美国国家公共电台 NPR Pairing Wine And Weed: Is It A California Dream Or Nightmare?

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Northern California is famous for two intoxicants - wine and marijuana. Recreational marijuana is about to be legal here in California, so some marijuana entrepreneurs are looking to the wine industry as a model. NPR's John Burnett reports that not everyone is convinced this is a good idea. His story starts at a wine and weed dinner.

JOHN BURNETT, BYLINE¹: The scene is an elegant terrace of a winery overlooking the vineyard-covered hills of Sonoma County north of San Francisco. A dozen invited guests are drinking wine, nibbling² hors d'oeuvres and taking hits off a water pipe.

(SOUNDBITE OF WATER PIPE BUBBLING)

BURNETT: They've come for a farm-to-table meal of kale salad, roasted vegetables and grilled³ flatiron steak paired with wine and certain types of marijuana.

SAM EDWARDS: What we've found so far is the sativas go well with whites. Indicas go well with reds. Flowers go well mostly with reds.

BURNETT: That's Sam Edwards, president of the Sonoma Cannabis Company. He's part of the emerging pot-for-pleasure industry that seeks to grab a share of the nearly $2 billion tourism business in Sonoma Valley with events like this.

EDWARD: What we're beginning is melding cannabis with wine and food in a curated meal that offers the best of all worlds.

BURNETT: Recreational marijuana is now legal in eight states and the District of Columbia. But the prize is California, where American cannabis has the deepest historical, cultural and agronomic⁴ roots. California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana 21 years ago. In November, voters gave the green light to cannabis for fun.

Northern California's legendary⁵ Emerald Triangle - Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties - produces some of the world's most sought-after pot. As it happens, just south of the triangle lie the state's famed wine growing counties of Sonoma and Napa. Domi Heckei is a 32-year-old special ed teacher who attended the wine-and-weed dinner.

DOMI HECKEI: I think that the wine industry is going to really want to be a part of the cannabis industry because I feel like there's probably, like, a secure future in that.

BURNETT: While cannabis people are excited to co-market with wine, wine people are taking a wait-and-see approach. Few of the wine trade associations contacted for this story wanted to comment on the coming of cannabis. One longtime Sonoma wine maker⁶ acknowledged a certain level of apprehension⁷ among his peers. Erin Gore⁸ markets cannabis-infused confections for women under the name Garden Society. She married into a family of grape growers, and this is her take on why those in Sonoma County may be apprehensive⁹.

ERIN GORE: Going down 101, are you going to see marijuana grows? And all the vineyards are going to get ripped out, and it's only going to be pot. How bad is it going to smell? I know a big thing is everyone's going to get robbed. And a lot of people worry about marijuana-stoned driving.

BURNETT: In fact, Sonoma is already struggling to accommodate its 469 wineries. The wine tourism is the lifeblood of the economy. Residents complain about the endless special events at wineries, the congested roads and tipsy drivers, says County Supervisor¹⁰ Susan Gorin.

SUSAN GORIN: We have some challenges, some cumulative¹¹ impacts from wineries, tasting rooms.

BURNETT: And now here comes cannabis.

GORIN: And here comes cannabis.

BURNETT: Oregon, where recreational pot has been legal for two years, has had some cross-pollination between wine and cannabis. But the big experiment is here on the north coast of California. Sonoma County expects so many applications for cannabis land use permits that it's hired 14 additional regulators. The vineyard's own all the good land, and no one knows if they'll want to expand into cannabis cultivation¹² as a handful have done in Oregon.

TOM RODRIGUES: All right, this is our estate's chardonnay. This won the double gold in the San Francisco Wine Competition.

(SOUNDBITE OF WINE POURING)

BURNETT: Tom Rodrigues owns Maple¹³ Creek¹⁴ Winery in the hills of neighboring Mendocino County. He's so bullish on the regulated commercial cannabis market that he sits on two advisory¹⁵ boards - one for cannabis, one for wine. Rodrigues grows pot for personal use, but he has no plans to slap his Maple Creek label on the green, resinous¹⁶ buds.

RODRIGUES: My first passion is the wine. If the laws were different and I could grow on - because I have 164 acres here - but I would have to move my tasting room off the property because the law is that you cannot be selling alcohol and growing cannabis on the same property.

BURNETT: In terms of the market, he thinks fine wine drinkers are the same clientele that may want to try gourmet¹⁷ cannabis.

RODRIGUES: I speak to people every day here in the tasting room. It's no longer hush¹⁸; hush. I'm from Iowa; I've heard Mendocino County has great cannabis; where can I get some?

BURNETT: They'll have to wait until January 1. That's when retail¹⁹ recreational marijuana opens for business in California. A preview was available at the recent Cannabis Business Summit and Expo down the highway in Oakland. Vendors²⁰ were there hawking²¹ the latest in cannabis farm security, insurance, fertilizers, grow lights, potting soils and consumables.

BERTO TORRES: My name is Berto Torres. I'm the COO of GFarmaLabs. And we are a company that infuses chocolates, lemonades. And we also sell marijuana bud.

BURNETT: In Sonoma County, the talk is all about the marriage of wine and cannabis, but here at the trade show, Torres sees alcohol as the competition.

TORRES: Instead of coming home and pouring myself a glass of chardonnay, I would make a tea, 2.5 milligrams and take that and kind of take the edge off.

BURNETT: He means taking the edge off with 2.5 milligrams of THC, the psychoactive substance in pot. The two industries will come together next month for the first time at the Wine and Weed Symposium²² in the city of Santa Rosa to explore cooperation and competition. What will north coast tourists be looking for, a wine with notes of berry, leather and a hint of quince or a joint²³ that delivers a calming body buzz with a cerebral²⁴ creative boost or both? John Burnett, NPR News, Sonoma County.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE BACKTRACK PLAYERS' "BROCCOLI")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 nibbling   

v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的现在分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬

参考例句：

• We sat drinking wine and nibbling olives. 我们坐在那儿，喝着葡萄酒嚼着橄榄。
• He was nibbling on the apple. 他在啃苹果。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 grilled   

adj. 烤的, 炙过的, 有格子的 动词grill的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• He was grilled for two hours before the police let him go. 他被严厉盘查了两个小时后，警察才放他走。
• He was grilled until he confessed. 他被严加拷问，直到他承认为止。

4 agronomic   

adj.农艺学的，农事的

参考例句：

• The 10 agronomic traits in 19 varieties of soybean have studied. 对引进的19份毛豆品种的10个主要农艺性状进行相关性分析。 来自互联网
• Suitable for different regions, different types of soil and agronomic requirements of operation can be planted. 适合于不同地区、不同类型的土质和农艺要求均可播种作业。 来自互联网

5 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

6 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

7 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

8 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

9 apprehensive   

adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的

参考例句：

• She was deeply apprehensive about her future.她对未来感到非常担心。
• He was rather apprehensive of failure.他相当害怕失败。

10 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

11 cumulative   

adj.累积的，渐增的

参考例句：

• This drug has a cumulative effect.这种药有渐增的效力。
• The benefits from eating fish are cumulative.吃鱼的好处要长期才能显现。

12 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

13 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

14 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

15 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

16 resinous   

adj.树脂的，树脂质的，树脂制的

参考例句：

• Alcohol is a solvent of resinous substances.酒精是树脂性物质的溶媒。
• He observed that the more resinous the wood, the more resistant it was to decay.他观察到木材含树脂越多，其抗腐力越强。

17 gourmet   

n.食物品尝家；adj.出于美食家之手的

参考例句：

• What does a gourmet writer do? 美食评论家做什么？
• A gourmet like him always eats in expensive restaurants.像他这样的美食家总是到豪华的餐馆用餐。

18 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

19 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

20 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

21 hawking   

利用鹰行猎

参考例句：

• He is hawking his goods everywhere. 他在到处兜售他的货物。
• We obtain the event horizon and the Hawking spectrumformula. 得到了黑洞的局部事件视界位置和Hawking温度以及Klein—Gordon粒子的Hawking辐射谱。

22 symposium   

n.讨论会，专题报告会；专题论文集

参考例句：

• What have you learned from the symposium?你参加了这次科学讨论会有什么体会？
• The specialists and scholars present at the symposium come from all corners of the country.出席研讨会的专家学者们来自全国各地。

23 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

24 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。