他她話題:女人的味覺比男人好嗎（下)

Did Mr. Lee think women had superior palates? He didn't…although his wife did. "I think women notice more subtleties," she said. As an aside, Ms. Lee noted that her husband drank more expensive wines with his friends than she did with hers. (That's another cliché of men versus women in the wine world. As Dan Posner of Grapes Wine Co. in White Plains, N.Y., put it: "Women like the name Sancerre. Men like the name Montrachet.")

李先生是不是認爲女人有更好的味覺呢？他不覺得……但是他妻子確有這種想法，她說，"我覺得女人能夠覺察到更細膩的東西。"作爲題外話，李太太說她丈夫跟他的朋友一起時喝的葡萄酒比她和她的朋友一起喝的要貴。（那是另一個老生常談的話題，關於葡萄酒世界裏的男人與女人的對比。正如紐約州白原市（White Plains）葡萄酒有限公司（Grapes Wine Co.）的丹・波斯納（Dan Posner）所言，"女人喜歡桑塞爾（Sancerre）這樣的名字，而男人則喜歡夢拉榭（Montrachet）這樣的名字。"）

What about wine-drinking amateurs? What would they say? I decided to convene a group of six tasters, male and female, for some real-life insight. I pulled together an appropriately disparate group of wines, including some that had been identified as fit for women (Pink Moscato and Pinot Grigio) and some that were ostensibly "male"-i.e., Cabernets and Syrahs.

葡萄酒業餘愛好者怎麼看？他們會有什麼樣的說法？我決定召集六名品酒者，其中有男有女，來進行實地觀察。我把一些各不相同的葡萄酒堆放在一起，包括一些適合女性喝的（粉紅莫斯卡託葡萄酒和灰皮諾葡萄酒）以及表面上看更"男性"的葡萄酒──解百納（Cabernet）和西拉葡萄酒。

Before we began tasting, there was a brief back and forth about actual palate preferences versus marketing techniques. "I feel there is a marketing perspective about what kind of wine a man would want," remarked Jeff, and Gary agreed: "Men like big, broad-shouldered wines," he said. "It affirms their masculinity. The Cabernet people really know what they're doing."

在我們開始品酒之前，大家就實際的味覺偏好與市場營銷手段的話題你一言我一語地討論了一番。傑夫（Jeff）說道，"我感覺在男人想要什麼樣的葡萄酒這個問題上市場營銷人員有他們的觀點。"加里（Gary）表示贊同，"男人喜歡用大而寬的瓶子包裝的葡萄酒，那樣才能肯定他們的男子氣概。愛喝解百納的人非常明白自己在做什麼。"

And yet, Gary was the first one to express a dislike for the Cabernet Sauvignon that I'd chosen (2009 Sojourn Napa Valley Spring Mountain), finding it a bit one-dimensional. He was also one of the first to express a preference for the Pinot Grigio. "This is more interesting than most Pinot Grigios, especially the aromas," he said of the 2011 Ferrari-Carano Pinot Grigio, a bright, well-balanced white from the Russian River Valley of California. (The men were all quite keen on the Pinot Grigio.)

然而，加里是第一個表示不喜歡我選出來的解百納（我選的是2009年的Sojourn Napa Valley Spring Mountain）的人，覺得這種酒有點乏味。他也是第一個說自己喜歡灰皮諾葡萄酒的人。"這比大多數灰皮諾都更讓人感興趣，尤其是它的香味，"他說的是2011年的Ferrari-Carano灰皮諾葡萄酒，一種產自加州俄羅斯河谷（Russian River Valley）的色澤鮮亮勻稱的白葡萄酒。（幾位男士全都很喜歡這款灰皮諾酒。）

The next wine, the 2010 Smith-Madrone Napa Valley Riesling, was a universal favorite. "It's a wine for men and women," said Peter, thanks to the wine's bright acidity and clean, minerally flavors. The 2011 Be Flirty Pink Moscato, on the other hand, was universally loathed. "This is a wine cooler," said Lauren. "It's a Chippendales wine," replied Gary, in a reference to the male-stripper club.

大家品嚐的下一種酒是2010年的Smith-Madrone納帕谷雷司令（Smith-Madrone Napa Valley Riesling），它成了所有人的最愛。彼得（Peter）說，"這酒男女皆宜，"因爲這種酒有爽口的酸味和清新的礦物質味道。相反，2011年的Be Flirty粉紅莫斯卡託則不受衆人待見。勞倫（Lauren）說，"這酒好淡。"加里答道，"它是奇彭代爾舞團（Chippendales）那些人才喝的葡萄酒。"他說的奇彭代爾舞團就是那支著名的脫衣舞男表演隊。

Positive commentary returned with the reds, save for the 2010 WillaKenzie Estate Pinot Noir Estate Cuvée, which everyone found light and a bit innocuous. The other reds pleased both sexes across the board, even the wines that were fairly tannic, including the highly regarded 2009 Domaine Courbis Champelrose Cornas, a "manly" red from the northern Rhone, and the 2008 Pintas, a broad-shouldered blend from the Duoro Valley that's one of Portugal's most sought-after reds. The panel was universally enthusiastic about the Pintas, praising its lush texture and ripe fruit, though it was a rather formidable wine.

當品嚐到紅葡萄酒時，大家再次給予了肯定的評價，只有2010年的巍峨酒莊（WillaKenzie Estate）黑皮諾葡萄酒例外，大家覺得它有點平淡乏味。其它的紅葡萄酒受到了兩種性別人士的普遍歡迎，哪怕有些酒裏含有相當數量的單寧酸，包括被人高度認可的2009年的Domaine Courbis Champelrose Cornas，一種產自羅納河谷（Rhone）北部的"適合男人的"紅葡萄酒，還包括2008年的Pintas，一種產自多羅河谷（Duoro Valley）的寬肩瓶裝的混合葡萄酒，是葡萄牙最受人追捧的紅葡萄酒。品酒小組全體人員對Pintas都興致濃厚，對它醇美的口感和成熟的果味讚不絕口，雖然它是相當厲害的一種葡萄酒。

In the end, none of the panel's preferred bottles conformed to the stereotypes of "male" and "female" wines-they just all happened to be very good. I was surprised by how much the panel had been in accord. Even their wine budgets were similar: Both men and women said they spent $15 and under for "weekday" bottles-and twice as much or a bit more on "weekend splurges."

最後，品酒小組中沒有人對傳統類型的"適合男性"或"適合女性"的酒有特別的偏好──這些酒其實都很不錯。品酒小組成員意見的一致程度讓我倍感意外，連他們買酒的預算都是一樣的：無論男女，他們說"平時"買的酒都在15美元以下，"週末揮霍"時花的錢是平時的兩倍，甚至兩倍多一點。

Do women have better palates than men? Based on my tasting experiences over the years, I'd have to answer: It depends on the woman. And it depends on the man.

女人的味覺比男人好嗎？根據我多年品酒的體會，我不得不這樣回答：這要因女人而異，也要因男人而異。