What makes wines different(7)

让你认识红酒的与众不同,为喜欢红酒的人提供多一个方面了解红酒

更好的材料会多花钱。

In the finest wines any oak influence will be derived from actually fermenting or ageing the wine in oak barrels. In such cases, a large premium has to be paid, particularly if the oak is new, as oak is expensive. Of the two main sources of oak, French is more expensive than American, However, French oak tends to give more subtle, toast and nutty flavours than American oak whose flavours tend towards sweet coconut and vanilla. 最好的葡萄酒里，橡木对葡萄酒的作用都源自于橡木桶中进行的发酵或陈年。这种情况下，须支付大笔的额外费用，特别是橡木很新的时候，费用就特别高。出于这两个原因，法国酒就比美国酒贵上许多，然而，法国橡木能比美国橡木的甜椰子和香草味多了更细微，烘烤和坚果的味道。

A further premium is also paid for the highest-quality air-dried staves (as opposed to kiln-dried) and expert cooperage. Caring for a wine in oak barrels, and ensuring it is always topped up to avoid air spoiling the wine, is extremely labour-intensive and therefore adds to the expense. 最高品质的风干橡木桶（与窑内烘干想对照）和制桶专家制的桶都增加了费用。照看橡木桶中的葡萄酒，并始终确保装满，避免与空气接触从而破坏葡萄酒，这些都是劳动密集型工作，因此增加了成本。

Fermentation, as well as ageing, in oak barrels is common for premium Chardonnay wines, including many of those made in Burgundy. It is impractical to ferment red wines in barrels, though many premium wines are at least part-fermented in barrel and certainly aged in oak. 优质霞多丽红酒都在橡木桶中发酵以及陈年，包括勃艮第生产的霞多丽红酒。在橡木桶中发酵红酒这是未必是最符合实际的发酵方法，尽管许多优质葡萄酒至少在木桶进行部分发酵并一定在橡木桶中陈年。

Maturation 成熟

Maturation can take place in barrels or large neutral wooden or

stainless steel vats. Further maturation takes place in the bottle..

The most important changes that occur are the slow chemical

reactions that can allow complex flavours to develop. 成熟过程可

以于桶中或大的中性木桶或不锈钢的桶进行。更进一步的成熟在瓶

中进行。最终要的变化是缓慢的化学反应，能够产生复杂的气味变

化。

Maturation with Oxygen 有氧成熟

New oak directly adds oak flavours to the wine. Old oak vats do

not directly add any flavours. However, in both cases, the vessel is porous and allows small amounts of oxygen to dissolve in the wine. This softens the tannins in red wines, making the wine taste smoother, and can cause flavours such as toffee, fig, hazelnut and coffee to develop. In white wines, oak-ageing can sometime deepen the colour through the process of controlled oxidation. 新的橡木桶会直接在葡萄酒里沁入味道。旧的橡木桶则不会。然而，这两种情况下，木桶会透气并让少量的氧气在酒里溶解。它是红酒中的单宁软化，让酒尝起来更爽口，并能产生诸如太妃糖，无花果，榛子和咖啡的味道。在白葡萄酒中，旧的橡木桶有时会通过受控的氧化过程加深酒的颜色。

Maturation without Oxygen 无氧成熟

Bottles and stainless steel vats are airtight and do not add any flavours, and the chemical reactions that occur are different to those in oak. In large stainless steel vats, the wine flavours stay almost unchanged for months. 瓶子和不锈钢桶都是密封并不会增加任何的其他味道，与橡木桶中发生的化学反应不同。在大个的不锈钢桶中，酒的味道数月保持不变。

Changes occur faster in bottles because they are smaller. Wine in magnums, for example, evolves much slower than wine in half bottles. In bottles, in the absence of oxygen, the fresh fruit aromas of young wines can eventually change into cooked fruit, vegetal and animal notes (wet leaves, mushroom, leather) over time.

酒瓶里的变化更快因其更小。例如大酒瓶里的红