好英语网法国葡萄酒购买秘笈
PARIS - It's that time of year in France - "la rentrée" or "the return." It's when people come back from the beach, don their fall fashions and go back to work or school. It's also the time of year when retailers ring up the bulk of their wine sales for the year.
巴黎——在法国，此时正值一年中的“回归”之际。人们纷纷从海滨归来，换上秋季时装，回到工作或学习中去。与此同时，这也是一年之中葡萄酒零售商们大量出售手头货品的时期。
Most of the big French supermarket chains are gearing up for their annual wine fairs, some of which get under way this week. The idea has also been copied by smaller retailers and Internet wine merchants. A lot of what goes on is marketing, but amid the hype, there are some good deals, too.
在法国，绝大多数大型连锁超市都会搞年度葡萄酒促销节活动，有些活动从这个星期（9月的第二个星期——译注）就开始了。小型零售商和网络葡萄酒经营者们也会借鉴这个创意。很多促销节只是市场营销手段而已，但在天花乱坠的宣传攻势之下，还是能做成几笔货真价实的交易。
If you live in France or within driving distance and you're looking to replenish your cellar - or if you just enjoy the spectacle of grown men fighting over the last bottle of a certain Bordeaux grand cru in a supermarket aisle - it's worth dropping by one of these fairs. Here are a few tips:
如果你住在法国，或者开车就能赶到，这阵子正好打算重新填满自己的酒窖收藏，又或者有兴趣观赏一下众多成年男子在超市通道里为争夺最后一瓶某种特殊的波尔多顶级酒庄的葡萄酒吵得脸红脖子粗的奇观，那么不妨到某个葡萄酒促销节上去看看，下面是一些小贴士：
Where to shop
到哪儿去买
The best wine fairs are those at the big out-of-town "hypermarkets," the ones that pioneered this kind of promotion. The fairs at smaller stores and Internet retailers are often stocked with the same wines that are sold year-round, generally at the same prices. Definitely avoid any so-called wine fair within the Paris city limits, for similar reasons. The best chains to look for are Carrefour (again, the big, suburban stores, not the in-town Carrefour Market convenience stores), Auchan and E. Leclerc. Other chains, like Intermarché, Super U and Casino, also have decent fairs.
最好的葡萄酒促销节要到郊区那些超级大卖场(hypermarkets)里去找，它们其实是这类促销活动的创始者。小商店和网店上的促销节展出的大都是已经在店里卖了一年的老货色，通常也没有降价。同理，巴黎市区内那些所谓的葡萄酒促销节也千万去不得。要找好的葡萄酒促销节，最好的连锁超市有家乐福（再强调一次，是郊区的大型超市，千万别去城区的家乐福便利店）、欧尚(Auchan)和E. Leclerc。像Intermarché、Super U和卡西诺(Casino)这些连锁超市也不坏。
What to buy
买什么
Basically, Bordeaux. The retailers advertise vast ranges of wines from virtually every region of France - and even, in some cases, other countries. It's best to skip most of these. I've scoured through thousands of wines on all of the retailers' fair lists that I could find - this is less fun than it might sound - and have been unable to find a single Burgundy of interest, for example. The problem is that the best wines of Burgundy are simply not made in large enough quantities to satisfy a big retailer's national distribution system, and most Burgundy vignerons don't need to sell their wines in grocery stores, anyway. Bordeaux is different. It makes huge amounts of wine, even at the high end. The wine fairs are a good way to unload some of it in a way that doesn't undermine higher prices in export markets.
基本上，买波尔多葡萄酒就好。零售商的广告里会涵盖法国几乎所有产地的葡萄酒，有时甚至会推荐其他国家的酒。这些酒最好是别买。比如说，我曾经在那些促销节酒单上提供的几千种酒里搜寻（这事可不像听上去那么有趣），却找不到哪怕一种有意思的勃艮第葡萄酒。问题就在于，最好的勃艮第葡萄酒产量有限，根本就没法满足大型零售商全国分销系统的大量需求，何况大多数勃艮第葡萄酒的生产者们也根本用不着在食品店里卖酒。波尔多葡萄酒就不一样了。它产量很大，就算是高端的酒为数也不少。零售商们可以趁着葡萄酒促销节的良机卖掉一部分，同时又不至于在出口市场上降低价格。
Know your vintages
了解年份
The wine fairs - the genuine ones, at least - are pretty much the first opportunity, anywhere, to buy a certain vintage of Bordeaux grands crus in the bottle, rather than via futures for later delivery. This year, the newest grand-cru releases are the 2010s. The good retailers all have sizable selections of 2010s, as well as some 2009s that went unsold last year. Both 2010 and 2009 were great vintages in Bordeaux, producing rich, ripe, delicious wines, but the profiles of the two years are slightly different. The 2009s are smoother and more opulent, the 2010s more structured and reserved. If you want to drink your wines soon, opt for the 2009s; if you're looking to cellar them, go for the 2010s.
葡萄酒促销节（至少是那些货真价实的促销节）是买到特定年份的波尔多顶级酒庄葡萄酒的最早机会，比通过事后到货的期货交易购买要好。今年最新发布的顶级酒庄葡萄酒是2010年份的。好的零售商都会上很多2010年份的货，还有若干去年没卖出去的2009年份的。2010年和2009年都是波尔多葡萄酒的好年份，酿出的酒醇厚、成熟、可口，但是两个年份的感觉也有微妙的不同。2009年份的酒更加醇和丰厚，2010年份的酒则内敛而富于层次。如果你想买回去很快就喝，那就选2009年份的酒；如果你想储存一段时间，就买2010年份的。
Know your prices
了解价格
It used to be that bargains abounded at the fairs. But Bordeaux prices have risen substantially in recent years, so any bargains are relative. Still, the prices of desirable vintages like 2010 and 2009 are sure to be lower during the wine fairs than a few years down the road when these wines make their way into specialist retailers. On some wines, the supermarkets even undercut the price of Bordeaux futures, which are offered more than a year earlier by wine merchants, purportedly as a way to lock in the lowest prices.
以前这些促销节上有很多特价酒。但是近年来波尔多葡萄酒的价格大大上涨，所以任何“特价”也是相对而言的。不过，像2010和2009这样年份很好的酒，在促销节上买肯定会比今后再买划算，因为将来这些酒就会慢慢进入专营店销售了。波尔多葡萄酒期货的价格是由酒商提前一年提供的，有些超市甚至会降低某些品种的期货价格，据说这是为了锁定最低价。
Know your chateaus
了解酒庄
Avoid the biggest names, which were subject to a speculative frenzy in both 2009 and 2010. In any case, relatively few of these wines are available in the fairs. Don't worry. There are plenty of other wines, nearly as good, at a fraction of the price, in these great vintages. While there are few screaming buys among the grands crus, here are some that look like decent choices: 2009 Calon-Ségur, at less than 70 euros, or about $90; 2010 Gruaud-Larose, at less than 60 euros; 2010 Malartic-Lagravière, at less than 50 euros; 2009 and '10 Lafon-Rochet, at less than 40 euros; and 2010 La Tour Carnet and 2009 and '10 Cantemerle, at less than 30 euros. If you can settle for something less than a grand cru, wines from excellent Bordeaux chateaus like Belle-Vue, Clément-Pichon, Lanessan, La Dauphine and Poujeaux are widely available, sometimes in either vintage, for less than 20 euros.
要避免购买那些最大牌酒庄的酒，它们的价格受到2009年和2010年投机狂热的影响。不管怎样，大牌酒庄的这两个年份的酒在促销节上几乎是看不到的。不过别担心。其他的酒庄的酒还有很多，质量几乎一样好，价格便宜得多，也是2009和2010这两个好年份的。顶级酒庄葡萄酒里，有很多品种价格相当令人惊喜，下面这些看起来都不错：2009年份的凯隆世家(Calon-Ségur)，低于70欧元（或90美元左右）；2010年份的布朗康田(Gruaud-Larose)，低于60欧元；2010年份的马拉蒂克-拉格维尔(Malartic-Lagravière)，低于50欧元；2009与2010年的拉芳罗谢(Lafon-Rochet)，低于40欧元；2010年的拉图嘉利(La Tour Carnet)，以及2009年与2010年的佳得美(Cantemerle)，低于30欧元。如果你满足于grand cru级别以下的酒，Belle-Vue、克莱蒙-皮雄(Clément-Pichon)、蓝珊(Lanessan)、La Dauphine与宝捷这些波尔多优秀酒庄出产的相关档次葡萄酒供应相当充足。有的酒庄2009年份和2010年份的酒价位都在20欧元以下。
Don't fall for it
不要轻信
Most retailers also offer volume discounts - buy two bottles for 5 euros, get one free, for example. The wines subject to these offers are usually awful - basically boxed wine that has been dressed up and bottled for the occasion. These are no bargains.
大多数零售商都会提供大幅度优惠，比如5欧元买二赠一之类的。这些买赠的酒通常都很糟糕，基本就是盒装葡萄酒被改头换面，装进瓶子，是专门为了拿到这种促销节上卖的。绝不是什么打折酒。