庄"在莱茵高地势最佳的山坡地上,种植了18公顷的葡萄园。他们生产的葡萄酒主要供应国内市场,现在也有1/3产品销往美国、加拿大 和中国。美因茨"德国葡萄酒研究所"的新闻发言人毕舍尔表示: “我们这儿属于德国葡萄酒产区的最北方,这意味着,葡萄的成熟期很长,而成熟过程长,葡萄就有了足够酝酿果香的时间,因此我们酿造的葡萄酒富含特殊的果酸 成份,成为一种芳醇、美味的淡葡萄酒。南部地区生产的葡萄酒,特别是白葡萄酒的酒精含量较高,也缺少淡淡的葡萄果香。”

高质量德国葡萄酒早已不限于白葡萄酒类,为人诟病的气候变化却为德国的红葡萄酒带来积极影响:近年来由于德国气温上升,有利于葡萄酒的酿造过程,从 而产生了香醇可口的高质量产品。现在德国已有1/3的葡萄园种植红葡萄,其中大部份是晚期勃艮第品种。毕舍尔指出:“德国红葡萄酒在外国还没闯出名号,因 此我们要出奇制胜,与国际知名品牌同台较量,从而使人发现,德国生产的红葡萄酒,并不比国际上的其它品牌逊色,但却物美价廉。国际市场上的知名品牌是有着 相当价位的。”

 Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: 今年德国一家生产红葡萄酒的厂家,在英国葡萄酒专业杂志"Dekanter"举办的国际知名"世界葡萄酒大赛"中脱颖而出。获得这项荣誉的是德国阿尔河谷"麦耶尔.内克尔酒庄"生产的2005年份晚期勃艮第。

德国因葡萄种植地有限,所产的葡萄酒尚不足以满足国内市场需求,因此德国是全球最大的葡萄酒进口国,其所导致的后果是,使本国生产的葡萄酒处于强大竞争压力之下。采取"质重于量"的生产策略,应是德国葡萄酒争取市场的不二法门。

Claudia Hennen

2008年11月27日 星期四

蓝樽(上海)酒业赔偿 Johnnie Walker Black Label

由于抄袭产品包装,上海一家法院日前判令一家中国公司向英国饮料集团帝亚吉欧(Diageo)支付125万元人民币(合18.3万美元)的赔偿金,显示出中国政府打击猖獗盗版行为的决心。

该法院判定,蓝樽(上海)酒业公司(Blueblood (Shanghai) Wine Co)抄袭了帝亚吉欧集团知名的尊尼获加黑牌威士忌(Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky)的酒瓶设计和包装,并且在上海政府于2006年收到帝亚吉欧集团的投诉并对其处以罚款后,仍在继续其抄袭行为。此次判决的赔偿金额异常之 高,而且适逢上海政府开展打击盗版的专项行动之际。政府官员试图通过此项行动展示他们保护知识产权的决心。

专门从事知识产权案件的律师们表示,虽然帝亚吉欧案的裁决明显是宣传攻势的一部分,但也的确表明,中国政府对待假冒伪造行为的态度比前几年严厉得多。

2008年11月22日 星期六

Chateau Los Boldos



2008/11/23 meeting (simon university) 陳巨擘先生攜
Chateau Los Boldos
1948 old vines...

2008年11月16日 星期日

Some See Big Problem in Wisconsin Drinking

Some See Big Problem in Wisconsin Drinking

Andy Manis for The New York Times

Mike Whaley, owner of Wile-e’s in Edgerton, Wis., did liquor shots with Amy and C. J. Erickson.


Published: November 15, 2008

EDGERTON, Wis. — When a 15-year-old comes into Wile-e’s bar looking for a cold beer, the bartender, Mike Whaley, is happy to serve it up — as long as a parent is there to give permission.

Skip to next paragraph
Andy Manis for The New York Times

Mixing a shot at Wile-e's Bar.

“If they’re 15, 16, 17, it’s fine if they want to sit down and have a few beers,” said Mr. Whaley, who owns the tavern in this small town in southern Wisconsin.

While it might raise some eyebrows in most of America, it is perfectly legal in Wisconsin. Minors can drink alcohol in a bar or restaurant in Wisconsin if they are accompanied by a parent or legal guardian who gives consent. While there is no state law setting a minimum age, bartenders can use their discretion in deciding whom to serve.

When it comes to drinking, it seems, no state keeps pace with Wisconsin. This state, long famous for its breweries, has led the nation in binge drinking in every year since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began its surveys on the problem more than a decade ago. Binge drinking is defined as five drinks in a sitting for a man, four for a woman.

People in Wisconsin are more likely than anywhere else to drive drunk, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The state has among the highest incidence of drunken driving deaths in the United States.

Now some Wisconsin health officials and civic leaders are calling for the state to sober up. A coalition called All-Wisconsin Alcohol Risk Education started a campaign last week to push for tougher drunken driving laws, an increase in screening for alcohol abuse at health clinics and a greater awareness of drinking problems generally.

The group, led by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, criticized the state as having lenient alcohol laws and assailed a mindset that accepts, even celebrates, getting drunk.

“Our goal is to dramatically change the laws, culture and behaviors in Wisconsin,” said Dr. Robert N. Golden, the dean of the medical school, calling the state “an island of excessive consumption.” He said state agencies would use a $12.6 million federal grant to step up screening, intervention and referral services at 20 locations around Wisconsin.

The campaign comes after a series in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel titled “Wasted in Wisconsin,” which chronicled the prodigious imbibing among residents of the state, as well as the state’s reluctance to crack down on alcohol abuse.

Drunken drivers in Wisconsin are not charged with a felony until they have been arrested a fifth time. Wisconsin law prohibits sobriety checks by the police, a common practice in other states.

“People are dying,” the newspaper exclaimed in an editorial, “and alcohol is the cause.”

Wisconsin has long been famous for making and drinking beer. Going back to the 1800s, almost every town in the state had its own brewery. Milwaukee was the home of Miller, Pabst and Schlitz. Now Miller is the only big brewery in the city.

Most people in Wisconsin say the beer-drinking traditions reflect the customs of German immigrants, passed down generations. More than 40 percent of Wisconsin residents can trace their ancestry to Germany. Some experts, though, are skeptical of the ethnic explanation. It has been a very long time, after all, since German was spoken in the beer halls of Wisconsin.

Whatever the reason, plenty of Wisconsin people say they need to make no apologies for their fondness for drinking.

“I work 70, 80 hours a week, and sometimes I just want to relax,” said Luke Gersich, 31, an engineering technician, who drank a Miller as he watched the Monday Night Football game at Wile-e’s tavern. On a weeknight, he said he might drink seven or eight beers. On a weekend, it might be closer to 12.

In Wisconsin, people often say, there is always a bar around the next corner. But drinking is scarcely limited to taverns. A Friday fish fry at a Wisconsin church will almost surely include beer. The state counts some 5,000 holders of liquor licenses, the most per capita of any state, said Peter Madland, the executive director of the Tavern League of Wisconsin.

“We’re not ashamed of it,” Mr. Madland said. He said anti-alcohol campaigns were efforts to “demonize” people who simply liked to kick back and relax with some drinks.

“It’s gotten to the point where people are afraid to have a couple of beers after work and drive home, for fear they’ll be labeled a criminal,” he said. “At lunch, people are afraid if they order a beer someone will think they have a drinking problem.”

But the drinkers have typically had plenty of advocates in the State Legislature. State Representative Marlin Schneider, for example, sees sobriety checkpoints as an intrusion on Constitutional rights of due process.

As for allowing minors to drink in bars with their parents, Mr. Schneider said the law simply allowed for parents to educate and supervise the youthful drinking. “If they’re going to drink anyhow,” said Mr. Schneider, Democrat of Wisconsin Rapids, “it’s better to do it with the parents than to sneak around.”

Technically speaking, the sale is between the bartender and the parent or legal guardian, who then gives the drink to the minor. The bartender has the discretion to decide whether the minor can drink in the establishment.

Before he owned Wile-e’s, Mr. Whaley said there were some cases where he had to say no to a parent. “I’ve had situations where a parent was going to buy drinks for a kid who looked 8 or 10 years old,” he said, “and I had to say, ‘That’s a no-go.’ ”

He also has a rule in his tavern that under-age drinkers must leave by 9 p.m. “When it gets later in the night, people don’t want a bunch of kids running around,” he said.

One recent night, a lanky, blond-haired 17-year-old boy shot pool at the bar with his dad. Both were drinking soda.

In Mr. Whaley’s view, the bar can be a suitable place for families to gather, especially when the beloved Green Bay Packers are on the television. “On game days, a buddy of mine will come to the bar with his 2-year-old, his 8-year-old and his 10-year-old,” Mr. Whaley said. “He might get a little drunk. But his wife just has a few cocktails. It’s no big deal. Everybody has a good time.”

2008年11月5日 星期三

David Dubal

David Dubal 的鋼琴欣賞節目的引言多甚妙
今天引的是

"純水是上帝賜與人的最佳 best 禮物.....
願到處有飲泉水.....
小子何許人也
起敢擔受最佳之禮
對我 葡萄酒 威士忌甚至於啤酒已足矣"



David Dubal's Radio Show "Reflections from the Keyboard"

"Reflections from the Keyboard -- The Piano in Comparative Performance" with David Dubal, Peabody award and Emmy award winner, is one of the most popular ...

2008年11月1日 星期六

Italy’s Craft Beers

Travel

By EVAN RAIL

In the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont, a nascent craft beer scene has begun to emerge, bringing well-made brews into the dining rooms of some of country's best restaurants.


Multimedia


The country might be best known for fashion and food, but it is gaining a reputation with beer lovers as well.