Taste3 2008
Benjamin Wallace: The price of happiness
Benjamin Wallace om prisen på lykke
Filmed:
Readability: 3.9
2,178,942 views
Kan lykke købes? For at finde ud af det, har forfatteren Benjamin Wallace prøvet verdens dyreste produkter, herunder en flaske 1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc, 225g Kobe kød og den legendariske (berygtede) Kopi Luwak kaffe. Hans anmeldelse kan overraske.
Benjamin Wallace - Author
Benjamin Wallace is a journalist and author of The Billionaire's Vinegar, the true story of the world's most expensive bottle of (possibly phony?) wine. He's been a contributor to GQ, Details, Salon and The Washington Post. Full bio
Benjamin Wallace is a journalist and author of The Billionaire's Vinegar, the true story of the world's most expensive bottle of (possibly phony?) wine. He's been a contributor to GQ, Details, Salon and The Washington Post. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
I'm just going to play a brief video clip.
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Jeg vil lige vise et kort video klip.
00:22
Video:
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Video:
00:23
On the fifth of December 1985, a bottle of 1787 Lafitte was sold
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Den femte december 1985, blev en flaske 1787 Lafitte solgt
00:29
for 105,000 pounds -- nine times the previous world record.
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for 105.000 pund -- ni gange højere end den tidligere verdensrekord.
00:34
The buyer
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Køberen
00:36
was Kip Forbes,
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var Kip Forbes,
00:38
son of one of the most flamboyant millionaires of the 20th century.
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søn af en af de mest flamboyante millionære i det 20. århundrede.
00:41
The original owner of the bottle turned out to be
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Flaskens oprindelige ejer viste sig at være
00:43
one of the most enthusiastic wine buffs of the 18th century.
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en af de mest entusiatiske vineksperter i det 18. århundrede.
00:47
Château Lafitte is one of the greatest wines in the world,
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Château Lafitte er en af de største vine i verden,
00:51
the prince of any wine cellar.
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fyrsten i en hvilken som helst vinkælder.
00:53
Benjamin Wallace: Now, that's about all the videotape that remains of an event
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Benjamin Wallace: Ok, det er omtrent al det video der findes af den hændelse
00:55
that set off the longest-running mystery in the modern wine world.
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det startede den moderne vinverdens længstvarende mysterium.
00:59
And the mystery existed because of a gentleman named Hardy Rodenstock.
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Og mysteriet eksisterede på grund af en herre der hed Hardy Rodenstock.
01:04
In 1985, he announced to his friends in the wine world
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I 1985, annoncerede han for sine venner i vinverdenen
01:07
that he had made this incredible discovery.
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at han havde gjort en utrolig opdagelse.
01:09
Some workmen in Paris had broken through a brick wall,
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Nogle arbejdere i Paris var brudt igennem en mur
01:13
and happened upon this hidden cache of wines --
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og havde fundet dette hemmelige vinlager --
01:16
apparently the property of Thomas Jefferson. 1787, 1784.
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og åbenbart Thomas Jeffersons ejendom. 1787, 1784.
01:21
He wouldn't reveal the exact number of bottles,
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Han ville ikke afsløre det præcise antal flasker,
01:23
he would not reveal
exactly where the building was
exactly where the building was
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han ville ikke afsløre præcis hvor bygningen var
01:26
and he would not reveal exactly who owned the building.
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og han ville ikke afsløre præcis hvem der ejede bygningen.
01:29
The mystery persisted for about 20 years.
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Mysteriet holdt ved i cirka 20 år.
01:32
It finally began to get resolved in 2005 because of this guy.
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Det begyndte endeligt at blive løst i 2005, på grund af denne fyr.
01:37
Bill Koch is a Florida billionaire who owns four of the Jefferson bottles,
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Bill Koch er en milliardær fra Florida der ejer fire af Jeffersons flasker,
01:40
and he became suspicious.
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og han blev mistænkelig.
01:42
And he ended up spending over a million dollars and hiring ex-FBI
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Og han endte med at bruge mere end en million dollars og hyrede eks-FBI
01:46
and ex-Scotland Yard agents to try to get to the bottom of this.
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og eks-Scotland Yard agenter til at undersøge det til bunds.
01:50
There's now ample evidence that Hardy Rodenstock is a con man,
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Der er nu masser af beviser på, at Hardy Rodenstock er en svindler,
01:53
and that the Jefferson bottles were fakes.
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og at Jefferson flaskerne var falske.
01:55
But for those 20 years,
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Men i de 20 år,
01:57
an unbelievable number of really eminent and accomplished figures
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blev et utrolig antal virkelig fremtrædende og dygtige skikkelser
02:03
in the wine world were sort of drawn into the orbit of these bottles.
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i vinverden, draget ind i historien om disse flasker.
02:05
I think they wanted to believe that the most expensive bottle of wine
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Jeg tror de gerne ville tro på, at de dyreste flasker vin
02:10
in the world must be the best bottle of wine in the world,
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i verden, også måtte være de bedste flasker vin i verden,
02:13
must be the rarest bottle of wine in the world.
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måtte være de sjældneste flasker vin i verden.
02:16
I became increasingly, kind of voyeuristically interested in the question of
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Jeg blev tiltagende, på en voyeuristisk måde interesseret i spørgsmålet om,
02:21
you know, why do people spend these crazy amounts of money,
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I ved, hvorfor mennesker bruger disse sindssyge summer,
02:24
not only on wine but on lots of things,
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ikke kun på vin, men på mange ting,
02:27
and are they living a better life than me?
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og lever de et bedre liv end jeg gør?
02:29
So, I decided to embark on a quest.
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Så, jeg besluttede mig for at starte en søgen.
02:31
With the generous backing of a magazine I write for sometimes,
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Med generøs opbakning af et magasin jeg af og til skriver for,
02:34
I decided to sample the very best, or most expensive, or most coveted item
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besluttede jeg mig for at udvælge det allerbedste, eller dyreste, eller den mest eftertragtede genstande
02:41
in about a dozen categories,
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i cirka et dusin kategorier,
02:43
which was a very grueling quest,
as you can imagine.
as you can imagine.
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hvilket var en virkelig udmattende opgave, som I nok kan forestille jer.
02:45
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
02:46
This was the first one.
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Det her var den første.
02:48
A lot of the Kobe beef that you see in the U.S. is not the real thing.
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Meget af det Kobe kød man ser i USA, er ikke den ægte vare.
02:51
It may come from Wagyu cattle,
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Det kan komme fra Wagyu kvæg,
02:53
but it's not from the original, Appalachian Hyogo Prefecture in Japan.
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men det kommer ikke fra den originale, appalachiske Hyogo præfektur i Japan.
02:56
There are very few places in the U.S. where you can try real Kobe,
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Der er meget få steder i USA, hvor man kan få ægte Kobe,
02:59
and one of them is Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, Cut, in Los Angeles.
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og et af dem er Wolfgang Pucks restaurant, Cut, i Los Angeles.
03:03
I went there, and I ordered the eight-ounce rib eye for 160 dollars.
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Jeg tog derhen, og jeg bestilte en 225 grams rib eye, til 160 dollars.
03:07
And it arrived, and it was tiny.
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Og den ankom, og den var lillebitte.
03:09
And I was outraged.
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Og jeg blev forarget.
03:11
It was like, 160 dollars for this?
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Jeg tænkte, 160 dollars for det her?
03:13
And then I took a bite,
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Og så tog jeg en bid,
03:15
and I wished that it was tinier, because Kobe beef is so rich.
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og jeg ønskede den var mindre, fordi Kobe kød er så kraftig.
03:19
It's like foie gras -- it's not even like steak.
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Det er ligesom foie gras -- det er ikke engang ligesom bøfkød.
03:22
I almost couldn't finish it.
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Og jeg kunne næsten ikke spise op.
03:24
I was really happy when I was done.
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Jeg var virkelig glad da jeg var færdig.
03:26
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
03:27
Now, the photographer who took the pictures for this project
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Nuvel, fotografen der tog billederne til dette projekt
03:31
for some reason posed his dog in a lot of them,
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brugte af en eller anden årsag sin hund til en masse af dem
03:33
so that's why you're going to see this recurring character.
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så det er derfor I ser denne karakter gå igen.
03:36
Which, I guess, you know, communicates to you
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Hvilket, I ved, viser jer
03:38
that I did not think that one was really worth the price.
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at jeg ikke mente at den var pengene værd.
03:42
White truffles.
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Hvide trøfler.
03:44
One of the most expensive luxury foods by weight in the world.
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En af verdens dyreste luksus madvarer målt i vægt.
03:46
To try this, I went to a Mario Batali restaurant
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For at prøve dette tog jeg til en Mario Batali restaurant
03:48
in Manhattan -- Del Posto.
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i Manhattan -- Del Posto.
03:50
The waiter, you know, came out with the white truffle knob
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Tjeneren, I ved, kom med den hvide trøffel knop
03:53
and his shaver, and he shaved it onto my pasta and he said, you know,
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og hans høvl, og han høvlede det hen over min pasta og sagde,
03:57
"Would Signore like the truffles?"
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"Vil Signore gerne have trøflerne?"
03:59
And the charm of white truffles is in their aroma.
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Og charmen ved hvide trøfler er aromaen.
04:01
It's not in their taste, really. It's not in their texture.
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Det er ikke deres smag, faktisk. Det er ikke deres konsistens.
04:04
It's in the smell.
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Det er deres duft.
04:05
These white pearlescent flakes hit the noodles,
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Disse hvide, perlemorsflager ramte nudlerne,
04:07
this haunting, wonderful, nutty, mushroomy smell wafted up.
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denne uforglemmelige, vidunderlige, nøddeagtige, champignonagtige duft steg op.
04:12
10 seconds passed and it was gone.
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Der gik 10 sekunder og duften var væk.
04:14
And then I was left with these little ugly flakes on my pasta that,
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Og det jeg havde tilbage var disse ulækre, små flager på min pasta, som
04:18
you know, their purpose had been served,
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I ved, deres formål var nået,
04:21
and so I'm afraid to say that this was also a disappointment to me.
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så jeg er ked af at sige, at dette også var en skuffelse for mig.
04:24
There were several -- several of these items were disappointments.
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Der var adskillige -- adskillige af disse genstande der var skuffende.
04:28
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
04:32
Yeah.
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Ja.
04:33
The magazine wouldn't pay for me to go there.
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Magasinet ville ikke betale for at jeg tog derhen.
04:35
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
04:37
They did give me a tour, though.
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De gav mig dog en rundvisning.
04:39
And this hotel suite is 4,300 square feet.
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Og denne hotelsuite er 300 kvadratmeter.
04:42
It has 360-degree views.
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Der er 360-graders udsigt.
04:44
It has four balconies.
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Der er fire balkoner.
04:46
It was designed by the architect I.M. Pei.
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Den blev designet af arkitekten I.M. Pei.
04:48
It comes with its own Rolls Royce and driver.
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Der er inkluderet en Rolls Royce med chauffør.
04:50
It comes with its own wine cellar that you can draw freely from.
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Den har sin egen vinkælder som man frit kan tage fra.
04:53
When I took the tour, it actually included some Opus One, I was glad to see.
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Da jeg tog turen, var der faktisk inkluderet noget Opus One, hvilket gjorde mig glad.
04:57
30,000 dollars for a night in a hotel.
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30.000 dollars for en overnatning på hotel.
05:01
This is soap that's made from silver nanoparticles,
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Det her er sæbe der er lavet af sølv nanopartikler,
05:05
which have antibacterial properties.
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der har antibakterielle egenskaber.
05:08
I washed my face with this this morning in preparation for this.
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Jeg vaskede mit ansigt med dette i morges, som forberedelse til det her.
05:11
And it, you know, tickled a little bit and it smelled good,
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Og det, I ved, kildede en lille smule og det duftede godt,
05:15
but I have to say that nobody here
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men jeg må sige, at ingen af de tilstedeværende
05:17
has complimented me on the cleanliness of my face today.
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har givet mig komplimenter om mit ansigts renlighed.
05:19
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
05:20
But then again, nobody has complimented me on the jeans I'm wearing.
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Men på den anden side, så har ingen givet mig komplimenter på grund af de jeans jeg har på.
05:26
These ones GQ did spring for -- I own these -- but I will tell you,
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Dem her var GQ vilde efter -- jeg ejer dem her -- men jeg siger Jer,
05:30
not only did I not get a compliment from any of you,
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ikke nok med at jeg ikke fik en kompliment fra nogen af Jer,
05:32
I have not gotten a compliment from anybody
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jeg har ikke fået nogen komplimenter fra nogen
05:34
in the months that I have owned and worn these.
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i de måneder jeg har ejet og gået i dem.
05:36
I don't think that whether or not you're getting a compliment
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Jeg mener ikke at, at modtage eller ikke modtage komplimenter
05:38
should be the test of something's value,
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bør være målestok for en tings værdi,
05:40
but I think in the case of a fashion item, an article of clothing,
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men jeg mener i tilfælde af modegenstande, tøjartikler,
05:43
that's a reasonable benchmark.
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så er det et rimeligt sammenligningsgrundlag.
05:45
That said, a lot of work goes into these.
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Når det så er sagt, er der meget arbejde i disse.
05:47
They are made from handpicked organic Zimbabwean cotton
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De er lavet af håndplukket, økologisk zimbabwainsk bomuld
05:51
that has been shuttle loomed
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der er spolevævet
05:54
and then hand-dipped in natural indigo 24 times.
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og derefter hånddyppet i naturlig indigo 24 gange.
05:58
But no compliments.
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Men ingen komplimenter.
05:59
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
06:00
Thank you.
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Tak.
06:04
Armando Manni is a former filmmaker who makes this olive oil
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Armando Manni er en tidligere filmproducent der laver denne olivenolie
06:06
from an olive that grows on a single slope in Tuscany.
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fra oliven der vokser på en bestemt skråning i Toskana.
06:10
And he goes to great lengths to protect the olive oil from oxygen and light.
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Og han gør alt for at beskytte denne olivenolie fra ilt og lys.
06:15
He uses tiny bottles, the glass is tinted,
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Han bruger bittesmå flasker, glasset er tonet,
06:18
he tops the olive oil off with an inert gas.
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i toppen af flasken med olivenolie putter han en inaktiv gas.
06:22
And he actually -- once he releases a batch of it,
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Og faktisk -- når han har sendt en produktion afsted,
06:25
he regularly conducts molecular analyses and posts the results online,
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udfører han jævnligt molekylære analyser og poster resultaterne online,
06:30
so you can go online and look at your batch number
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så man kan gå online og se på sit produktionsnummer
06:32
and see how the phenolics are developing,
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og se hvordan fenolerne udvikler sig,
06:34
and, you know, gauge its freshness.
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og, I ved, vurdere friskheden.
06:36
I did a blind taste test of this with 20 people and five other olive oils.
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Jeg udførte en blindtest af den med 20 mennesker og fem andre olivenolier.
06:40
It tasted fine. It tasted interesting.
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Den smagte fint. Den smagte interessant.
06:42
It was very green, it was very peppery.
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Den var meget grøn, den var meget peberagtig.
06:44
But in the blind taste test, it came in last.
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Men i blindtesten endte den på en sidsteplads.
06:48
The olive oil that came in first was actually a bottle of
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Olivenolien der endte på førstepladsen, var faktisk en flaske af
06:51
Whole Foods 365 olive oil which had been oxidizing next to my stove
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Whole Foods 365 olivenolie, der havde stået og iltet ved siden af mit komfur
06:57
for six months.
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i seks måneder.
06:58
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
07:08
A recurring theme is that a lot of these things are from Japan --
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Et tilbagevendende tema er at mange af disse ting kommer fra Japan --
07:10
you'll start to notice.
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det begynder man at lægge mærke til.
07:11
I don't play golf, so I couldn't actually road test these,
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Jeg spiller ikke golf, så jeg kunne faktisk ikke teste disse,
07:14
but I did interview a guy who owns them.
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men jeg interviewede en fyr der ejer dem.
07:16
Even the people who market these clubs -- I mean, they'll say
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Selv de mennesker der markedsfører disse golfkøller -- jeg mener, de vil sige
07:19
these have four axis shafts which minimize loss of club speed
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at de har fire aksede skafter der minimerer hastighedstabet på golfkøllen
07:23
and thereby drive the ball farther -- but they'll say, look, you know,
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og kan derfor slå bolden længere -- men de vil sige, prøv at høre, du ved,
07:27
you're not getting 57,000 dollars worth of performance from these clubs.
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du kommer ikke til at få 57.000 dollars performance ud af disse køller.
07:30
You're paying for the bling,
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Man betaler for at få bling-bling,
07:32
that they're encrusted with gold and platinum.
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at de er indlagte med guld og platin.
07:34
The guy who I interviewed who owns them did say
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Fyren jeg interviewede der ejede disse sagde godt nok
07:36
that he's gotten a lot of pleasure out of them, so ...
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at han havde fået en masse glæde ud af dem, så ...
07:40
Oh, yeah, you know this one?
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Nå ja, kender I denne?
07:42
This is a coffee made from a very unusual process.
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Det her er kaffe lavet ved hjælp af en meget usædvanlig process.
07:48
The luwak is an Asian Palm Civet.
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Luwaken er en asiatisk palmedesmerkat.
07:50
It's a cat that lives in trees,
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Det er en kat der lever i træerne,
07:52
and at night it comes down and it prowls the coffee plantations.
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og om natten kommer den ned og den snuser rundt i kaffeplantagerne.
07:56
And apparently it's a very picky eater and it, you know,
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Og den er åbenbart meget kræsen og den, I ved,
07:58
hones in on only the ripest coffee cherries.
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finder frem til de mest modne kaffebønner.
08:02
And then an enzyme in its digestive tract leeches into the beans,
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Og så sætter et enzym fra dens fordøjelseskanal sig fast på bønnerne,
08:06
and people with the unenviable job of collecting these cats' leavings
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og mennesker med det lidet misundelsesværdige arbejde at samle disse kattes efterladenskaber
08:11
then go through the forest collecting the, you know, results
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går så gennem skoven og samler, I ved, resultaterne
08:16
and processing it into coffee -- although you actually can buy it
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og forarbejder det til kaffe -- selvom man faktisk kan købe det
08:20
in the unprocessed form.
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i uforarbejdet form.
08:24
That's right.
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Det er rigtigt.
08:26
Unrelatedly --
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Urelateret --
08:28
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
08:30
Japan is doing crazy things with toilets.
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Japan gør skøre ting med toiletter.
08:33
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
08:40
There is now a toilet that has an MP3 player in it.
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Der er nu et toilet, der indeholder en MP3-afspiller.
08:43
There's one with a fragrance dispenser.
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Der er ét med en duft-dispenser.
08:45
There's one that actually analyzes the contents of the bowl
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Der er ét der faktisk analyserer indholdet af kummen
08:49
and transmits the results via email to your doctor.
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og sender resultaterne via e-mail til din læge.
08:53
It's almost like a home medical center --
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Det er næsten ligesom et hjemme medicinsk center --
08:55
and that is the direction that Japanese toilet technology is heading in.
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og det er den retning, japansk toilet teknologi har.
08:59
This one does not have those bells and whistles,
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Denne har ikke alle den slags dikkedarer,
09:01
but for pure functionality it's pretty much the best -- the Neorest 600.
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men for ren funktionalitet er det det bedste der findes -- Neorest 600.
09:05
And to try this -- I couldn't get a loaner,
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Og at prøve dette -- jeg kunne ikke få en udlånsmodel,
09:08
but I did go into the Manhattan showroom of the manufacturer, Toto,
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men jeg tog ind til fabrikanten, Totos, showroom på Manhattan
09:13
and they have a bathroom off of the showroom that you can use, which I used.
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og de har et badeværelse ved siden af udstillingslokalet man kan bruge, som jeg brugte.
09:17
It's fully automated -- you walk towards it, and the seat lifts.
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Det er fuldt automatiseret -- man går hen imod det, og sædet kører op.
09:20
The seat is preheated.
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Sædet er forvarmet.
09:22
There's a water jet that cleans you.
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Der er en vandstråle der rengører en.
09:24
There's an air jet that dries you.
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Der er en luftstråle der tørrer en.
09:26
You get up, it flushes by itself.
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Man rejser sig op, og den skyller af sig selv.
09:28
The lid closes, it self-cleans.
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Låget lukker, det rengører sig selv.
09:30
Not only is it a technological leap forward,
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Det er ikke kun et teknologisk skridt fremad,
09:32
but I really do believe it's a bit of a cultural leap forward.
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men jeg mener virkelig det er lidt af et kulturelt spring fremad.
09:34
I mean, a no hands, no toilet paper toilet.
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Jeg mener, et ingen hænder, ingen toiletpapir toilet.
09:37
And I want to get one of these.
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Og jeg vil have et af dem.
09:39
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
09:43
This was another one I could not get a loaner of.
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Dette var en anden genstand jeg ikke kunne få en udlånsmodel af.
09:48
Tom Cruise supposedly owns this bed.
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Tom Cruise ejer angiveligt denne seng.
09:50
There's a little plaque on the end that, you know,
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Der er en lille plade i enden hvor, I ved,
09:52
each buyer gets their name engraved on it.
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hver køber får deres navn indgraveret på det.
09:55
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
10:01
To try this one, the maker of it let me and my wife
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For at kunne prøve denne, lod fabrikanten mig og min kone
10:03
spend the night in the Manhattan showroom.
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overnatte i deres Manhattan showroom.
10:05
Lights glaring in off the street,
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Lyset stod ind fra gaden,
10:07
and we had to hire a security guard and all these things.
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og vi måtte leje en sikkerhedsvagt og alle den slags ting.
10:10
But anyway, we had a great night's sleep.
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Men alligevel, vi fik en dejlig nattesøvn.
10:12
And you spend a third of your life in bed.
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Og man tilbringer en tredjedel af dit liv i sengen.
10:14
I don't think it's that bad of a deal.
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Jeg synes ikke det er så dårlig en deal.
10:17
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
10:18
This was a fun one.
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Dette var en sjov én.
10:20
This is the fastest street-legal car in the world
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Dette er den hurtigste, lovlige gadebil i verden
10:24
and the most expensive production car.
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og den dyreste produktionsbil.
10:26
I got to drive this with a chaperone from the company,
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Jeg fik lov til at køre den med en chaperone fra selskabet,
10:28
a professional race car driver,
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en professionel racerkører,
10:30
and we drove around the canyons outside of Los Angeles
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og vi kørte rundt i slugterne uden for Los Angeles
10:33
and down on the Pacific Coast Highway.
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og nedad Pacific Coast Highway.
10:35
And, you know, when we pulled up to a stoplight
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Og du ved, da vi stoppede ved et stoplys
10:38
the people in the adjacent cars kind of gave us respectful nods.
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gav folk i de tilstødende biler os en slags respektfuldt nik.
10:42
And it was really amazing.
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Og det var virkelig forbløffende.
10:44
It was such a smooth ride.
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Det var sådan en behagelig køretur.
10:46
Most of the cars that I drive, if I get up to 80 they start to rattle.
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De fleste af de biler jeg kører i, hvis jeg kommer op på 80 begynder de at rasle.
10:48
I switched lanes on the highway and the driver, this chaperone, said,
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Jeg skiftede bane på motorvejen og den kører, denne chaperone sagde,
10:51
"You know, you were just going 110 miles an hour."
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"Du ved, du kørte lige 180 kilometer i timen."
10:53
And I had no idea that I was one of those obnoxious people
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Og jeg havde ingen anelse om, at jeg var et af de modbydelige mennesker
10:56
you occasionally see weaving in and out of traffic,
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man ser af og til, der væver ind mellem trafikken,
10:58
because it was just that smooth.
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fordi det var så behageligt.
11:00
And if I was a billionaire, I would get one.
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Og hvis jeg var milliardær, købte jeg en.
11:02
(Laughter)
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(Latter)
11:07
This is a completely gratuitous video I'm just going to show
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Dette er en helt gratis video jeg blot vil vise
11:10
of one of the pitfalls of advanced technology.
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med en af faldgruberne af avanceret teknologi.
11:12
This is Tom Cruise arriving at the "Mission: Impossible III" premiere.
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Dette er Tom Cruise der ankommer til premieren på "Mission: Impossible III".
11:25
When he tries to open the door,
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Da han forsøger at åbne døren,
11:27
you could call it "Mission: Impossible IV."
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kunne man kalde det "Mission: Impossible IV."
11:32
There was one object that I could not get my hands on,
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Der var et objekt, som jeg ikke kunne få fat på,
11:34
and that was the 1947 Cheval Blanc.
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og det var 1947 Cheval Blanc.
11:36
The '47 Cheval Blanc is probably the most mythologized wine of the 20th century.
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'47 Cheval Blanc er sandsynligvis den mest mytiske vin i det 20 århundrede.
11:40
And Cheval Blanc is kind of an unusual wine for Bordeaux
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Og Cheval Blanc er egentlig en usædvanlig vin til Bordeaux
11:43
in having a significant percentage of the Cabernet Franc grape.
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da den har en betydelig procentdel af Cabernet Franc druen.
11:47
And 1947 was a legendary vintage,
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Og 1947 var en legendarisk årgang,
11:50
especially in the right bank of Bordeaux.
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især på den højre bred af Bordeaux.
11:52
And just together, that vintage and that chateau took on this aura
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Og tilsammen, den årgang og at chateau fik denne aura
11:56
that eventually kind of gave it this cultish following.
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der endte med at have denne kultstatus.
12:00
But it's 60 years old.
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Men den er 60 år gammel.
12:02
There's not much of it left.
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Der er ikke meget tilbage af det.
12:04
What there is of it left you don't know if it's real --
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Det der er tilbage af den, ved man ikke om er ægte --
12:06
it's considered to be the most faked wine in the world.
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det er anset for at være den mest forfalskede vin i verden.
12:08
Not that many people are looking to pop open
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Ikke så mange mennesker søger efter en mulighed for at åbne
12:10
their one remaining bottle for a journalist.
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deres sidste flaske for en journalist.
12:14
So, I'd about given up trying to get my hands on one of these.
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Så, jeg havde opgivet at prøve at få fingrene i en af disse.
12:18
I'd put out feelers to retailers, to auctioneers,
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Jeg ville stikke følere ud til detailhandlere, til auktionsholdere,
12:20
and it was coming up empty.
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og der kom ikke nogen svar.
12:22
And then I got an email from a guy named Bipin Desai.
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Og pludselig fik jeg en e-mail fra en fyr der hedder Bipin Desai.
12:24
Bipin Desai is a U.C. Riverside theoretical physicist
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Bipin Desai er en teoretisk fysiker ved U.C. Riverside
12:28
who also happens to be the preeminent organizer of rare wine tastings,
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der også er en fremragende arrangør af vinsmagning af sjældne vine,
12:32
and he said, "I've got a tasting coming up
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og han sagde: "Jeg holder snart en vinsmagning
12:34
where we're going to serve the '47 Cheval Blanc."
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hvor vi kommer til at servere '47 Cheval Blanc."
12:36
And it was going to be a double vertical --
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Og det skulle være en dobbelt lodret --
12:38
it was going to be 30 vintages of Cheval Blanc,
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det skulle være 30 årgange af Cheval Blanc,
12:41
and 30 vintages of Yquem.
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og 30 årgange af Yquem.
12:43
And it was an invitation you do not refuse.
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Og det var en invitation man ikke siger nej til.
12:46
I went.
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Jeg tog afsted.
12:48
It was three days, four meals.
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Det var tre dage, fire måltider.
12:50
And at lunch on Saturday, we opened the '47.
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Og til frokost lørdag, åbnede vi '47'en.
12:53
And you know, it had this fragrant softness,
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Og I ved, den havde denne duftende blødhed,
12:57
and it smelled a little bit of linseed oil.
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og den lugtede lidt af linolie.
13:00
And then I tasted it, and it,
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Og så smagte jeg den, og den,
13:02
you know, had this kind of unctuous, porty richness,
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I ved, havde denne slags olieagtige, portvinagtige righoldighed,
13:06
which is characteristic of that wine --
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som er karakteristisk for denne vin--
13:08
that it sort of resembles port in a lot of ways.
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at det minder om portvin på mange måder.
13:10
There were people at my table who thought it was, you know, fantastic.
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Der var mennesker ved mit bord, som mente at det var, I ved, fantastisk.
13:12
There were some people who were a little less impressed.
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Der var nogle mennesker, der var lidt mindre imponeret.
13:16
And I wasn't that impressed.
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Og jeg var ikke så imponeret.
13:19
And I don't -- call my palate a philistine palate --
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Og jeg - kalder ikke min gane en filistrøs gane --
13:23
so it doesn't necessarily mean something that I wasn't impressed,
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så det betyder ikke nødvendigvis noget, at jeg ikke var imponeret,
13:27
but I was not the only one there who had that reaction.
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men jeg var ikke den eneste der havde denne reaktion.
13:30
And it wasn't just to that wine.
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Og det var ikke bare til den vin.
13:32
Any one of the wines served at this tasting,
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Hver eneste af de vine der blev serveret til denne smagning,
13:34
if I'd been served it at a dinner party, it would have been, you know,
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hvis jeg havde fået det serveret ved et middagsselskab, ville det have været, I ved,
13:37
the wine experience of my lifetime, and incredibly memorable.
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en vinoplevelse for livet, og utrolig mindeværdigt.
13:40
But drinking 60 great wines over three days,
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Men drikker 60 man store vine over tre dage,
13:43
they all just blurred together,
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bliver de alle udvisket,
13:45
and it became almost a grueling experience.
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og det blev næsten en udmattende oplevelse.
13:49
And I just wanted to finish by mentioning a very interesting study
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Og jeg ønsker blot at slutte af med at nævne en meget interessant undersøgelse,
13:53
which came out earlier this year from some researchers at Stanford and Caltech.
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der udkom tidligere på året fra nogle forskere på Stanford og Caltech.
13:57
And they gave subjects the same wine,
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Og de gav forsøgspersoner den samme vin,
14:01
labeled with different price tags.
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skiltet med forskellige prisskilte.
14:03
A lot of people, you know,
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En masse folk, I ved,
14:05
said that they liked the more expensive wine more --
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sagde, at de syntes bedre om de dyrere vine --
14:08
it was the same wine, but they thought it was a different one
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det var den samme vin, men de troede, det var en anden
14:10
that was more expensive.
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der var dyrere.
14:12
But what was unexpected was that these researchers did
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Men hvad var uventet var, at disse forskere lavede
14:14
MRI brain imaging while the people were drinking the wine,
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MRI hjerne skanninger mens folk drak vinen,
14:17
and not only did they say they enjoyed the more expensively labeled wine more --
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og ikke nok med at de sagde, at de nød den dyrere vin mere --
14:21
their brain actually registered as experiencing more pleasure
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deres hjerne viste faktisk at de oplevede mere nydelse
14:25
from the same wine when it was labeled with a higher price tag.
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fra den samme vin, da den var mærket med en højere pris.
14:28
Thank you.
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Tak.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Benjamin Wallace - AuthorBenjamin Wallace is a journalist and author of The Billionaire's Vinegar, the true story of the world's most expensive bottle of (possibly phony?) wine. He's been a contributor to GQ, Details, Salon and The Washington Post.
Why you should listen
A Washington D.C. native and a current Brooklynite, Benjamin Wallace is fast establishing himself a master of the brainy nonfiction thriller, rooting up feuds and controversies in pop and less-than-pop culture while buddying up with their embattled and larger-than-life personalities (whom he sometimes meets on their way down). He profiled conserative mouthpiece Glenn Beck for GQ in 2007 shortly after the pundit landed a controversial slot on CNN, and in 2002 looked at chef Georges Perrier of Philidelphia's then-five-star restaurant, Le Bec-Fin.
Wallace's orderly, deadpan writing style hints at one of his secrets: his love (and talent) for playing the straight man to the once-mighty in downfall, right as they go aflame in tragicomic hubris. (The Billionaire's Vinegar is simply a pleasure, not least to schadenfreude junkies.) It's easy to imagine him, the bespectacled wallflower, watching as brouhaha over a wine bottle once valued at $165,000 -- the highest price fetched for a bottle, ever -- culimates in a court trial that reveals at least two of its main characters, a wine collector and a wine expert, to be frauds. Or at least emperors with no clothes.
Benjamin Wallace | Speaker | TED.com