There are nearly 1,400 known varieties of wine grapes in the world--from
altesse to zierfandler--but 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.