High Life

INDULGE 中 国酒类市场向来以黄酒、白酒及啤酒为大宗。然而，中国坐拥逾50万公顷 的葡萄园，并已晋升为世界十大葡萄酒生产国一事却鲜为人知。视乎年度 收成情况，中国与澳大利亚、阿根廷、智利及南非等国在第五至第九位之间往往 相持不下。 位于河南中部的贾湖遗址源自新石器时代，根据当地考古发现，中国的酿酒 史或许始于公元前七千年。在公元前二世纪后半叶，张骞奉汉武帝之命出使西 域，与西域诸国建立外交关系，将闻名天下的汗血宝马及「蒲陶」引入中国。于 公元三世纪成书的《神农本草经》，更将蒲陶定为上品，曰：“味甘平。主筋骨 湿痹，益气，倍力，强志，令人肥健，耐饥忍风寒。久食轻身，不老延年，可作 酒。” 汉末三国魏晋时期的建安七子、诗歌三曹及竹林七贤，无一不是爱酒之人， 如孔融、曹植及刘伶等。七步成诗、才高八斗的曹植乃前李白时代的诗仙，据说 终日以酒为伴。曹丕在诗词歌赋方面的成就，虽不及其父曹操和其弟曹植，却因 分享个人「品酒心得」而留名青史，指出葡萄酒比粮食酒甘美，因此前者引起的 宿醉较为轻微云云。 W hile huangjiu, baijiu and beer remain hugely popular across the country, little-known is the fact that China, with more than 500,000 hectares under vine, is comfortably one of the top 10 largest wine-producing countries in the world by volume. Depending on harvests, China drifts between 5th and 9th place alongside Australia, Argentina, Chile and South Africa. Alcoholic beverages may have been made in China since 7000 BC, evidenced byarecentarchaeological discoveryinJiahu, aNeolithic settlementinHenan. Inthe 2nd centuryBC, during the reign of EmperorWu of Han, an imperial envoyheaded by Zhang Qian toured theWestern Regions, established diplomatic relations with various Central Asian kingdoms and introduced the famed Ferghana horse aswell as vitis vinifera to China. The latter was soon recorded in The Classic of Herbal Medicine , which highlighted the grape’s suitability for winemaking. The Three Cao’s and Seven Scholars of Jian’an at the turn of the 3rd century AD were all oenophiles without exception. Cao Zhi, in particular, was the past life of the Immortal Poet Li Bai, with wine invariably being his muse. His elder brother, EmperorWen ofWei, may lag behind himand father Cao Cao in terms of literary achievement, but did famously remark that grape wines tasted sweeter than cereal wines, hence allowing one to recover from a hangover more easily.