Finding Cheap Stocks Around the Globe

Finding Cheap Stocks Around the Globe

By NEIL A. MARTIN | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

Veteran stockpicker W. George Greig sees opportunities in Europe and Asia because the market isn't differentiating between average and superior companies.

 

When Barron's first interviewed portfolio manager W. George Greig in August 2000, he was running William Blair & Co.'s William Blair International Growth fund, a $350 million diversified global-equity product that invests in companies outside the U.S. That strategy clearly paid off: The fund's assets have mushroomed since then, to $3.6 billion.

Over the past three years to Jan 31, the fund (ticker: WBGIX) has generated a 19.13% annualized return, beating the 17.53% posted by its benchmark, the MSCI AC World ex-US Index. That performance put it in the 26th percentile in Morningstar's foreign large-growth fund ranking for that period.

Enlarge Image

 

Bob Stefko for Barron's

"The market isn't paying much for either past success or future potential right now." -- W. George Greig

Greig, a 59-year-old MIT and Wharton School graduate, is now also Blair's global strategist. That makes him a key player in overseeing the roughly $48 billion in assets that the Chicago firm manages. "It's a team effort," he modestly says, referring to Blair's group of sector analysts.

We interviewed the 30-year industry veteran (who has spent half of those years with Blair) on his recent visit to New York. He gave us his views on global markets and why he thinks developed Europe is cheap and emerging markets are promising. For the details, keep reading.

Barron's: The year 2011 was a tough one for the global economy, given the multiple financial and economic crises around the world. What does 2012 look like?

Greig: We're basically optimistic. The damage done to developed and emerging economies and the global financial system by the 2008 financial crisis has receded and left comparatively little after-effects economically. But it did leave its mark, more psychological than real. Economists believe that the global economy will expand by 2% in 2012.

Most economists would characterize 2012 as a subpar year for growth. I wouldn't disagree, but even so, the world economy should show nominal growth of $2 trillion to $3 trillion this year, which is approximately the same as the size of the U.K . economy. That will generate a lot of dynamism, a lot of creative destruction, and a lot of value creation for companies that can take advantage of it. Corporate performance, measured by return on capital, has continued to be strong over the last couple of years, but the market isn't paying much for either past success or future potential right now.

Wall Street has rallied a lot since January. What's the implication for non-U.S. markets?

It is positive. During 2011, both developed and emerging economies experienced bear markets. The misery was spread around pretty evenly. But the rally in U.S. stocks has helped everyone. Foreign markets have responded very well and some have outperformed their U.S. counterparts. Investors can find something to like in many parts of the world, especially developed Europe, emerging Asia―most notably China―and changing Japan.

What's the biggest risk facing investors?

Probably this global experiment in monetary stimulus that G-4 central banks have embarked on. Nobody really knows whether it's inflationary, deflationary or anti-deflationary. The old rules about the relationships between monetary authorities, the financial sector and the real economy become invalid if interest rates are zero. It's a new ball game.

Asset prices are sending mixed messages about the inflation outlook. Commodities are voting for a little inflation, but the output gap [the difference between the actual and potential output of an economy] is still saying deflation.

What's the key to making money now?

It's finding companies that are producing strong corporate performance and strong returns like SAP [SAP], Diageo [DEO], Samsung Electronics [005930.Korea], andRolls-Royce Holdings [RR.U.K.]. Even when we were in a highly inflationary environment 30 years ago, that was the key to making money. It still is today.

Strategically, our approach is very consistent. It is a bottom-up-driven strategy. We look for value-creating companies that earn above-average returns, and we also focus on valuation.

A lot of our country positioning is really the aggregation of the companies we're interested in. For example, the U.K. is a market where we've tended to have a big commitment, but that's largely because of global leaders like Burberry Group[RBY.U.K.] and Rolls-Royce―the heritage is British, but the growth is global.

Are global valuations attractive now?

Yes, very attractive. Valuations have been so compressed that there's not a lot of difference between each sector's valuation and the market's. To me, that means that opportunities to get strong returns out of the best-performing companies are now better than they have been for a long time because the market isn't differentiating between the average company and the superior company.

Where are the better valuations?

In our view, Europe, including the U.K., stands out. Europe is trading at 9.7 times expected fiscal 2013 earnings, which are expected to be up 11%, on average.

This has made some pretty big, well-known names like Royal Dutch Shell[RDSB.U.K.], Sanofi [SNY], BNP Paribas [BNP.France], and BMW [BMW.Germany] very attractive. They trade on single-digit 2013 P/Es of 7.6, 9.4, 6.2 and 8.9, respectively.

What about emerging markets?

There are trade-offs between emerging and developed markets, in terms of growth and stability. Emerging economies obviously provide the growth impetus, but in many cases developed markets provide the products, technologies and brands that enable a lot of that growth. In terms of stock-market valuation, it's a close call―emerging markets are still significantly below their peak valuation levels after the 20% or so correction they had last year.One-and-a-half years ago we were talking about concerns about valuation in a rising-interest-rate environment in emerging markets. But now valuations are much more attractive, and rates are going down, not up.

But Europe is a cheaper and better bet?

We believe that European equities offer the greatest potential and stability. The prices of European equities declined sharply last year but are rebounding this year.

All right, let's talk specifics. What companies do you like in Britain?

Abcam, a British company [ABC.U.K.] is a leading provider of antibodies to research scientists. The firm has a market value of approximately $1 billion and annual sales of £83 million [$132 million]. Abcam has created a successful strategy of using third-party antibody suppliers and creating a massive, interactive catalog of over 50,000 products that incorporates customer feedback into its product descriptions, enhancing the value of each product. This, in turn has the potential to drive future sales growth. It is the second-largest global provider of antibodies, with an estimated 10% share of a fragmented market that is growing in the high single digits.

George Greig's Picks

		Recent
Company	Ticker	Price
Abcam	ABC.UK	341 pence
BMW	BMW.Germany	�9.20
Fast Retailing	9983.Japan	¥17,400
Getinge	GETIB.Sweden	190 kronor
Samsung Elec	005930.Korea	1,180,000 won
Source: Bloomberg

Abcam's stock has recently come under pressure on concerns of research funding cuts as a result of academic and governmental budget pressures. While Abcam has cautioned on these macro-oriented issues, its business―and stock―have been more resilient than [related firms'] because Abcam sells less-expensive consumable products that are used in everyday research, rather than more-expensive equipment that could easily be deferred. In addition, the company continues to increase its catalog product offering at an impressive clip and is expanding beyond its core research-antibody product offering.

Who else do you like in Europe?

We're big fans of luxury German auto maker BMW, which is growing at about double the pace of the auto industry. Its strong-selling products include the BMW 3, 5 and 7 series, as well as the X3 and X5 SUVs. BMW also manufactures the Mini and Rolls-Royce. With estimated global sales of �0 billion [$93.2 billion], this manufacturer has strong operating momentum, supported by a recovery in its traditional markets of Germany and the U.S., as well as continuing and highly profitable growth in China, which is the largest market in the world for the 7 series and X6 crossover vehicle, and the second-largest market for the X3 and X5 models.

BMW's most recent sales reports show robust sales across geography and models with a positive mix effect. Mini sales were at record levels in 2011, and Rolls-Royce sales were up 30%. The European launch of the new 3 series in March, along with continuing trends globally should underpin unit growth nearly twice that of the automobile market as a whole. At a recent price of �9.20 [$91.78], BMW's stock was trading below its July 2011 high. But earnings growth and demand remain strong. At 8.9 times 2013 earnings, the stock's valuation is attractive.

Anyone else in Europe you want to mention?

We hold a Swedish medical-equipment and device manufacturer and supplier by the name of Getinge [GETIB.Sweden], because we look for companies with leadership positions in their industry. Getinge is No. 1 or 2 in 17 of the 19 medical specialties in which it competes. It recently acquired Atrium Medical, a U.S.-based cardiovascular device maker that has grown at a 17% compound annual growth rate over the past eight years. This has helped Getinge improve its business mix by selling more surgical products backed by more intensive research and development. This should help insulate it from potential pricing pressures. The stock is trading near its 52-week high of 193 Swedish kronor [$28.80], but we think there is still room for more growth over the next 12 months.

Do you find China attractive on a valuation basis?

Yes, although historically single-digit P/Es tend to be rare and unusual in a market like China.

Still, you have some concerns, right?

The key concern for the global economy is China's growth prospects, because China has become the single largest source of global growth. If expectations for China are unsustainable, negative consequences for growth in the rest of the world are likely to be more severe and more enduring than those caused by, say, a recession in Europe or the U.S.

The anxiety over China relates to perceptions of overinvestment in general and in real estate in particular. Of further concern is that much of this excessive investment has been fueled by credit―corporate, household and government. On the other hand, we think that China's political leadership values economic stability and has enough means at hand to ensure such an outcome.

About 2.7% of our assets are in Chinese names, with our single largest holding there being the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China [1398.Hong Kong]. That's a small position, compared with our commitment to other areas of the world like the U.K., which accounts for about 23% of our total portfolio assets, or Germany, which represents 8%, or Switzerland, 5%, or France, 6%. But China has been a higher weighting in the past and will likely be a higher weighting again at some point.

Japan's market has been good this year.

Yes, it has. Cost management has gotten a lot better, but financial productivity is not very good at all. Companies are earning better margins than they used to, and more consistently, but the balance sheets of Corporate Japan have gone to being too weak to being too strong, and inefficient.

Who has attracted your attention there?

Fast Retailing [9983.Japan], which operates chain stores in Japan specializing in in-house-brands casual wear that are marketed under the brand name of Uniqlo. We purchased the stock, which has a market capitalization of $22.6 billion, on weakness following the March 2011 earthquake. Management has been successful in controlling costs and supporting the operating margin. Its share price benefited from a rally following the lows after the earthquake, on stronger-than-expected sales, higher 2012 guidance and increased new-store-opening targets in Asia ex-Japan. We believe that growth will continue to be supported by international expansion in the next 12 months. The stock trades at 21 times next year's earnings.

Samsung Electronics is one of your larger South Korean holdings. Why?

Samsung is one of the world's largest technology-hardware companies. More important, it continues to be one of the most impressive execution stories in the tech sector. It's benefiting from multiple trends that have created a tail wind for its telecom, semiconductor and memory businesses. While it is important to be mindful of the cyclical nature of the firm's largest earnings drivers, momentum is strongly in their corner.

Thanks, George

Speed Trap Ahead for U.S. Telcos

Speed Trap Ahead for U.S. Telcos

By TIERNAN RAY | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

LTE promises both payoff and peril for the wireless industry.

 

The New, New Thing for the wireless industry―much faster wireless connections called "long term evolution," or LTE―promises just as many headaches as breakthroughs.

Apple's (ticker: AAPL) unveiling last week of a new iPad with LTE cements its importance. LTE is branded as a kind of 4G service.

Verizon Communications' (VZ) wireless unit has been the leading proponent in the U.S., but one day it is expected to be deployed by just about every phone company around the globe.

For consumers, it's fast, really fast.

LTE's "theoretical maximum" speed, as nerds put it, is 300 million bits per second. That's as fast as the fastest WiFi networks in homes and offices.

The telephone companies are happy because LTE not only moves units of phones, but also lets carriers squeeze more bits out of each hertz, the fundamental unit of measurement of wireless spectrum.

"It's the closest thing we've seen to a win-win in telecom," says Craig Mathias, principal with wireless consultancy Farpoint Group; what benefits the phone company has sometimes come at the expense of what consumers want.

LTE already has deepened the disparity among U.S. carriers.

Verizon and AT&T (T) are far ahead of others. Verizon has the ability to serve 200 million U.S. citizens in various markets across the country with LTE, versus 75 million for AT&T. Sprint-Nextel (S) is just getting started.

"To the extent people realize LTE is a faster download, it will be a competitive advantage," says Piper Jaffray's Chris Larsen, as will the breadth of the LTE coverage.

LTE "should help Verizon continue to capture the lion's share of new smartphone subscribers, and potentially a much higher share of tablet subscribers," says Davenport & Co.'s Drake Johnstone.

For Verizon and AT&T, the benefits nevertheless are not clear cut.

For one thing, LTE is just at the beginning of the road.

"It's a big, shiny, empty network at this point," says Jennifer Fritzsche, who follows Verizon for Wells Fargo.

As that service fills up, it will require increasing capital investments.

A recent report by Cisco Systems (CSCO) said that while LTE and other 4G connections are only 0.2% of all mobile connections, they generate 6% of the traffic.

Moreover, the true payoff only comes if customers are satisfied, not disappointed. And that will depend on how expectations are managed.

Times have changed since the very first iPhone was introduced in 2007, when Apple reportedly demanded that any carrier selling the phone provide unlimited monthly data subscriptions. Both AT&T and Verizon now cap how much you can use.

The problem is that with fancy gadgets such as the new iPad and, presumably, the next iPhone, users will bump up against the reality that faster speeds just let them blow through their contracts quicker.

"Any customer who succumbs to the temptation to download a movie on their iPad via LTE will soon learn the error of their ways," with a fat phone bill, says Craig Moffett, who follows the phone companies for Bernstein Research.

As a result, Farpoint's Mathias expects more interest in what's called "WiFi offloading," where customers are bumped from LTE onto the nearest WiFi network.

That could mean opportunity for WiFi network operators such as Boingo Wireless (WIFI) and iPass (IPAS). Ditto for WiFi equipment vendors likeAruba Networks (ARUN) and Meru Networks (MERU). Chip vendorsBroadcom (BRCM) and Qualcomm (QCOM) are already touting their parts for higher-speed versions of WiFi, called 802.11ac. 

Rally On

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% on the week, to 2988.34. It was the tech-heavy index's fourth consecutive weekly advance.

Tiernan Ray can be reached at tiernan.ray@barrons.com or atblogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily orwww.twitter.com/barronstechblog

二十世纪三十年代的《经济学人》

Our paper in the 1930s
二十世纪三十年代的《经济学人》
Ninety-plus, and still young
年逾耄耋，风采依旧
Roland Bird, now 92, joined The Economist as a journalist in 1933. He retired, as finance director, in 1978. We asked him to recall those far-off days, when the paper, though over 90 years old, was a small London weekly with a circulation not 1% of what it sells today
罗兰•伯德，1933年开始为《经济学人》撰稿，1978年退休，时任财务总监。现年92岁。我们请他回忆了那段遥远的岁月，当时的《经济学人》虽然已有90余岁的刊龄，但仍是伦敦一份无足轻重的小周刊，发行量不及今天的1%。

MONEY was "fairly easy", The Economist proclaimed in the week―see above―that I joined it in 1933. "Comfortable" was another favourite adjective. The seeming importance of this regular non-news, on the cover―front page might be a better description today―presumably contented the minority of money-market boffins among our very few thousand readers in those remote times. The rest had to search inside for the week's wisdom from our editor, Walter Layton, or Arnold Toynbee.
我从1933年开始成为《经济学人》的一员，当周《经济学人》（见上图）的主题是钱是"很好赚的"，"舒适"也是当时的热词之一。在那个遥远的年代，我们的读者尚不足千人，其中有一小部分是金融市场研究员，封面上稀松平常的标题（也许现在应该叫头版更合适一些）似乎是满足了他们的阅读需求，其他的读者就要翻阅里面的文章，看看主编沃尔特•雷顿或历史学家阿诺德•汤因比所写的真知灼句。

Layton, during the first world war a notable public servant, not least under Winston Churchill, had been appointed editor in 1922 by the trust that held The Economist on behalf of the surviving daughters of James Wilson, its founder. Within a few years, he was raising money to buy the paper, only to face a counter-bid from the arriviste Brendan Bracken, who had just bought the Financial News (and who was in his turn to become a close ally of Churchill's, serving him as minister of information in 1941-45). The result was joint ownership, with Layton retaining the editorial chair.
沃尔特•雷顿在温斯顿•丘吉尔的麾下效力，是一战期间声名显赫的官员，他于1922年被以《经济学人》创始人詹姆士•威尔逊的遗孤名义创立的基金会任命为经济学人主编。此后的几年间，他四处筹资购买《经济学人》的股权，但是遭到暴发户布兰登•布兰肯的讨价还价。布兰肯是丘吉尔面前的红人，当时刚刚买下了《金融时事》，于1941-1945年任丘吉尔的信息部长。还价的结果是版权共同所有，由雷顿做主编。



Arnold Toynbee had been recruited as a contributor in the 1920s, and for all the massive "A Study of History" on which he was already at work, he continued to write editorials for The Economist. He could be fastidious, not to say pernickety, about the placing of an inverted comma in some Arabic name. Layton, burdened with the problems of the News Chronicle as well as those of the struggling Economist, would sometimes end his leader on a less than clarion note, such as: "Provided that the ship of state has a firm hand at the tiller, all will be well."
阿诺德•汤因比从上世纪20年代开始加入《经济学人》的创作队伍。虽然当时正忙于创作长篇巨著《历史研究》，但他一直坚持为《经济学人》写社论。汤因比不是挑剔，而是龟毛，连有些阿拉伯人名中的引号位置这样的小细节他都不放过。雷顿当时兼任《新闻纪事报》和《经济学人》的主编，一面要处理《新闻世纪报》出现的种种问题，一面要想方设法扶持《经济学人》。有的时候他会留下这样的字条："大局已定，曙光在前。"

The Economist was then a primitive kind of workshop. A handful of "full-time" editorial people (who were supposed to have time for outside paid work) was swollen to a dozen after lunch of a Monday, when contributors and editorial staff joined to draft the week's programme. The number of editorial pages was partly determined by the number of pages of company meetings. Nearly a century before, Walter Bagehot, writer on the constitution and the paper's most famous editor, had justified the importance of advertising to sustain an independent press. But company meetings were perhaps one of its lower forms, often bought to feed a chairman's vanity or sold with a touch of blackmail. The general advertising that fills today's issues passed us by.
当时的《经济学人》有点简易作坊的性质，只有五六个所谓"全职的"编辑人员，他们工作时间都有限，要以外面的带薪工作的时间为准。只有到周一下午，投稿人和编辑人员都参与周计划的起草，这个数字才会增加到十多个。社论的页数在一定程度上取决于各公司会议的次数。广告收入对维持出版社的独立运营具有十分重要的作用，90多年前，本刊最著名的主编沃尔特•白芝浩论证了这一观点，白芝浩同时也是宪法的作者之一。但是报导公司会议只是广告的一种低级形式，只对想满足老板虚荣心或者想敲诈勒索的人才有效。当时我们没有想到广告会有像今天这么大的作用。
The heirs of Caxton
卡克斯顿的继承人
Across Fleet Street, past Doctor Johnson's house, were the printers, Eyre and Spottiswoode, one of the few non-university printers of the Bible, which perhaps accounted for the dignified, if not quite reverential, proceedings in the plant. We owed much to the composing-room foreman (or "clicker"), the splendid Mr Benney, who quietly took every incompetence and inconsequence from the editorial staff. There were occasional complaints about handwriting (editorial typewriters were unheard of); Douglas Jay was our leading illiterate in this respect (though only in this: by 1947 he was a Labour minister).
穿过舰队街，走过约翰逊博士的府宅，就是各家印刷厂。艾尔&斯普提斯伍德出版社是为数不多的非大学圣经出版社，其出版物在业内就算称不上是令人尊敬的，也是相当有威信的。我们十分感激本尼先生，他是一名出色地排字工头，总会默默地将那些力不胜任的庸庸碌碌之辈剔除编辑队伍。时不时会有人对手写文稿怨声载道，当时我们对编辑打字机还闻所未闻。道格拉斯•杰伊对此更是一窍不通，不过仅是对此而已，1947年他当上了工党内阁大臣。

Somehow, late of a Thursday night, pages would be passed for press covered with Layton's extensive alterations. One such night provoked a clerihew from Graham Hutton, the "foreign editor", ending
周四深夜，手稿会送到出版社出版，这是条不成文的规定。稿子上密密麻麻满是雷顿的修改。格雷厄姆•休顿还特意为此写了一首嵌名打油诗，诗名叫做《异国编者》，结尾是这样写的：
Would to God someone could alter
Sir Walter.
有个人的连上帝写的文章都敢改，这个人就是
沃尔特爵士
Editorial people rarely penetrated to the press room in those well-unionised days, but sometimes the Father of the Chapel was indulgent, and then we were sharply reminded of Caxton. Sixteen pages of type in heavy formes would be laid on a flat bed― hence "flat-bed press"―and inked mechanically. Then a sheet of paper about 4 feet by 3 feet (all right, call it 1.2 metres by 0.9, if you must) was imposed on the inked type by a contraption like a pneumatic octopus; a roller transferred ink to paper and the octopus picked up the printed sheet. The process was repeated on the other side, and 32 pages were ready for binding. A 64-page paper was mercifully the norm, and printing our few thousand copies stretched into Friday. For a time, part of the issue was produced on thin airmail paper, which took even longer.
在那个工党统治的年代，编辑人员是很少能进到印刷间的，但有时候印刷职工会会长会网开一面，让我们进去瞧瞧。印刷间的场景让我们不由得想起卡克斯顿印刷。16块厚重的自动供墨铅字板陈列于一张平板之上，平板印刷由此得名。然后由一个充气章鱼形状的精巧装置把一张4英寸*3英寸（1.2米*0.9米）的纸张平铺在铅字板上，滚筒在纸上滚过，油墨便印到了纸上，再由这个章鱼装置把印好的纸收起，在纸张的另一面重复这个步骤，印好32张就可以装订了，当时报刊的印刷标准是64页。我们这不足千份的报纸要印到周五才能印好。有一段时间，部分报纸要印在薄薄的空邮纸上，那就要花费更长的时间。


当年的罗兰・伯德

It was reckoned that rotary-press printing would begin to pay with a print order of 6,000 or 7,000, and, painfully, the circulation got there. That made possible what were then enormous changes to the paper. The ancient Gothic typeface announcing the title of the paper, and its catalogue of subtitles―Weekly Commercial Times, etc, etc―had already been dropped in January 1934. In 1937, inspired by Hutton, the paper introduced an elegant slate-blue cover carrying The Economist title in brilliant red, and an attractive listing of the contents, in which the money market rarely featured.
据估计轮转印刷机起印额度是六七千份，当时我们的发行量勉强能达到这个数字。这种新的印刷方式给《经济学人》带来了一场巨变。标题采用了古哥特式字体；副标题（如"每周金融时代"等）从1934年1月起不再使用。1937年，受到休顿的启发，《经济学人》开始采用暗蓝色的封面背景，大标题处用白字红底，头版是一串引人注目的文章标题，金融市场也不再是我们关注的焦点。

These changes, together with Eric Gill's Perpetua typeface and a livelier lay-out, were the precursors of all that has since been done by successive managements and editors to widen the content and win the vast readership of today. But they were not well received in high quarters. Our centennial lunch in dreary, wartime 1943 turned into more of a wake than a celebration, with ministers resentful of outspoken editorials and the governor of the Bank of England still aghast at our apostasy over the money market.
这些变动还有艾瑞克•吉尔独创的perpetua字体及简洁明快的版面编排一直为后来的管理者和主编们沿用，并增添了更为丰富的内容，读者群日益壮大，一直达到今天的规模。1943年正值二战期间，沉闷的气氛让我们的百周年庆宴变成了一次警宴，没有些许喜气。宴上大臣部长们对直言不讳的社论深表不满，英格兰银行行长仍为《经济学人》对金融市场的"背叛"震惊不已。

That the paper was getting out at all was something of a miracle. But Donald Tyerman, the deputy editor (and editor from 1956 to 1965), and Barbara Ward, later to have a vastly distinguished international career as an economist, slaved at the editorial content, put the week's issue to bed―and then went off to do the same at the Sunday Observer.
《经济学人》能得以出版本身就是一个奇迹。副主编唐纳德•泰尔曼（1956-1965年任主编）和芭芭拉•沃德为本刊历尽心血，赶写社论、处理好本周的事宜再去忙《周日观察家》那一摊子事。芭芭拉后来成为了一名享誉全球的经济学家。

By the war's end in 1945, with a bit more paper and Geoffrey Crowther back in the editorial chair, The Economist entered one of its greatest creative periods. Full-time staff were recruited, and a corporate editorial feel emerged―not imposed, as some believed, by Crowther, but a common flow of thought under his lead. He would produce, apparently instantaneously, 800 words in a minuscule but legible script, laying down week after week a range of policy unmatched by any other newspaper, and accompanied often by telling jokes: the economics of Hugh Dalton, a post-war Labour chancellor of the exchequer, he called "wind on the national stomach".
到1945年二战结束之际，《经济学人》的发行量又有所增加，杰弗里•克劳瑟重新回到了主编位置。《经济学人》进入了创作的巅峰时期，并招募了真正意义上的全职编辑。一种公司社论悄然兴起，这是在克劳瑟领导下的一种普遍创作潮流，并不是像某些人所说的迫于大公司的压力而写的。克劳瑟能即兴创作出一篇800余字的手稿，蝇头小楷，字迹隽秀，每周都制定出一系列的政策，为其它各家报纸所不能比。他的文章诙谐幽默，曾称战后英国财政大臣休•多尔顿"倒了全球人的胃口"。


如今的罗兰・伯德

Circulation steadily rose, especially in the United States, and 100,000 began to look achievable. And it was, in 1974. A Rolls-Royce had been promised―or had it only been hinted at?―to the circulation manager. Alas, there was no car. But The Economist had achieved one side ambition, to overtake a once serious rival, the socialist New Statesman.
发行量稳步上升，尤其是在美国，1974年的发行量达到了10万份。当时有人对发行经理承诺（或者只是暗示了一下？），如果达到了这个数字，就送他一辆劳斯莱斯。唉，可惜他食言了。不过《经济学人》打败了一向难缠的左派竞争对手《新政治家》，又向成功迈进了一步。

The communications revolution is perhaps the most significant happening in a lifetime of two wars and vast economic and social change. In the early 1930s, there was no airmail; inland telephones were rudimentary; and overseas services expensive, unreliable or non-existent. The Economist relied on the post to assemble much of its content, and begrudged having to find money for cables. Yet there were some odd bits of magic even in those years. A tricky piece of 700 words went to the printers at 4 o'clock one afternoon in 1937, with a request for a proof to be posted to Highgate, in north London. It arrived by the 9.30pm delivery that night, was corrected, caught the last collection at the Highgate post office at half-past midnight, and the printers had a revised galley on the desk by 9.30am. You could do it by e-mail today, but try asking Royal Mail's letter post to do it...
通信革命也许是继两次世界大战和世界经济政治巨变之后，意义最为深远的事件。在20世纪30年代初期，还没有航空邮件。内陆电话通讯技术尚不成熟，更不用提海外通讯了，就算有，也是极为昂贵极不可靠的。《经济学人》不舍得使用昂贵的电缆通讯，靠邮寄的方式收集题材。不过当时也有些见证奇迹的时刻发生。1937年的一天下午4点钟，印刷厂接到了一份棘手的700字文稿，需要发到伦敦北郊海格特公墓那边校对。这份文稿于当晚9:30送达海格特公墓，修改完毕后赶在海格特邮局最后一次收件（凌晨半点）之前寄出，修订稿于第二天上午9:30重新回到印刷厂的办公桌上。在今天，一封电子邮件就可以解决问题，要是让英国皇家邮政来办的话，可有得等了。。。。。。

For information illiterates, these are hard times. It is too late to learn a new language; this piece is being typed (badly) on paper. That was a commodity strictly controlled in the early 1930s. Webb―Edward Mafeking of that clan on his birth certificate, plain Webb to us journalists―the office manager and custodian of precious items including paper clips, once protested, "You had two sheets of paper yesterday."
在这个信息技术高度发达的时代，不了解信息技术是不行的。"学一门新语言为时已晚"，这句话被歪歪扭扭地印在纸上。在20世纪30年代初，纸张是一种受严格控制的商品。办公室经理韦博掌管着包括曲别针在内的贵重物品，他的出生证明上写他是爱德华•马弗京的后裔，但我们只叫他韦博。有一次韦博不满地对我说："你昨天居然用了两张纸。"

Today, it seems, paper comes into use only when the issue is printed and bound. Editorial keyboards generate trillions of impulses that are somehow brought together as an issue. Then buttons are pressed and seven printing plants around the world receive an identical issue, together with all its sophisticated colour pages. How this is done is quite beyond the comprehension of a quill-pen journalist. By this miracle The Economist has surmounted the old problems of getting there fast by getting there instantly. One hopes that these streams of signals are never hijacked somewhere in the heavens. As for the crudities of hot-metal typesetting and letter-press printing, all these have long been superseded by electronic setting (in which a 1970s managing director, Ian Trafford, was a pioneer, and made The Economist one too), and by the stunning quality of modern offset printing.
如今，仿佛只有出版物印刷和装订的时候才会用到纸张，从编辑到成稿的所有步骤都可以通过键盘来完成。随后再按几个按钮，世界各地的七家印刷厂都会受到配有精美彩页的文稿，内容完全相同。这一切都是手握羽毛笔的撰稿人们无法想象的。《经济学人》不用再为如何尽快送达文稿而发愁了，凭借现在的高端技术，文稿可以转瞬及至。不过有人希望信号在传输过程中，不要在空中被谁劫持了才好。原始的铸字排版和凸版印刷早已被电镀印刷所取代，20世纪70年代时一名叫做伊安•特拉福德的总经理率先使用这种技术，《经济学人》紧随其后。电镀印刷随后又被胶印所取代，现代的胶印技术印刷效果极好。

And the future?
何去何从
The Economist's finances today―all allowance made for inflation―would have been unimaginable to those working on it in the 1930s. When Layton and Bracken called a truce in their late-1920s fight for the paper, they had driven the price up to £100,000―less than £4m in today's money. The paper was said in the 1930s always to have made a profit; that must have been a very small one. More important, its almost metaphysical constitution, with half the voting capital, but not control, held by the Financial News (and now the Financial Times, into which Bracken folded his daily in 1945), has survived ever since, with only one hiccup, mercifully long forgotten.
《经济学人》今天的资产，即通胀准备金，是上世纪30年代为此奋斗的人想象不到的。到20年代末，雷顿和布兰肯的版权之争终于告一段落时，《经济学人》的价格被他们哄抬到10万英镑，当时的10万英镑相当于今天的近400万英镑。当时有人说，《经济学人》一直都有赚头，不过那个数字跟今天相比简直是九牛一毛。更为重要的是，《金融时事》（现《金融时报》，《金融时事》于1945年在布兰肯手中夭折）虽然是《经济学人》的股东，但只有表决权，没有掌控权。这使《经济学人》固有的超然品质一直传承至今，尽管中间有过一次小波折，不过好在人们早已遗忘了此事。

It can be asked whether that long-lasting format will carry The Economist through the new century. This old hand offers only two comments. First, that its editorial independence, which dates back to that truce, is imperative; without it, this would be just another weekly. Second, that anyone seeking to change The Economist's foundations will embark on a labour of Sisyphus.
可能有人会问，《经济学人》是否会在新世纪继续沿用其长久以来的风格。对此我只想说明两点。第一，《经济学人》编纂自主，这是当年雷顿与布兰肯达成的一致。没有这个前提，《经济学人》只不过是一份普通的报纸；第二，想动摇《经济学人》的基石，无异于精卫衔石。
It has been a great joy to have put twopennyworth into the early and middle stages of The Economist's extraordinary growth from a tiddler to a world giant. There are few international newspapers, and why this one should have triumphed out of London rather than some other centre of thought is a question. To one who was there in the 1930s―or indeed the 1970s―it is prosperous beyond belief, but shows not the slightest sign of getting fat and lazy. Here's to sales of a million (with a private jet for the circulation director?), and good health to all the enterprises that now form The Economist Group. In those days, "group" meant just a handful of people.
能为《经济学人》贡献自己的绵薄之力，伴随这份报纸从兴办到兴旺，见证他从学步小儿成长为世界巨人，是我莫大的欢乐。没有几家报纸具有这般的国际影响力，为什么《经济学人》独领风骚？恐怕很多人都想问这个问题。伴《经济学人》从30年代走到70年代，我认为，其成功的秘诀就是，无论取得多么耀眼的成就，从未有过丝毫的懈怠。在这里祝贺《经济学人》的发行量超过100万份，这回发行经理该得到一架私人飞机作奖励了吧。祝《经济学人》集团的全体员工身体健康。在过去，"集团"对我们来说也就意味着十几个人。

(Whose many successors, add the several who handled this article, do not forget that each generation stands on the shoulders of those who came before.)
（编者寄语：请《经济学人》的每一代接班人谨记，你们是站在前辈的肩膀上。）

注：
空邮纸：轻身高级书写用纸，多用破布造成，质地结实。常用作航空邮柬

饮酒的历史

The history of drinking
饮酒的历史

Uncorking the past
打开尘封已久的历史

Recreating old drinks provides an enjoyable form of time-travelling 
重新酿造古代的酒给人以时光旅行式的享受

Dec 20th 2001 | from the print edition 

IT MAY be small―each molecule is less than a billionth of a metre long, and consists of a handful of atoms of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen―but ethyl alcohol makes an excellent time machine. People have enjoyed alcoholic drinks since prehistoric times, making drinking one of the few strands that runs throughout the history of western civilisation. Appreciating the art, music or literature of long-vanished cultures can require years of study; recreating their drinks, and comparing them to what we enjoy today, is simple in comparison, not to mention more fun. The consumption of alcohol is so widespread in history, says Patrick McGovern, an archaeological chemist at the University of Pennsylvania, that drinking is, in effect, "a universal language". 

可能很小――每一个分子只相当于十亿分之一米的长度，由许多碳原子、氢原子和氧原子组成的乙醇就像一部时间的机器。人类从史前时代就喜欢饮酒，让喝酒成为西方文明史的一部分。欣赏消失已久的艺术、音乐和文学作品需要很多年的时间；重酿当时的酒，拿来和现在的酒对比，做对比简单，却没有那么有趣。宾夕法尼亚大学的考古化学家Patrick McGovern说酒精消费在历史上分布很广，事实上，饮酒是"一个全球话语"。

At the same time, of course, different cultures' attitudes to alcohol provide a window on a wide range of social and cultural practices. Alcoholic drinks have always been prized for their supposedly medicinal qualities, though exactly what these qualities were, and how best to take advantage of them, has only become clear in modern times. In short, the drinks of history are familiar enough that we can understand and appreciate them, while different enough to teach us something about the time and place in which they were originally drunk. Some of them can even be recreated at home, with commonly available ingredients.

当然，对待酒精的不同文化态度也为社会和文化实践领域的广阔空间提供了一扇窗口。饮用酒精一直在医学上占优势。这些优势是什么，怎样更好地利用酒精，其实这些问题在现代才搞明白。总之，我们对历史上的酒是很熟悉的，我们知道并能欣赏，让我们酿酒的起源时间和地点。只要配合现在常见的原料，在家都可自己酿造。

The oldest surviving recipe in the world (3,800 years old) is for beer. It formed part of a hymn to the Sumerian goddess of brewing

世界上最早的（3800年前）保留下来的酿酒配方是啤酒。是对苏美尔酿酒女神赞诗的一部分。The oldest surviving recipe in the world is for beer. It can be found on a 3,800-year-old clay tablet, as part of a hymn to Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of brewing. Sumerian documents, including the legal code drawn up during the reign of King Hammurabi around 1720BC, show that beer played an important role in Mesopotamian rituals, myths and medical practices. It was drunk by all members of society, from top to bottom, and tavern keepers were expected to abide by strict rules: the penalty for overcharging, for example, was drowning.

世界最早保留下来的酿酒方法是啤酒。被发现刻在距今3800年前的陶土文物上，是对苏美尔酿酒女神宁卡希赞颂诗歌的一部分。苏美尔文献，包括公元前1720年颁布的汉莫拉比法典，都证明啤酒在美索不达米亚宗教仪式、神话和医学上发挥着重要的作用。从上层统治者到底层民众，全社会的人都喝啤酒，人们希望酒馆老板严格遵守规定：啤酒定价高就要受处罚，例如，判处溺水死亡的刑罚。

In addition to being at the heart of Mesopotamian culture, beer may even have been the foundation for the whole of western civilization. In the 1950s Jonathan Sauer, an American botanist, suggested that the original motivation for domesticating cereal crops (and thus switching from a nomadic to a settled lifestyle) might have been to make beer, rather than bread. The question of whether beer or bread came first has been debated ever since. 

除了作为美索不达米亚文化的核心外，啤酒也是整个西方文明的基石。20世纪50年代，美国的植物学家Jonathan Sauer认为引种谷物（从游牧转为定居生活）的原动力就是为了酿酒，而不仅仅是为了面包。自那时以来到底最初的动因是为了酿酒还是为了做面包一直争论不休。

Beer makers of Sumer

苏美尔酿酒师
Supporters of Sauer's idea have pointed out that many of the first cereals to be farmed were unsuitable for baking without tiresome preparation, but were suitable for brewing. Beer, they suggest, may have emerged in an attempt to make wild barley edible by mixing it with water and fruit. The thick beer produced in this way would be just as nutritious as bread, in addition to being slightly alcoholic.

Sauer想法的赞成者指出许多第一次引种的谷物对没有令人厌烦的准备工作的烘烤不适应，但是适于酿酒。他们认为啤酒出现是在一次尝试做大麦食物的过程中，把麦子和水、水果混合得到的。这种方式做出了重浓度的啤酒，除了做酒精用外，和面包一样有营养。

Sumerian documents lend credence to this idea. For although Sumerian beer was made using bappir, a form of bread that could be stored for long periods, it seems that bappir was consumed only when no other food was available. In other words, its primary function may have been to store the raw materials for making beer in a convenient form. 

苏美尔人的文献证明了这个观点。即使苏美尔人用啤酒面包――一种可以贮存很久的面包――酿酒，但是看起来啤酒面包只在没有其他食物可用的情况下才被想起来食用。换句话说，它的第一作用就是贮存酿酒的原材料。

If beer really does underpin western civilisation, that would explain its high status in Sumerian culture. The seal of Lady Pu-Abi, queen of the city of Ur around 2600BC, shows her drinking beer from a cup through a straw; just such a straw, made of gold and lapis lazuli, was found in her tomb, and can be seen today in the British Museum.

如果啤酒是西方文明的支柱，也就解释了它在苏美尔文化中的崇高地位的原因。公元前2600年的乌尔城王后普阿比的印章上显示她用吸管喝杯子里的啤酒，这样一根用黄金和天青石做的吸管在她的墓室中找到，现在保存在大英博物馆中。

So what would this Ur-beer have tasted like? A number of attempts have been made to brew Sumerian beer according to the Ninkasi recipe. Two such tipples were made in the early 1990s at the Anchor Brewery in San Francisco, though they were not put on sale to the general public. They involved a certain amount of guesswork. One problem, says Michael Jackson, a beer expert who has tasted various pseudo-Sumerian beers over the years, is that modern brewers avoid the use of wild yeast, which would have made the original beers taste "winey and sour". Another problem, he says, is that it is not clear what was added to ancient beers to balance the taste of the grain. It may well have been fruit, but could also have been honey.

这种乌尔啤酒味道怎样呢？一些想尝试的人按照宁卡希配方酿造苏美尔啤酒。两种这样的酒20世纪90年代初在旧金山的Anchor酿酒厂问世，但是没有向市场推广。他们做了大量的实验。多年来致力于品尝仿苏美尔啤酒的酿酒专家迈克尔•杰克逊说，有个问题是现在的酿酒商不愿使用可能会使啤酒尝起来像葡萄酒或发点酸的原始发酵剂。另一个问题是，还不知道古代啤酒中添加了什么来平衡谷物的口感。可能是水果，也可能是蜂蜜。

This means there are various modern beers that may resemble the ancient kind. Mr Jackson notes that lambic beers from Belgium use wild yeast, for example; he also recommends Sahti, a Finnish beer that is flavoured with juniper, which he describes as "the last primitive beer to survive in Europe". Philip Rogers, of the Anchor Brewing Company, says that the Ninkasi brew he tasted was reminiscent of mead; another beer, also based on the Ninkasi recipe, has been compared to Jade, a French organic beer.

这也意味着有多种现代啤酒已很接近古代啤酒了。例如比利时的兰比克啤酒用原始发酵剂。他还推荐芬兰啤酒Sahti，弥漫着杜松树的味道，被他誉为"欧洲流传下来的最原始的啤酒"。Anchor酿酒厂的菲利普•罗杰斯说宁卡希啤酒像蜂蜜酒；以宁卡希为配方的另一种啤酒可以媲美法国有机啤酒Jade。

To further complicate matters, says Mr McGovern, the distinction between beer, wine and mead starts to break down once honey and fruit are included in the brewing process. Furthermore, his analysis of drinking vessels, found in a tomb in central Turkey dating to around 700BC and thought to be that of King Midas, suggests that beer, wine and mead may have been mixed together in equal quantities to make an early form of cocktail. 

McGovern说更复杂的是，从蜂蜜和水果加入到酿酒过程中后，啤酒、葡萄酒和蜂蜜酒三者之间没有区别了。此外，通过对饮酒容器（出土于土耳其中部一座公元前700年的坟墓中――可能是Midas国王的坟墓）的分析他认为相同分量的啤酒、葡萄酒和蜂蜜酒混合在一起制成了最初形式的鸡尾酒。

A similar drink seems to have been adopted by the Minoan civilization of Crete after about 1500BC. Mr McGovern is currently collaborating with a Cretan wine maker to recreate this drink: six different blends of wine, spices, mead and beer are brewing at this very moment. His findings have also been used by Sam Calagione of the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Lewes, Delaware, to create a beer called "Midas Touch", which was launched in June (see www.dogfish.com for details).

公元前1500年后，相似的酒被希腊克里特文明吸收。McGovern现在和克里特酿酒者合作重新制造这种酒：用葡萄酒、香料、蜂蜜酒和啤酒等六种混合物酿造。他的发明也被美国特拉华州刘易斯市角鲨头工艺酿酒厂的Sam Calagione应用在酿酒上，制造出一种叫做"Midas Touch"的酒，于当年六月份上市（详细情况见www.dogfish.com）。

Galen's wine: Rome, c. 170AD

盖伦葡萄酒，罗马，公元170年
Some time towards the end of the second century AD, Galen of Pergamum, physician to the emperor Marcus Aurelius, descended into the Palatine cellars in Rome and conducted what must be regarded as one of the greatest vertical wine-tastings in history. Before his appointment as imperial physician, Galen had been a doctor at a gladiatorial school, where he had learned of the medical value of wine to disinfect wounds. Galen also believed that wine was an extremely potent medicine. So when it came to preparing a theriac, or medicinal potion for the emperor, Galen decided that it should be based on the finest wine in the world. "Since all that is best from every part of the earth finds its way to the great ones of the earth," he wrote, "from their excellence must be chosen the very best for the greatest of them all." He duly headed for the cellars. 

公元二世纪末，帕加马市的盖伦，马可•奥勒留国王时期的物理学家，去罗马皇宫的酒窖，指出哪个是可以被称为是历史上最好喝的葡萄酒。在被任命为皇家御用物理学家之前，盖伦是一所训练角斗士学校的医生，在学校里他发现了酒有消毒伤口的医用价值。盖伦认为酒有药效。当为国王准备糖浆或药品时，盖伦认为药中应该加入世界上最好的酒。"所有的一切都想尽善尽美，好的想变得更好，更好的想变成最好的。"他前往酒窖。

In Roman times, it was universally agreed that the finest wine was that of the Falernian region near Naples. In fact, in a foreshadowing of the French appellation regulations, there were three types of Falernian wine. Caucinian Falernian originated from vineyards on the highest slopes of Mount Falernus; Faustian Falernian came from vineyards on the central slopes; and wine from the lower slopes was known simply as Falernian.

罗马时代，众所周知最好的酒是那不勒斯附近的Falernian地区的酒。事实上，通过法国名称规则的预测，有三种这样的酒。Caucinian Falenian源自Falemus山高坡上的葡萄园。Faustian Falenian源自中部坡度的葡萄园。低坡度葡萄园中的葡萄酒叫Falernian。

Perhaps surprisingly, given modern tastes, the most prized Falernian was a white wine. Roman sources indicate that the grapes were picked fairly late, resulting in a heavy, sweet wine that was golden in colour and could be aged for decades. The nearest contemporary equivalents would appear to be long-aged sauternes wines, such as Chateau d'Yquem. But Falernian would have tasted very different, for a number of reasons. For a start, it was allowed to maderise, which caused it to turn amber or brown. A modern drinker presented with a glass of Roman wine might also notice that its taste was affected by the pitch or resin that was used to make impermeable the earthenware jars in which the wine was stored.

也许使人吃惊地是， 现代口味的话，最应受嘉奖的Falernian是一种白葡萄酒。罗马资料显示，葡萄采摘越晚，就能酿出重口味，甜的葡萄酒，金黄的颜色，可以贮存几十年。最接近当时质量的现代酒，是保存很多年的苏特恩葡萄酒，如伊甘葡萄酒。但是有一些原因使Falernian 尝起来有些不同。第一，葡萄酒会变成褐色。现代人喝上一杯罗马葡萄酒会觉得它的味道受做不易渗透的陶罐用的柏油或松香的影响，酒就是被贮存在这种陶罐中。

But the most dramatic difference between Roman and modern wine is that the Romans never drank wine on its own; they always mixed it with other ingredients. Indeed, the practice of drinking wine straight was regarded as barbaric. Most often, wine was simply diluted. The amount of water added depended on the circumstances (it was up to the host to decide) and the temperature, but the proportions were typically one part wine to three parts water. Diluting wine served two purposes: it made it into a thirst-quenching drink that could be consumed in large quantities, and the presence of alcohol also made the water safe to drink, an important consideration in the growing cities of the Roman Empire, as it still was in 18th-century Europe.

但是罗马酒和现代酒最大的不同就是，罗马人从来不纯喝酒，总要加点其他的东西。实际上，直接饮酒被看做是野蛮的，未开化的行为。大多数情况下，酒被稀释了。由具体情况（主人决定）和温度决定添加多少水，酒和水的比例基本上是1:3。稀释酒有两个目的：使酒变成解渴的饮品，从而大量消费，酒精使饮用水的安全性提高了，这种方法萌发与罗马帝国时期的城市中，一直持续到18世纪。
On occasion, wine was diluted with seawater. This was done, according to Pliny, "to enliven the wine's smoothness"

有时，葡萄酒用海水稀释。Pliny说这样做大大提升了葡萄酒的口感。

On occasion, wine was also diluted with sea water. According to Pliny the Elder, one of several Roman authorities on wine, this was done "to enliven the wine's smoothness". But water was not the only additive. Snow was sometimes mixed with wine to cool it; honey was sometimes added to create an aperitif known as mulsum; and various herbs and spices were commonly added to wine to mask the fact that it had turned to vinegar. Keeping wine in good condition was difficult in Roman times, so most wine was drunk within a year of production; "old" wine was categorised as wine more than a year old.

有时，葡萄酒用海水稀释。据罗马的葡萄酒专家Pliny说，这样做可以大大提升葡萄酒的口感。但是做添加剂的不仅可以用水。雪有时也混合在里面，起冰镇的作用；蜂蜜也被添加进去制成一种叫mulsum的开胃酒；多种香草和香料添加进葡萄酒中掩盖已经其实已经变酸的事实。在罗马时代贮藏酒是困难的，所以酒的保质期在一年以内；超过一年的就成为陈酒了。

As a wine-lover, Galen must have relished the prospect of searching the imperial cellars for the finest Falernian. He started with 20-year-old Falernian and then tasted earlier and earlier vintages. "I kept on until I found a wine without a trace of bitterness. An ancient wine which has not lost its sweetness is the best of all." Eventually, Galen settled on a Faustian Falernian as the finest wine in existence. Alas, he did not record the year. Earlier in the Roman period, the general consensus had been that the Falernian of 121BC was the best vintage; according to Pliny, this wine was still being drunk 160 years later, when it was offered to Caligula. So it seems likely that Galen would have had Falernian vintages as much as 200 years old available during his tasting session.

作为一个爱酒的人，盖伦一定希望从皇家酒窖中找到最好的Falernian，他从20年份的Falernian开始，然后又品尝更早的葡萄酒，我一直品尝找到我找到一种没有苦味的葡萄酒，一种贮藏年份长的酒不失其甜味，就是酒中的极品。最后，盖伦认为Faustian Falernian是现存最好的葡萄酒。哎呀，遗憾的是他记下年份。罗马时代的早期，公认的是，公元前121年的Falernian是最好的葡萄酒。Pliny说这种酒160年后还能饮用，还被供奉给罗马皇帝卡里古拉。可能在盖伦品的是200年历史的Falernian葡萄酒。

But while Falernian was the finest Roman wine, it was hardly typical of what Romans like Galen drank every day. How can such wines be recreated? Hervé Durand, a French wine maker, has set up a "Roman vineyard" near Nîmes in the south of France, where he follows the wine-making procedures described by Roman writers as closely as possible. He produces three pseudo-Roman wines: Turriculae, a white wine that is lightly flavoured with salt water; Carenum, a spiced red wine; and Mulsum, which is flavoured with honey. Similarly, several wine makers in Italy make wines that trade on the Roman connection. But they are not designed to be diluted or mixed with honey and they are not full of herbs. In other words, they are quite palatable, and thus, alas, not authentic.

Falernian是最好的罗马葡萄酒，但是罗马人也不像盖伦这样天天饮酒。这些酒怎样被重新酿造呢？法国酿酒商Hervé Durand在法国南部的尼姆市附近建造了一个罗马葡萄园，他遵照罗马作者所叙述的酿酒程序酿酒。他生产了三种仿罗马时期的葡萄酒：Turriculae,一种有盐水味的白葡萄酒；Carenum,一种含香料的红葡萄酒；和有蜂蜜味的Mulsum。相似的是，很多意大利酿酒商也利用罗马配方酿酒。但是这些酒没有被稀释或添加蜂蜜和香料。换句话说，酒很美味，却不是真正的罗马葡萄酒。

According to Jerry Paterson, an expert on Roman wine at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England, the contemporary wines that are most similar to Roman wines are young, sweet white wines, such as those made in Germany or around the French town of Vouvray. The nearest red wine, he suggests, is Italian wine made with the Aglianico grape. Add half a cup of honey to a bottle of white wine, and refrigerate, to make mulsum; or simply add water in order to drink wine, Roman style.

英国纽卡斯特大学罗马葡萄酒专家Jerry Paterson认为最像罗马酒的现代酒是年份短的甜白葡萄酒，比如在德国和法国沃莱城生产的葡萄酒。他认为，最接近的红葡萄酒是用亚格力安尼克葡萄做成的意大利葡萄酒。在一整瓶白葡萄酒中加半杯蜂蜜，冷藏，做成mulsun;或者仅加水。

Shakespeare's sack: England, 1598

1598，英国，莎士比亚的西班牙葡萄酒

On the afternoon of April 19th, 1587, Sir Francis Drake led his convoy of 31 ships into the port of Cadiz, where the Spanish navy was being prepared to invade England. The Spanish were taken completely by surprise, and Drake's men quickly looted, sank or burnt every ship in sight. After clearing the harbour of stores and fending off a Spanish attack, Drake and his ships escaped without the loss of a single man. Back in England, Drake became a national hero, and his daring attack became known as the "singeing of the King of Spain's beard".

1587年4月19日的下午，弗朗西斯•德瑞克带领他的31艘船队驶入加的斯港，西班牙海军正准备侵略英国。让西班牙人始料未及的是，德瑞克的下属迅速抢劫、沉没或烧毁视野中的所有船只。洗劫了贮存货物的港口并击退了西班牙人的进攻后，德瑞克和他的船队没有伤亡一人，成功撤退。回到英国后，德瑞克成为了国家的英雄。他果敢的进攻因为"让西班牙国王胡子着火"而出名。
 

As well as setting back the Spanish plan to invade England by several months, Drake's daring attack sealed the success of a popular new drink. For among the stores that he plundered from Cadiz were 2,900 large barrels of sack, a wine made in the Jerez region of Spain, and the forerunner of today's sherry. Its popularity stemmed from a law, passed in 1491, that wines made for export should be exempt from taxes. (The name sack is derived from the Spanish word sacar, meaning to take out, or export.) The wine makers of Jerez looked for overseas markets, and sack started to take off in England. In 1587, the celebratory drinking of the sack brought back from Cadiz by Drake gave it a further boost and made it hugely fashionable, notwithstanding its Spanish origin. 

用了数月粉碎了西班牙人侵略英国的计划，德瑞克勇敢的进攻使一种酒大受欢迎。从加的斯掠夺回来的货物中有2900个桶，里面装有产于西班牙赫雷斯地区的葡萄酒，也就是雪利酒的前身。它受欢迎源于一部1491年颁布的法律――出口葡萄酒可以免税。（sack这个词源于西班牙单词sacar意思是拿出去，出口）。赫雷斯酿酒商开始放眼海外市场，出口英国葡萄酒。1587年，受欢迎的酒被德瑞克从加的斯带回来了，尽管它源于西班牙，在英国成为流行、时尚的饮品。

For obscure chemical reasons, sack was an unusually long-lasting and robust wine. This made it ideal for taking on long sea voyages, during which alcoholic drinks acted as a vital social lubricant that lessened the hardship of spending weeks packed into a cramped ship. Columbus took sack with him to the new world in the 1490s, making it the first wine to be introduced into the Americas. When Magellan set out to circumnavigate the world in 1519 he spent more on sack than he did on weapons.

由于某些难理解的化学原因，西班牙的这种葡萄酒保存时间异常长久、且香味浓，特别适宜于长时间的旅行，在这段航程中，它成为一种重要的社会润滑剂，如果是别的葡萄酒还要浪费几个星期打包进一个狭小船舱。1490年哥伦布带着这种葡萄酒发现了新大陆，成为第一种带进美洲的葡萄酒。麦哲伦1519环游世界时消费的葡萄酒比武器要多得多。

But it was in England that sack was most popular. By far the most famous tribute to it was written by William Shakespeare in 1598. In "Henry IV, Part 2", Falstaff sings its praises in a long speech and concludes: "If I had a thousand sons, the first human principle I would teach them should be, to forswear thin potations and to addict themselves to sack." This was, of course, an anachronism: the play was set long before sack was introduced to England. But it is tempting to conclude that Falstaff's words reflect Shakespeare's own love of sack, which was widely shared. His fellow playwrights Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe also wrote hymns to sack; Marlowe was probably drinking it on the night he was killed in a tavern brawl.

在英国sack葡萄酒十分受喜爱。1598年莎士比亚写下对它最美的颂词。见"亨利四世，第二部分"，福斯塔夫用很长的话语赞颂这种葡萄酒，并总结说："如果我有1000个儿子，第一条家规就是，不要喝淡酒，要饮sack酒"。时代开了一个小玩笑，这出戏在sack酒进入英国之前就上演很久了。但是用福斯塔夫的那段话作结显示了莎士比亚对sack酒的钟爱，并被广为传颂。与他合作的剧作家本•琼森和克里斯托弗•马洛也写诗赞美sack酒。马洛死在酒馆纷争的那天晚上可能还在喝sack酒。

In 1604, sack was granted official recognition of sorts when James I issued an ordinance limiting its consumption at court. "We considering that oftentimes sundry of our nobility and others, dieted and lodged in our Court, may for their better health desire to have Sacke, our pleasure is that there be allowed to the sergeant of our cellar twelve gallons of Sacke a day, and no more." By this time sack was popularly known as sherris-sack (sherris being a corruption of Jerez), which eventually became the modern word sherry.

1604年sack酒获得官方的认可。詹姆斯一世在皇室颁布一条法令限制它的消费。"我们认为皇室人员用餐，为了他们的健康考虑喝Sacke酒，酒窖的守卫一天不多于12加仑。这时sack又称为sherris-sack（sherris意思是堕落的赫雷斯），演变成现代的单词sherry。

Sack was still popular in the late 17th century, and appears frequently in the diary of Samuel Pepys. On the morning of March 5th 1668, Pepys was summoned to Westminster to defend the Navy Office's practice of paying sailors with negotiable bills instead of money. On the way he decided to fortify himself: "to comfort myself did go to the Dog and drink half-a-pint of mulled sack". Pepys also refers several times to "sack-posset", a medicinal brew of sack, sugar, spices, milk and beaten eggs that was traditionally served at weddings in early colonial America.

Sack一直流行到17世纪，经常出现在苏美尔人佩皮斯的日记中。1668年3月5日的早晨，佩皮斯被召唤到威斯敏斯特（英国议会）为海军政府的训练（给水手谈判的账单而不是金钱）做辩论。在路上他决定为自己壮胆："为了让自己放松，喝半品脱（1品脱=1/8加仑）sack酒。帕皮斯也提到几次sack牛乳酒，由sack、糖、香料、牛奶和敲碎的鸡蛋酿造，在早期殖民地美洲婚礼上饮用。

What did sack taste like, and can its taste be experienced today? For many years it was believed that sack derived its name from seco, meaning dry, and that it was therefore a dry wine. But according to Julian Jeffs, an expert on the history of sherry, this is wrong, and sack was actually sweet. It was not aged for more than a year or two, unlike modern sherry, which is usually aged for at least three years. This suggests, says Mr Jeffs, that sack probably tasted quite similar to a cheap, young oloroso sherry. It was often further sweetened with honey or sugar: hence Falstaff's nickname of "Sir John Sack-and-sugar".

Sack酒味道怎样，现在还能品尝到吗？多年来人们认为sack来源于单词seco，意思是干燥的，是一种干葡萄酒，但是雪利酒历史研究专家Julian Jeffs认为这种说法是错误的，雪利酒很甜，只需用1、2年，而不像现在的雪利酒酿造要用三年。Jeffs认为sack尝起来很像便宜的、年份短的西班牙甜雪利酒。加上蜂蜜或糖会更甜：因此福斯塔夫的昵称是John Sack-and-sugar先生。


A glass from the past
历史的写照

Recreating the drinks of the past is an intellectual challenge, says Mr McGovern. It is an inexact science, and the results can be horrible. "But once you've created something that's tasty and delicious, it's like you've brought the past back to life," he says. "It makes it much more real for people―it isn't just something forever buried." Better still, in addition to recreating a tiny aspect of the past, there is now strong scientific evidence that alcohol, taken in moderation, can help you travel forward in time too, by reducing the risk of heart disease by as much as 40%. Cheers! 
重酿古代的酒是一个明智的挑战，McGovern说，没有科学的指导，结果是可怕的。"但是一旦你创造出好吃的东西，就想你重温了过去"，"让人觉得真实，不是永远的埋葬过去。"更好的是，除了重温过去的某个方面，也为适量饮酒增加人的寿命提供了强有力的科学证据，适量饮酒可以让心脏病的风险降低40%。太好了！

from the print edition | Christmas Specials

注释：
1.Hymn to Nikasi,叫做宁卡希的赞美诗，宁卡西是美索不达米亚平原的酿酒女神。
2.Bappir,一种传统的啤酒面包，是用发芽大麦制成的，可以长期保存。
3.City of Ur，乌尔城（Ur，City Site of），西亚的古代城市，位于伊拉克的穆盖伊尔。该城平面呈叶形。（详见百度百科，http://baike.baidu.com/view/174590.htm）
4.Pergamumu,帕加马，古希腊城市，现为土耳其伊兹密尔省贝尔加吗镇。
5.Marcus Aurelius，马可•奥勒留（公元121年4月26日－180年3月17日），全名为马可•奥勒留•安东尼•奥古斯都（Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus）。著名的"帝王哲学家"，拥有凯撒称号（Imperator Caesar）的他是罗马帝国五贤帝时代最后一个皇帝，于161年至180年在位。代表著作《沉思录》。
6.Falstaff，莎士比亚作品中的戏剧人物。