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A memoir of winemaking
釀酒回憶錄
In the drink
沉醉美酒
The Road to Burgundy: The Unlikely Story of an American Making Wine and a New Life in France. By Ray Walker.
《通往勃艮第之路：美國人法國學(xué)釀酒，絕處逢生》雷沃克
RAY WALKER, a trainee securities representative at Merrill Lynch in California, cashed in his chips before his career had barely begun and decided instead to learn how to make wine.
雷沃克是加利福尼亞州美林證券公司的有價證券實(shí)習(xí)生代表，就在要開始他的職業(yè)生涯之際，他決定去學(xué)釀酒。
He then moved to France to make red Burgundy, the most rarefied and tricky wine of them all.
于是他來到了法國，學(xué)習(xí)最純正最優(yōu)良的勃艮第紅酒制作。
Now a successful vintner, he has an intoxicating tale to tell.
如今他作為一個成功的葡萄酒商人，接下來要告訴我們一個動人的故事。
Mr Walker knew nothing about wine before his wife began serving it at mealtimes. But soon it became a passion, then a pursuit.
沃克先生對葡萄酒一無所知，直到他的妻子在餐桌上擺上了酒，猛地激發(fā)了他對酒的愛好，于是變成了他一生所追隨的事業(yè)。
Though his wife was six months pregnant at the time, he dropped his banking career to follow his dream.
他不顧妻子已有六個月的身孕，辭去了銀行的工作，開始追隨他的夢想。
The reader may well be mystified as to how the author could be so capricious, particularly as he had little beyond his own savings to draw from.
讀者可能會困惑，為什么作者會這么任性出走特別是在他還有妻小儲蓄也不多的情況下。
But had events gone another way, this would be a rather different memoir.
但他還是走了，換另外一個說法，這將會是一個特別的回憶錄。
Once he gleaned what he could from books, Mr Walker sought lowly work at wineries in California to learn more about the business.
沃克先生來到加利福尼亞的一家釀酒廠索諾瑪公司做低等工，他已經(jīng)不能從書本提供的知識里得到滿足了，他期望在公司學(xué)到更多關(guān)于這個行業(yè)的東西。
After a season of back-breaking work in Sonoma, this Panglossian figure heads to Burgundy to buy modest grapes from a wine broker.
筋疲力盡地工作了一個季度后，這個過分的樂觀主義者從法國勃艮第區(qū)的一個葡萄酒代理人那里買來了價格適中的葡萄。
Instead he ends up securing enough to make three different Burgundies, including two barrels of Chambertin, one of France's greatest wines.
結(jié)果，他買到的葡萄足以讓他做成三種不同的勃艮第葡萄酒，包括兩桶香貝坦紅葡萄酒，這是法國最好的葡萄酒之一。
None of this could have happened without the support of a laid-back Californian financier, a friend of someone Mr Walker met through an online wine forum.
如果沒有那個生活優(yōu)越的加利福尼亞金融家支持，所有這些都不會發(fā)生。那個金融家是沃克先生在葡萄酒論壇上認(rèn)識的網(wǎng)友的朋友。
After a single telephone call, this man cheerily upped his stake in this modest business to around 150,000.
沃克和他通了一次電話之后，這個男人就欣然把投資增加到了15萬美元左右，雖然這個行當(dāng)業(yè)績平平。
Mr Walker's good fortune continued in Burgundy, where nearly everyone he dealt with was honourable and helpful, save for two winemakers who tried to sabotage his plans.
沃克先生在勃艮第也遇到了好運(yùn)氣，除了兩個試圖破壞他釀酒計劃的勃艮第酒商，那里的人幾乎個個都為人正直而又樂于助人。
Fortuitously, his first vintage was an exceptional one in Burgundy.
意外的是，沃克先生第一次釀的酒在勃艮第特別出眾。
But there is more to Mr Walker's success than that.
沃克先生不僅成功了，他還成了一個受歡迎的又能干的人。
He comes across as a likeable, can-do guy who earnestly believes that hard work, confidence and some luck is all it takes to make things happen.
他相信努力、自信和好運(yùn)氣是成功的墊腳石。
Now ensconced in Burgundy with his wife and young family, he is the only non-Frenchman ever to have made Chambertin.
沃克成了第一個做出香貝坦紅葡萄酒的非法國籍人士，如今他和妻兒在勃艮第的生活別提有多安逸。
A common fantasy of overworked executives is to throw it all in and retire to a vineyard.
那些過度勞累的公司高管們通常是幻想著退休后要變賣掉一切然后到一個葡萄園里去享福。
Rarely do such endeavours end well.
沒有人像沃克先生那樣如此竭盡全力做到最好收尾的。
Mr Walker's story is sure to inspire a few more leaps of faith.
沃克先生的故事值得激勵那些人來一個一百八十度的轉(zhuǎn)變。
