葡萄酒：玻利维亚的葡萄酒( 二 ) 葡萄酒

但要把它们放到欧洲的桌子上并不容易。第一步是让这几个不和的家族酿酒商召集到一起，就如何使用荷兰的援助达成一致，并为玻利维亚葡萄酒推出一个共享的品牌。 “他们甚至都不会坐在同一张桌子旁， ”范卡斯特林表示。他召集的第一次会议没有人到场。最后，这些酿酒家族在参观欧洲葡萄园时才勉强走到了一起。

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Bolivian vintners cannot compete against Argentines and Chileans as mass producers for a global market. The cost of planting a hectare of vines is 20% higher than in Mendoza, Argentina’s top winemaking region, says Luis Pablo Granier, a co-owner of Campos de Solana. Bolivian vineyards have one-third of Mendoza’s yield per hectare. Bolivia is landlocked, so freight costs are high. An overvalued currency makes the Bolivians less competitive. So the families agreed to make better wines. Prodded by Mr van Casteren, they bought oak casks for ageing and upgraded irrigation systems. Prizes followed.
在全球市场上，玻利维亚的葡萄酒商无法与阿根廷和智利的大规模生产商竞争。 Campos de Solana酿酒公司的共同所有人路易斯巴勃罗格朗涅尔(Luis Pablo Granier)说，在玻利维亚种植一公顷葡萄藤的成本比阿根廷顶级酿酒区门多萨高出20% 。但是玻利维亚的葡萄园每公顷产量只有门多萨的三分之一。玻利维亚是内陆国家，因此运费很高。高估的货币使得玻利维亚的竞争力下降。于是两个酿酒家族同意合作酿造更好的葡萄酒。在范卡斯特林先生的催促下，他们购买了橡木桶用于发酵和升级灌溉系统。这样做的好处也随之而来。

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Big sales and high profits have not. Bolivia’s producers are too small to attract interest from European distributors and cannot themselves afford to market and distribute. To expand they would need to buy more land. But arable land in Tarija suitable for irrigation is scarce and expensive. Bolivian vintners have planted just 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres), a fraction of Argentina’s 220,000 hectares of vineyards.
大销量和高利润却没有的。玻利维亚的生产商规模太小，无法吸引欧洲分销商的兴趣，自身也无力进行市场营销和分销。为了扩张，他们需要购买更多的土地。但是塔里哈省适合灌溉的耕地稀少且价格昂贵。玻利维亚的葡萄酒商仅种植了4000公顷(1万英亩)的葡萄，这只是阿根廷22万公顷葡萄园的一小部分。

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They hope that locals will develop more of a thirst for the good stuff. Bolivia’s 11m people drink just 14m litres (3m gallons) of wine a year, a 20th of consumption in Belgium, which has the same number of people. Before covid-19, the National Association of Winegrowing Industries predicted volume would grow by 7% a year. Bolivian producers are protected by tariffs on imports of up to 40%. But those encourage contraband wine, especially from Argentina. A third of wine consumed in Bolivia is smuggled through the southern border.
他们希望当地人会对好东西产生更多的渴望。玻利维亚的1100万人口每年只喝1400万升(300万加仑)的葡萄酒，占比利时消费量的20% ，而比利时的人口与玻利维亚相当。在新冠疫情之前，玻利维亚葡萄酒种植行业协会(National Association of Winegrowing Industries)曾预测该国葡萄酒产量将以每年7%的速度增长。玻利维亚生产商受到高达40%的进口关税保护。但这些措施反而鼓励了走私葡萄酒，尤其是来自阿根廷的葡萄酒。玻利维亚消费的三分之一的葡萄酒是通过南部边境走私的。