Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure

從網上知道英國廣播公司(BBC)拍攝了一輯由著名葡萄酒評論家Oz Clarke與一位對葡萄酒沒甚麼認識的汽車及體育節目主持James May暢遊法國多個葡萄酒產區的節目，經多番搜尋終於訂到手。

節目其實類似現時甚為流行的「真人秀」(Reality Show)，Oz的目標是要把「葡萄酒盲」James教導成為一名對葡萄酒有基本概念的人，但James是一位十分有主見且不是熱衷於葡萄酒的人，於是過程便順理成章的充滿笑話，娛樂性挺豐富。當中有些片段的確令人忍不住笑出來，例如：

1. Oz細心講解形容葡萄酒的用語時，叫James去嗅一嗅牛糞！
2. James在Chateau Pichon-Lalande以燒烤肉腸去形容他們的出品(但莊主夫人竟然同意)！
3. Oz在教皇區(Chatrauneuf-du-Pape)嘗試十三種法定許可的葡萄，只能猜中三種！
4. James表示只用約8英鎊的香檳比Krug的Clos du Mesnil好喝！

撇開那些開玩笑的元素，整輯節目還是很有可觀性。通過六集節目，觀眾對葡萄酒的釀造過程、法國不同地區的「風土條件」(Terroir)、品評酒的方法等等都有頗清楚的介紹。

如你希望可以簡單地對認識葡萄酒有初步的認識，此輯節目是一個不錯的選擇。

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After a long period of searching, I finally have bought this series successfully. This series of TV programme was produced by BBC, which was about a trip in France by Oz Clarke, a famous wine authority, and James May, a Sports and Car programme host who know nothing about wine.

The series is something like “Reality Show”, which Oz’s task was to educate James on basic wine knowledge. However, the problem was that James was not that enthusiastic with wine, and thus lots of jokes were captured, for example:

1. Oz asked James to smell bull shit for describing wine!
2. James used barbecue sausage to describe Chateau Pichon-Lalande’s wine (but the host shared his view)!
3. Oz blind tasted all 13 allowed grapes of Chatrauneuf-du-Pape and got 3 correct only!
4. James reckoned that the inexpensive Champagne (about 8 GBP) was better than Krug’s Clos du Mesnil!

Other than the jokes, this TV series is still worth watching as it explained some important wine facts clearly, such as wine-making processes, knowledge on terroir, wine tasting procedures, etc.

If you wish to watch something simple on wine, this programme may suit your expectation.