品鉴专家首次品尝曾在太空中存放一年的葡萄酒

It tastes like flowers. It smells like a campfire.

What is it?

It is a $6,000 bottle of Petrus Pomerol wine that spent a year on the International Space Station.

Researchers in Bordeaux are examining the twelve bottles of wine as well as 320 pieces of grapevines that returned to Earth in January. They say the wine and grapevines are part of a longer-term effort to make plants on Earth better resist climate change and disease.

Alcohol and glass are not usually permitted on the International Space Station. Each bottle was packed inside a special steel container during the journey.

At a special tasting this month, 12 wine experts tried one of the space-traveled wines at the Institute for Wine and Vine Research in Bordeaux.

They tasted and smelled the wine alongside a similar bottle from the same year that had stayed on Earth. The tasting was blind, meaning the experts did not know which wine they were drinking.

Nicolas Gaume is the head of Space Cargo¹ Unlimited², the company that arranged the experiment. He said the experiment studied the effects of the lack of gravity on the wine and vines.

"I have tears in my eyes," Gaume told The Associated Press about the experiment.

Jane Anson is a wine expert and writer. She said the wine that remained on Earth tasted "a little younger than the one that had been to space."

Chemical and biological study of the wine's aging process could help scientists find a way to age fine vintages - the grapes or wine produced during one season. That information came from Dr. Michael Lebert of Germany's Friedrich-Alexander-University. Lebert was an advisor³ on the project.

The small pieces of vine, which are known as canes⁴ in the grape-growing business, not only survived the journey but also grew faster than vines on Earth. They were unaffected by limited light and water.

Once researchers understand why this happened, Lebert said that could help scientists develop stronger, healthier vines on Earth. Such information could also help create a way to grow grapes or to make wine in space.

Christophe Chateau⁵ of the Bordeaux Wine-Makers' Council welcomed the research as "a good thing for the industry." But Chateau expects it would take a decade or more to lead to practical, or actual, uses.

Private investors⁶ helped finance the project, which the researchers hope to continue on future space missions. The cost was not made public.

Researchers said each of the wine experts had many opinions about the difference between the earth wine and the space wine.

Franck Dubourdieu is a Bordeaux-based expert in the study of wine and wine-making.

"For me, the difference between the space and earth wine ... it wasn't easy to define," Dubourdieu said.

Anson said, "The one that had remained on Earth, for me, was still a bit more closed ... a bit younger." But, she added about the two wines, "They were both beautiful."

Words in This Story

wine – n. an alcoholic⁷ drink made from the juice of grapes

grapevine – n. a climbing plant on which grapes grow

lack – n. the state or condition of not having any or enough of something

define -- v. to show or describe (someone or something) clearly and completely

1 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

2 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

3 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

4 canes   

n.（某些植物，如竹或甘蔗的）茎( cane的名词复数 )；（用于制作家具等的）竹竿；竹杖

参考例句：

• Sugar canes eat sweet. 甘蔗吃起来很甜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I saw several sugar canes, but wild, and for cultivation, imperfect. 我还看到一些甘蔗，因为是野生的，未经人工栽培，所以不太好吃。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

5 chateau   

n.城堡，别墅

参考例句：

• The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
• The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。