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ワイナリーめぐり
アメリカでワインの産地といえばカリフォルニアが有名ですが、実は雅子さんの住むニューヨーク州でもワインが作られています。そこで先日、雅子さんは同僚たちと州西部の湖岸地域のワイナリーめぐりに参加。訪れた先のワイナリーで詳しい説明を受け、ワインへの造けいが深まったようです。
A trip to the wineries
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今回のワイナリーめぐりで購入したワインの数々
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I recently went on a winery tour with a group of people from my company. We rented a bus and visited the Finger Lakes region of New York. California may be the most famous wine-producing state in the United States, but, in fact, several regions in New York produce wine as well. I was surprised by this, since the climate hardly resembles the climate of Italy, France or California.
I learned during our wine-tasting tour that in the '70s, New York State actively tried to promote wine-making by passing an act giving farmers a financial incentive to produce wine. The campaign seems to have worked, since we visited many wineries during our half-day trip.
Most of the wineries in the Finger Lakes region are small in size, perhaps even family-owned, and cater primarily to local restaurants and visitors to the wineries. We tried about five to 10 wines at each stop. At many of the wineries, we got a detailed explanation of each of the wines.
I expected to see vast fields of grapes stretching out to the horizon, but what I in fact saw were rather modest plots of land. Most were situated along the shores of the finger-shaped lakes of the region, producing some very charming scenes. Apparently, the gentle slope leading down toward the lakes creates a microclimate that is well-suited for growing grapes.
At each winery, we heard large explosions coming from the fields. These machines are high-tech scarecrows: The explosions are harmless but drive away the pesky birds. One of the most interesting things I learned during the tour is that the machines go off at random times so the birds don't get used to the frequency of the explosions. The machines have to trick them constantly.
The vast majority of the grapes in the fields were European in origin, since those varieties produce the most popular wines. However, since the grapes are not native to upstate New York, their roots cannot flourish in the cold climate. Thus, the European grape vines must be grafted onto native grape stock. I felt sorry for those poor, transplanted vines so I decided that I would buy only wine made with grapes that were native to the region.
I bought wines made with Concord and Niagara grapes, as well as a wine made with grapes especially developed by nearby Cornell University to flourish in the Finger Lakes climate. I also bought wines made with local pears, apples or honey. I must admit that most of these wines were too sweet and one-dimensional. But then again, most of the "sophisticated" European-style wines we tried didn't quite meet world-class standards either, so I was happy to have at least supported truly American products.
Another thing that really surprised me was how long it took for us to get to the wineries. From my home, it takes three hours to drive to Boston, three hours to drive to Montreal, Canada, and three hours to drive to New York City: Now I know it also takes three hours to drive to our "local" New York wineries! The organizer of the trip was kind enough to bring some movies for us to watch in our video-equipped bus, which I appreciated, but I tried to enjoy the passing scenery as the bus rolled past many towns in upstate New York.
The best part of the trip is that I was able to become friends with the people sitting around me. This, of course, is one of the primary reasons people participate in such events. The bus took us back home in the evening, and a group of us decided to go out for dinner together. We got along so well that we watched a movie together the following day, too. I have invited these new friends over for dinner a number of times already, and there is still plenty of wine left over. I hope there will be many more parties to come.
Shukan ST: Dec. 6, 2002
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- wineries
- ワイナリー・ワイン醸造所
- region
- 地方
- in fact
- 実は
- climate
- 気候
- hardly resembles 〜
- ほとんど〜に似ていない
- wine-tasting
- ワインの試飲
- passing 〜
- 〜を通過させる
- act
- 条例
- financial incentive
- 奨励金
- campaign
- 運動
- seems to have worked
- 成功したようだ
- small in size
- 小規模の
- family-owned
- 家族経営の
- cater primarily to 〜
- 主に〜向けである
- detailed
- 詳細な
- vast fields of grapes
- 広大なブドウ畑
- stretching out to the horizon
- 地平線まで伸びる
- rather modest
- どちらかというと小さな
- plots of land
- 区画
- were situated
- 位置していた
- finger-shaped
- 指の形をした
- charming scenes
- うっとりするような景色
- Apparently, 〜
- 〜らしい
- gentle slope leading down toward 〜
- 〜へ向かうなだらなかな坂
- microclimate
- 小気候(狭い地域の気候)
- is well-suited for 〜
- 〜に適している
- explosions
- 爆発音
- scarecrows
- かかし
- harmless
- 無害の
- drive away 〜
- 〜を撃退する
- pesky
- やっかいな
- go off
- (音を)発する
- at random times
- 不定期に
- get used to 〜
- 〜に慣れる
- frequency
- 頻度
- trick 〜
- 〜をだます
- constantly
- 絶えず
- were 〜 in origin
- 〜の原産だった
- varieties
- 品種
- native to 〜
- 〜原産の
- upstate 〜
- 〜北部
- roots
- 根
- flourish
- 繁茂する
- grape vines
- ブドウの木
- be grafted onto 〜
- 〜に接木される
- stock
- 幹
- transplanted
- 移植された
- developed by 〜
- 〜によって開発された
- Cornell University
- コーネル大学
- pears
- 洋ナシ
- one-dimensional
- 深みのない
- sophisticated
- 洗練された
- meet world-class standards
- 世界的な水準に見合う
- at least
- 少なくとも
- drive to 〜
- 〜まで車で行く
- organizer
- 幹事
- video-equipped
- ビデオ付きの
- appreciated
- ありがたく思った
- rolled past
- 通り過ぎた
- participate in 〜
- 〜に参加する
- got along so well that 〜
- 意気投合したので〜
- have invited 〜 over for 〜
- 〜を〜に招待した
- a number of times
- 何回も
- plenty of 〜
- たくさんの〜
- left over
- 残っている