4.0
Godforsaken Grapes
ByPublisher Description
Eighty percent of the wine we drink is made from only twenty grapes. Yet, there are nearly 1,400 known varieties of wine grapes in the world—from altesse to zierfandler. In
, 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,
is an entertaining love letter to wine.
"You'll walk away with a better understanding of the wine industry and an itch to book a ticket to destinations you've never heard of before." —
Magazine
"Funny, enlightening [and] prodigiously researched." —
"Wilson offers a spirited, highly personal argument for drinking more adventurously." —
"A delightful dive into more esoteric grapes." —
"Wonderful . . . [you'll] never order another pinot noir again." —Tom Bissell, author of
and
"Original, obsessive, and wildly insightful. Drink it down!" —Andrew McCarthy, actor, director, and author of the
bestselling travel memoir
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesGodforsaken Grapes Reviews
4.0
“I'm a wine newbie, barely past the "box wine is fine" stage, so diving into Godforsaken Grapes felt a little like showing up to a sommelier convention in flip-flops. I haven't even conquered the "noble grapes" yet – you know, Chardonnay, Merlot, the usual suspects. So, reading about obscure varieties felt a tad like learning Klingon before mastering English. However, since wine, as the cliché goes, is a journey, this is where I am, and hey, maybe someday I'll be fluent in Trollinger.
That being said, this book is interesting, but definitely aspirational. I can't exactly hop on a plane to Switzerland or Portugal to sip local wines straight from the source. It sounds divine, the kind of Instagram-worthy experience I dream of, but back here in reality, it feels a bit…distant. Most chapters follow a similar pattern: 1) Wilson goes somewhere cool, 2) meets some fascinating people, 3) drinks a wine that blows his mind in some unexpected way. The structure is consistent, but his writing is anything but. He's a pro, weaving vivid descriptions that make you practically taste the wine, even if you've never heard of it (which, let's be honest, you probably haven't). I do wish he explored more of his time teaching university courses on wine. It was one of the best chapters in my mind.
What I really appreciate about Wilson is his self-awareness. He's not afraid to question his own wine-snob tendencies, which is refreshing. "Was all of this just a privileged exercise in geekiness and arcane trivia?" he wonders. "I’d started to worry I was falling down the same rabbit hole as those hipper-than-thou wine snobs who sneer at people who order chardonnay.” He even compares extreme wine geekdom to performance art, asking if the pursuit of ever-more-obscure wines is just a quest for novelty. "I occasionally worry that the pursuit of even more obscure and lesser-known wines is sort of like Dada," he muses. "What’s cool and enigmatic one day — trollinger from Germany or encruzado from Portugal or malagousia from Greece — could very well become boring tomorrow.” And he gets to the heart of it: isn't wine supposed to be fun? "But has this quest into pleasure led toward some enlightenment or happiness, or has it simply succeeded in making me a miserable person? I occasionally worry about these sorts of things. I am well aware how ridiculous or pathetic that may sound, the ultimate First World Problem.”
While some chapters feel a bit tacked on (looking at you, Port!), and the travelogue bits can get a little long-winded, I enjoyed this book. I learned a ton and finished it feeling enthusiastic about the wild world of wine. The ideal way to read this? On a beach in Portugal, with a chilled glass of local Encruzado in hand. Sadly, I'm not on a Portuguese beach right now. And Godforsaken Grapes is a bit of a niche read. Because it focuses on obscure wines that many readers may never encounter, it's not essential reading for the casual wine drinker. If you're just starting your wine journey or you're perfectly happy sticking to your usual favorites, you can probably skip this one. However, if you're a serious wine enthusiast looking to expand your knowledge and explore new flavors, this book is an excellent resource. It's a deep dive into the world of underappreciated grapes, and while it might not be relevant to every wine drinker, it's a valuable and entertaining read for those who are passionate about discovering new vinous horizons. It's a fantastic resource but be prepared for some serious wine envy.
As I said above, but I will say it again, if you're gun hoe to try all of the 101 godforsaken grapes there is an appendix which gives a small description of each wine, the regions they come from, and which producers to purchase a bottle from.”
About Jason Wilson
Jason Wilson is the author of Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits, and the series editor of The Best American Travel Writing since its inception in 2000. A regular contributor to the Washington Post, Wilson wrote an award-winning drinks column for years. Wilson has also been beer columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, dining critic for the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia Magazine, and has written for the New York Times, NewYorker.com, AFAR, National Geographic Traveler, and many other magazines and newspapers.
Other books by Jason Wilson
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