摘自奥斯卡热门影片《杯酒人生》（Sideways）中Maya与Miles的一段对话。
        Maya通过前夫拥有的大酒窖而开始了对酒的钟爱。她在酒里解释了一生百态：从葡萄的照管、采摘到成品的酿造，从味道的逐渐醇厚到不可挽回的消退——就像人生的成长与际遇，色彩斑斓却转瞬即过……

        Miles: why are you into wine?
        Maya: oh, I´m I think I, I originally got into wine through my ex-husband, you know. He had this big, you know, sort of show-off cellar, you know. But then I discovered I had a really sharp palate. And the more I drank, the more I liked what it made me think about.
        Miles: like what?
　　Maya: Like what a fraud he was. No, I like to think about the life of wine, you know. How it´s a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year of grapes were growing. How the sun was shining, if it rained. I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it is an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve; like if I opened a bottle of wine today, it would taste different than if I opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive, and it is constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is until it peaks, like you ´61, and then it begins its steady, inevitable decline…

重点讲解

        Maya说，因为前夫（ex-husband）有个很张扬的（show-off）大酒窖，她才开始接触酒，并且发现自己的味觉很敏锐。这里，show-off的意思是卖弄、炫耀、做表面文章，sharp palate是敏锐的味觉，cellar指酒窖、地窖之类。

        她喜欢在品酒中浮想联翩：想酒的一生，比如，葡萄种植的一年里都发生（go on）了什么，是阳光普照，或是阴雨连绵；比如，做成的酒是如何不断演变（evolve）、风味逐渐醇厚的（gain complexity），又是如何在达到巅峰状态（peak v. 达到最高点）之后慢慢变味的。

        Maya认为，酒不仅仅是供人消费的饮料，它本身是有生命的（a living thing, be alive），它的味道不断变化发展，它的成长倾注了许多人的劳动。同样一瓶酒在不同时间打开就都会尝到不同的滋味，就像人生的成长与际遇，色彩斑斓却转瞬即过.