Godforsaken Grapes: A Slightly Tipsy Journey through the World of Strange Obscure and Underappreciated Wine

About this book

There are nearly 1 400 known varieties of wine grapes in the worldfrom altesse to zierfandlerbut 80 percent of the wine we drink is made from only 20 grapes. In Godforsaken Grapes Jason Wilson looks at how that came to be and embarks on a journey to discover what we miss. Stemming from his own growing obsession Wilson moves far beyond the noble grapes hunting down obscure and underappreciated wines from Switzerland Austria Portugal France Italy the United States and beyond. In the process he looks at why these wines fell out of favor (or never gained it in the first place) what it means to be obscure and how geopolitics economics and fashion have changed what we drink. A combination of travel memoir and epicurean adventure Godforsaken Grapes is an entertaining love letter to wine.