"Portions of this book have been adapted from previously published material in the Washington post, AFAR, the Smart set, Table matters, and Beverage media"--Title page verso. Includes index.
Contents:
I. The vines in the sky: Dangerous grapes ; Château du blah blah blah ; Wine and dada ; Alpine wines ; Is prosecco a place or a grape? When wine talk gets weird -- II. Travels in the lost empire of wine: Wines with umlauts ; The meaning of groo-vee ; Blue Frank and Dr. Zweigelt ; Gray pinot, blueberry risoto, and orange wine -- III. Selling obscurity: Waiting for Bastardo ; The same port Dick Cheney likes ; Pouring the unicorn wine ; Looking forward, looking eastward ; How big is your pigeon tower? -- Appendix: Gazetteer of Godforsaken grapes.
Summary:
"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."--provided by Amazon.com.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.