VOA慢速英语--华盛顿州正在成为葡萄酒行业的一支力量

Washington State Growing into a Force in Wine Industry 华盛顿州正在成为葡萄酒行业的一支力量

When Craig and Vicki Leuthold opened the Maryhill Winery in 2001, there were about 100 wine producers in the American state of Washington. That number has since grown to more than 1,000 wineries this year, and that growth is likely to continue.

Maryhill Winery is part of that growth. The business makes 60 kinds of wine. It recently opened tasting rooms for its products in the cities of Spokane and Vancouver, Washington. It also is in the process of opening a tasting room just outside Seattle.

"Our timing¹ was great," Craig Leuthold told The Associated Press. "Washington wine has really increased in popularity²."

The state of Washington has become a force in the wine industry. It has the second-highest number of wineries in the United States, after California. But California, which has around 3,700 wineries, remains³ a much bigger part of the industry than any other state. It sells more than $40 billion worth of wine nationwide.

Within the United States, wines from California are the top sellers, followed by wines from Australia and Italy. Steve Warner noted⁴ that Washington finished in fourth place. Warner is president of Washington State Wine, the industry's trade group.

"More Washington wine is sold in the United States than French wine," he said.

The state's wine industry earns about $2.4 billion a year and adds more than $7 billion a year to the state's economy, Warner said.

Washington's wines are always highly rated, he added.

"We are competing against wine regions with 28 generations of winemakers, who were doing it before America was a country."

Warner noted most of the industry's success comes from the state's climate and soils. Grapes, the small round fruit used to make wine, like long sunny days and cool nights.

Grape growers in the central and eastern part of Washington enjoy those conditions. The area also gets little rainfall compared with other grape-growing regions, which is a plus, said Warner.

Thomas Henick-Kling is director of the wine studies and grape growing program at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. He said the state still has plenty of available land at reasonable prices in wine country.

The land being set aside for wineries is expanding. Twenty years ago, there were fewer than 10,000 hectares of grapes. Today there are nearly 24,000 hectares.

Washington also has skilled farmers and winemakers, graduates of winemaking programs at several local colleges, Henick-Kling said.

Washington's growth is no surprise, as the number of wineries and wine consumption⁵ continue to grow in the United States.

Jens Hansen retired⁶ from the U.S. Air Force, moved to the Seattle area and decided⁷ to become a winemaker.

Hansen received the 1,000th active license⁸ to operate a wine business. He now owns the Uva Furem winery in the city of Maple⁹ Valley.

"I feel like the Washington wine community is a lot like the Air Force in that everyone looks out for each other," he said.

About 70 grape varieties are grown in the state, with the most popular red wines being cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Chardonnay and white Riesling are the most common white wines.

Most of Washington's wineries are fairly small.

But Steve Warner said that more investors¹⁰ from outside the state are joining the industry. It also helps that Washington has long had a lot of wealthy people who work for companies like Boeing, Microsoft and Amazon and have money to invest.

Words in This Story

winery – n. a place where wine is made

region(s) – n. a part of a country or of the world that is different or separate from other parts in some way

graduate(s) – n. a person who has earned a degree or diploma from a school, college, or university

consumption – n. the act of eating or drinking something

license – n. an official document or card that gives you permission to do, use, or have something

varieties – n. a particular kind of person or thing

1 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

2 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 consumption   

n.消费，消耗，消费额，消耗量，结核病

参考例句：

• Consumption of oil has declined in recent years.石油消耗量在最近几年下降了。
• The meat was condemned as unfit for human consumption.这种肉已被宣布不适宜人们食用。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

9 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。

10 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会