February 26th Is Open That Bottle Night! Celebrate With Japanese Wine!

The Origin of Open That Bottle Night

开瓶之夜

Created in the year 2000 by two Wall Street Journal columnists Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, ‘Open That Bottle Night’ (OTBN) is an annual occasion that aims to motivate people to reconnect with each other over a special bottle, and create good memories with friends and family–without any other special reason needed to celebrate.

2000年，《华尔街日报》的两位专栏作家Dorothy J. Gaiter和John Brecher创立了“开瓶之夜”(Open That Bottle Night，简称OTBN)，这个一年一度的节日旨在激励人们通过一瓶特殊的瓶子重新联系彼此，与朋友和家人一起创造美好的回忆——并不是来庆祝其他理由的。

This is the perfect time to try out something that has been on your mind but you’ve never dared. Make this night even more special by inviting some close friends around for an intimate dinner party. The guest list should certainly include like-minded friends or family members who enjoy a good bottle of wine and also appreciate the story behind it.

这是尝试你一直在想但你从来不敢做的事情的最佳时机。邀请一些亲密的朋友来一个亲密的晚餐派对，让这个夜晚更加特别。宾客名单当然应该包括志同道合的朋友或家人，一起享用一瓶好酒，慢慢欣赏它背后的故事。

Japanese Wine With a Special Story Behind It

日本葡萄酒及其背后特殊的故事

Speaking about an interesting wine, Chanmoris Yamanashi Muscat Bailey A RED is the one perfect for the occasion as it has a very special story behind it. It is made with Muscat Bailey A, a deep pink-skinned grape variety used to make light red wines in Japan.

提到一款有趣的葡萄酒，山梨麝香贝利A红葡萄酒是一款非常适合这种场合的葡萄酒，因为它背后有一个非常特别的故事。它是用麝香贝利A (Muscat Bailey A)酿制的，这是一种深粉色的葡萄品种，日本用于酿造淡红葡萄酒酒。

During the Meiji Era (1868-1912), European wine grapes were first brought to Japan. But they didn't find the cold weather and rough terrain conducive to growth, and for the most part, withered on the vine. 

在明治时代(1868-1912)，日本首次引进了欧洲酿酒葡萄。但他们发现寒冷的天气和崎岖的地形不利于酿酒葡萄生长，它们经常枯萎在藤蔓上。

That was until Zenbei Kawakami, known as the "grandfather of Japanese wine", came along. He began planting wine grapes in the Iwanohara Vineyard in the town of Takada in Japan's snowy Niigata Prefecture. At first, he found no success growing wine grapes in the region. He tried various methods to help them grow but each failed. Then he hit upon an idea – he needed to improve the grape variety, not the methods, he was using.

直到“日本葡萄酒之父”的川上善兵卫出现，他开始在日本大雪覆盖的新泻县高田镇的岩之原葡萄园种植酿酒葡萄。起初，他发现在该地区种植酿酒葡萄并不成功。他尝试了各种方法来帮助他们成长，但都失败了。然后他突然想到了一个主意——他需要改进葡萄品种，而不是使用各种方法助其生长。

Through trial and error, he finally developed a hybrid grape variety that could withstand Japan's harsh climate. The particular variety that worked was Muscat Bailey A, a hybrid of the Bailey and Muscat Hamburg grapes.

经过反复试验，他最终培育出了一种能够承受日本恶劣气候的杂交葡萄品种。这种特别有效的葡萄品种是麝香贝利A，是贝利葡萄和玫瑰香葡萄的杂交后的品种。