《中英對照讀新聞》Power cuts could make plonk of South Africa's wine 限電可能重擊南非葡萄酒

◎ 羅彥傑

South African wine producers fear that weeks of power cuts in the Western Cape, South Africa's wine-making region, may have spoiled production of its white wines.

南非葡萄酒業者擔心，南非葡萄酒生產區西開普省長達數週的限電，可能已經傷害了其白酒生產。

The Western Cape has been hit by blackouts since December when an electricity generating nuclear plant in Koeberg outside Cape Town broke down.

西開普省自12月開普敦市郊的科博核電廠故障起，就受到大停電的衝擊。

"We will probably not make as good a wine as we could have," said manager Andre Freeborough from Distell cellar in Stellenbosch, the center of the wine-making.

「我們可能無法做出原本應該可以生產的好品質葡萄酒了，」葡萄酒生產中心斯特連波什的迪斯特爾酒窖經理福瑞波洛說。

"These power cuts disrupted the fermentation process and temperatures went too high," he said.

「限電干擾了發酵過程，而且溫度升得太高，」他說。

"The power cuts are complicating our work in the cellars, grapes have to wait in the sun for long hours because our cooling system is not functioning and at the end of the day that affects quality," said Freeborough.

「限電讓我們在酒窖裡的工作更加複雜，葡萄必須要長時間在大太陽底下等，因為我們的冷卻系統無法運作，到了日落時候，品質便受到影響，」福瑞波洛說。

A number of wine farmers were buying expensive generators to prevent more disruptions during the harvest period which is due to end in May. The power outages are expected to continue until the end of July.

一些葡萄酒農自掏腰包買昂貴的發電機，以防在採收期預料於5月結束的這段時間出更多的岔子。預料電力不足會持續到7月底。

新聞辭典

plonk：名詞，口語用法，指劣質酒或廉價酒。例句：Many of the local producers make plonk with pretty labels intended primarily for the tourists.（許多當地業者做劣質酒，貼上漂亮的商標，主要吸引觀光客來購買。）

fermentation：名詞，指發酵，也可引申為騷動。例句：Yeast is used in bread and beer in a process called fermentation.（酵母用在麵包與啤酒的發酵過程。）

to break down：故障。例句：We are sorry to arrive late, but the car broke down.（我們抱歉來晚了，但原因是車故障了。）