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As the world faced months of restrictions on social gatherings and celebrations, the demand for champagne hit historic lows.
由于近几个月来世界各地对社交聚会和庆祝活动的限制，对香槟的需求达到了历史低点。
French producers of the pricey specialty wine estimate they have already lost $2 billion in sales this year.
昂贵的特色葡萄酒的法国生产商估计，他们今年的销售额已经损失了20亿美元。
Champagne is named for the eastern area of France where it comes from.
香槟是以它的产地法国东部地区命名的。
The drink is traditionally served at celebratory events or enjoyed at parties or while eating out.
传统上，这种饮料是在庆祝活动、聚会或外出就餐时享用的。
Thibaut Le Mailloux is a member of the Champagne Committee, a group representing about 16,000 champagne producers.
Thibaut Le Mailloux是香槟委员会的成员，该委员会代表着大约1.6万名香槟生产商。
"We are experiencing a crisis that we evaluate to be even worse than the Great Depression" of 1929, he told The Associated Press.
“我们正在经历一场预估比1929年大萧条还要严重的危机”，他告诉美联社。
The group said it expects about 100 million bottles of champagne to be left unsold by the end of the year.
该委员会说，预计到今年年底将有大约1亿瓶香槟卖不出去。
In an effort to reduce the surplus, the committee has launched emergency production limits.
为了减少过剩，委员会实行了紧急产量限制。
Like oil-producing nations, the committee sets rules for the size of each year"s harvest.
与石油生产国一样，该委员会制定每年收成的规则。
This aims to prevent too much production and large price drops.
这样做的目的是防止过度生产和价格大幅下跌。
The committee is expected to set a strict limit at a meeting scheduled for August 18.
预计该委员会将于8月18日举行的一次会议上定下严格的限制。
The limit will likely lead to record supplies of grapes being destroyed or sold off at greatly reduced prices.
这一限制可能会导致世上绝无仅有的葡萄被销毁或大幅降价出售。
The expected limit could especially be difficult for smaller producers to deal with.
对小企业主来说，预期的产量限制可能尤其难以应对。
"We are to destroy (the grapes) and we pay for them to be destroyed," said Anselme Selosse, of Jacques Selosse Champagnes.
瑟洛斯酒庄的安塞尔姆·瑟洛斯说:“我们要毁掉(葡萄)，并且要为毁掉它们付出代价。”
Selosse told The Associated Press he also sees it as "an insult to nature"
瑟洛斯告诉美联社，他也认为这是“对自然的侮辱”，
that the area"s famous grapes might even be used to produce alcohol for hand sanitizer.
该地区着名的葡萄甚至可能被用来生产用于洗手液的酒精。
Such production happened in other wine-producing areas after demand for sanitizer has risen during the virus crisis.
疫情期间，其他葡萄酒产区对杀菌剂的需求上升后，也出现了类似的情况。
Paul-Francois Vranken, founder of producer Vranken-Pommery Monopole, called the current situation "a catastrophe."
香槟生产商Vranken- pommery Monopole的创始人Paul-Francois Vranken称目前的情况是“一场灾难”。
He noted that the champagne business had "lived through every single war."
他指出，香槟生意“经历了每一场战役”。
But with past crises, "there was a way out." Now, Vranken sees no way out "unless we find a vaccine."
但对于过去的危机，“有一条出路。”现在，Vranken看不到出路除非我们研制出疫苗。
Major producers such as Vranken-Pommery predict the crisis could last for years.
Vranken-Pommery等主要香槟生产商预计，这场危机可能会持续数年。
Vranken says he thinks there needs to be a change in how companies market champagne to succeed in the new normal.
Vranken说，他认为公司要想在新常态下取得成功，就需要改变推销香槟的方式。
A drop in celebrations and group events moving forward will lead to continued reductions in champagne sales.
庆祝活动和团体活动的减少将导致香槟销量的持续下降。
Vranken said marketing campaigns should center more on champagne"s quality
Vranken说，市场营销活动应该更多地关注香槟的质量，
as a naturally, often organically produced drink from a historic area of France.
作为一种来自法国历史悠久地区的天然有机饮料。
"Even if the bars and the nightclubs are closed for five years, we don"t plan on missing out on customers," he added.
“即使酒吧和夜总会停业五年，我们也不打算失去顾客，”他补充说。
Selosse, who produces many "natural" champagnes with no added sugar, also hopes the coronavirus crisis will lead to changes in marketing.
瑟洛斯生产了许多不加糖的“天然”香槟，他还希望冠状病毒危机能改变营销方式。
He is also calling for more cooperative efforts in production, such as "communal wine presses" to help smaller producers share costs.
他还呼吁在生产方面进行更多的合作，比如“公用葡萄酒压榨机”，以帮助较小的生产商分担成本。
I"m Bryan Lynn.
布莱恩·林恩报道。
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