高中英語 VOA常速聽力08月合輯(文本)ChineWorktoImproveDomesticWineI

2024年3月17日發(作者：一樹梨花開)

VOA常速英語聽力2012年08月合輯（文本）：

Chine-Work-to-Improve-Domestic-Wine-Industry

YINCHUAN, China — While Chine wine connoisurs spend lavishly at auctions for

rare and esteemed foreign wines, inside China there are many working to improve the

international reputation of the domestic wine industry. The dert-like region of

Ningxia enjoys the best conditions in China for growing wine grapes, according to

the local government.

This area around the Helan Mountains is a key part of Ningxia's government’s five-year

plan to make this an official wine-growing region.

The area is home to a host of wineries, such as Jiabeilan and Domaine Helan Mountain.

One of the smaller wineries is Silver Heights, which was started in 2007.

Winemaker Emma Gao grew up in the area, but is one of the few Chine to hold a French

national certification for winemaking.

"When I was growing up in the 1980s, the wine we drank was sweet, which is how we

thought all wine was. We would even add some other beverages to it, so that it would

be more palatable. If it was like a proper red wine, very tannic, we would not like

it very much," said Gao.

Changing tastes

Gao says times are changing, though, and more Chine people are developing a taste

for Western food and wine.

"There is already a huge potential market of 1.3 billion customers. Even if just one

percent of the population drinks a glass of wine a day, the result you get from this

is pretty clear," she said.

Wines from Ningxia, including one from Silver Heights, caud a small stir last

December when they beat similarly-priced wines from Bordeaux in an informal

blind-taste test in Beijing. One of the contest's organizers, Jim Boyce, runs a Chine

wine blog called .

"The reality was five French and five Chine professionals picked Ningxia, the top

four wines of the 10 were from Ningxia. Does that mean Ningxia is better than Bordeaux?

No, of cour not," he said. "The best Bordeaux wine is still better - but it does

mean there is a capability here to make wine that can compete at a certain level.

Father's pressure

Silver Heights is largely the realization of a dream - cherished by 70-year-old wine

lover Gao Lin, who funded his daughter's wine education in France.

"I told her if you study wine-making, the goal is very clear - we can have some fields

here and we can cultivate grapes," she said. "Afterwards, you can come back and work

here. So, I can give you money to pay for your education. If you study other subjects,

then I will not provide any financial assistance. You will have to support yourlf.

Emma Gao acknowledges her father's strong influence in her choice of careers, but

says she also had an epiphany moment - when she began to love wine too.

"I was tasting 13 or 14 different kinds of chardonnay," she said. "It was all excellent

and I tasted a blooming spring flower, different kinds of fruits, a nutty taste, all

of the tastes were delightful. Afterwards, I did a lot of other tastings, in places

like Burgundy, the Loire Valley - every area has its unique wines and tastes.

Gao says Ningxia wines also have distinctive characteristics. Her winery produces

only red wines, which judges have described as spicy, and reminiscent of ros,

tomatoes and black fruits.