人人嚮往頭等艙 飛機上品酒有講究

WE AlL DREAM of flying first class. Admit it, when the plane pushes back from the gate and begins its taxi to the runway, those of us not quite as close to the cockpit as we had hoped begin to entertain envious thoughts about those up front, sipping vintage Champagne and nibbling their smoked salmon and Osetra caviar.

我們都向往乘坐頭等艙。承認吧，當飛機駛離登機門、開始滑向跑道時，我們這些覺得自己座位距離駕駛艙不顧近的人，就會開始對那些坐在前面的人各種嫉妒嫉妒恨：他們可以啜着陳年香檳，細細品味煙燻三文魚和奧斯特拉鱘(Osetra)魚子醬。

I'm one of those who still experience a little pang of excitement as the catering trolley makes its way down the aisle. But such has been the downgrading of air travel in recent years that food is no longer a given, let alone wine. To compound matters, modern aviation regulations mean the oenophile hasn't a hope of bringing his favorite bottle on board.

我屬於那種見到餐車推上過道心裏依然會稍稍激動的人。不過，近些年航空旅行體驗開始逐漸降格，機上食物不再免費，酒就更別提了。讓事情變得更復雜的是，受到現代航運規定的限制，愛酒之人不可能把自己最喜歡的美酒帶上飛機了。

I'm always reminded of the final scene of 'Hannibal' (2001) when Anthony Hopkins, flying in economy, takes delivery of a Dean & Deluca hamper complete with a half-bottle of 1996 Château Phélan Ségur from Saint-Estèphe, an assortment of fruits, caviar and cheese and, infamously, a tiny pot of brain.

互動圖：頭等艙美酒我總是回想起電影《漢尼拔》(Hannibal，2001年)的最後一幕，搭乘經濟艙的安東尼·霍普金斯(Anthony Hopkins)提着高檔食品雜貨店Dean & Deluca的食品包，外加半瓶源自 埃斯泰夫(Saint-Estephe)產區的飛龍世家酒莊(Chateau Phelan Segur) 1996年的美酒，以及水果、魚子醬和奶酪等各式食品——不甚光彩的是，他還帶了一小罐人腦。

Not that I would recommend drinking such a delicate wine in such a small glass at 35,000 feet. Wines taste very different in the air; a combination of altitude and low humidity tends to accentuate a wine's acidity and alcohol. Meanwhile, the cabin's dry atmosphere will make the tannins--the bitter-tasting compounds found in red wine--more pronounced. And it's not just the wines that are affected. The way we taste things also changes at altitude. As the recycled cabin air dries the mucus in our nasal passages, our sense of smell diminishes, wreaking havoc with our olfactory appreciation.

我並不是要推薦在35,000英尺（約合10,668米）的高空用那麼小的杯子享用如此精美的葡萄酒。葡萄酒在高空品起來味道非常不同，高空環境及低溼度會凸顯出葡萄酒的酸度和酒精度。同時，機艙內乾燥的環境會讓單寧——紅酒中那種味道澀口的物質——的味道變得更爲濃烈。此外，受影響的不只是酒本身。我們品嚐東西的方式在高空也會發生變化。由於機艙內的循環空氣讓我們鼻道中的黏液變幹，我們的嗅覺會隨之變弱，對氣味的辨識會因此遭到破壞。

Saint-Estèphe is known for producing wines with plenty of tannins and acidity in their youth--Dr. Lecter would be advised to plump for something a little riper and softer to pair with his brain; maybe an Australian Shiraz.

埃斯泰夫以出產在年輕期就單寧豐富和酸度高的葡萄酒而聞名——所以這裏要建議萊克特博士(Dr. Lecter)選擇成熟一些、更柔和的葡萄酒來搭配他的人腦餐。澳大利亞的設拉子(Shiraz)葡萄酒或許是一個選擇。

Which brings me to Australia and its flagship carrier, Qantas, which has, for the second year running, picked up a string of prizes in the annual 'Cellars in the Sky' awards. The airline was judged to have the best overall wine cellar, above Emirates, which won silver, and El-Al and Cathay Pacific, which shared bronze.

這讓我想到了澳大利亞及其旗艦航空公司——澳洲航空(Qantas)。該公司連續第二年在一年一度的“空中窖藏獎”(Cellars in the Sky)評選中摘得了一系列獎項。它被評爲最佳的葡萄酒整體窖藏，位列獲得銀獎的阿聯酋航空(Emirates)及共享銅獎的以色列航空(El-Al)與國泰航空(Cathay Pacific)之上。

Qantas says its success lies in its wine panel, created in 2003 and comprising three Australian winemakers: Vanya Cullen, Stephen Pannell and Tom Carson. They meet several times a year and assess hundreds of wines, asking questions such as, does it represent a premium wine? Is it a benchmark of its style? Is it drinking well and will it show well under flying conditions?

澳洲航空稱，其成功得益於它的葡萄酒專門小組。該小組成立於2003年，由三名澳大利亞葡萄酒生產商組成：萬尼亞·庫倫(Vanya Cullen)、斯蒂芬·潘內爾(Stephen Pannell)和湯姆·卡森(Tom Carson)。他們一年會面幾次，對數百種葡萄酒進行評估，並且提出一系列問題如：它是否是優質葡萄酒？是否是該類葡萄酒的標杆？口感是否上乘？以及它在飛行條件下的表現是否出色？。

A spokesman for the panel says altitude dulls a wine's aroma, potentially ruining a good bottle of wine. Soft fruit and citrus flavors are reduced, whereas wines with riper, red-berried fruit tend not to be so badly affected. Meanwhile, a young wine can seem hard whereas older wines tend to taste better.

該小組的一名發言人稱，高空環境會減淡葡萄酒的芳香，可能會毀掉一瓶好酒。柔和的水果及柑橘味會減淡，而更成熟、紅色漿果味的葡萄酒受到的影響則沒那麼嚴重。與此同時，較年輕的葡萄酒可能會顯得苦烈，而較成熟的葡萄酒的味道往往會更好。

With its mainly Australian wine list, Qantas has got it right. My advice to fliers has always been to opt for those wines that are bigger, riper and more expressive, with low acidity. Something like a Merlot, Pinotage or Shiraz for reds or Chardonnay, Semillon and Viognier for whites.

在這個方面，主要配備本國葡萄酒的澳洲航空公司做對了。我對航空旅客的建議一直是選擇那些更濃香、更成熟、更具特色且酸度更低的葡萄酒。紅酒的話可選擇梅洛(Merlot)、品諾塔吉(Pinotage)或設拉子，白葡萄酒則可選擇霞多麗(Chardonnay)、賽美蓉(Semillon)和維歐尼(Viognier)。

It does seem a shame, though, that some of the finest wines in the world are consumed under such poor conditions. Having said that, if I were traveling first class and were handed a cool glass of effervescent vintage Krug after takeoff, I'd take it.

然而，一些世界最好的葡萄酒卻要在如此糟糕的條件下品飲，這着實可惜。話雖如此，假如我坐上了頭等艙，空乘在飛機起飛後遞給我一杯沁涼的陳年Krug起泡酒，我還是會接受的。

WILL LYONS

WILL LYONS