Godforsaken Grapes

A Slightly Tipsy Journey Through the World of Strange, Obscure, and Underappreciated Wine

By: Jason Wilson

Narrated by: Jonathan Horvath

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.

©2018 Jason Wilson (P)2018 Abrams Press

great lesson about wines may never see

loved it. the journey in this book was amazing and I may never taste these wines but his love for them makes this an incredible book. Thanks.

An entertaining and informative listen

I'm in the wine business and I love books about wine, but a lot of times they are just not made for listening. They can be super dry--much better to read on the page. Godforsaken Grapes is definitely the exception to that. The narrator is wonderful, text is entertaining, and it is highly listenable. Learned a lot, but also just enjoyed the personal stories and the humorous flow of the book. Highly recommend!

Excellent! Entertaining and informative.

I loved listing to this book! I’m a Certified Somm and have advanced certification with the WSET. I’m a bit of a nerd so I loved that I learned so many fun facts and got to hear the names of grapes that I’ve barely even read about. I could really appreciate the authors journey of discovery and totally enjoyed the humor that he brought to what could have been a very dry subject. I laughed so hard that I was glad no one in traffic seemed to be paying attention to me! Highly recommend this book!

Unknown

This was or is great book it show me is not all about the big name or brand is about the Journey you take when trying the unknown grapes and wine the its out there waiting teach you something new even like he say in one part of the book 📖 that he would try some new wine 🍷 but he would feel bad when he didn't find it good or Appealing To his taste or Expectations but if didn't try it he wouldn't never know.

Useful for a casual wine taster

I bought this book as a resource for investigating new wine regions for travels with my father, who is closer to being the true connoisseur. I think the book provided some good ideas for further study. The author has a personable style, though his reliance for pop culture references seems a strained effort to establish common man bona fides. And there are a lot of references to hipster sommeliers, seemingly without awareness of his own hipster-ish tendencies. But all in all, a likable trip through wines and vineyards, and assurances that you needn't be overly impressed by wine snobbery.

Solid wine book

Solid wine book exploring some of the more unknown grapes of the world. Engaging delivery keeps you listening.

Great Journey, Entertaining and Personal

Packed with information. Text is presented with a lot of humor. A good start on the subject of obscure wines with placed in the context of wine marketing and trends.

Non-mainstream grapes and their wines

What an interesting listen! Now I know how all these foreign names sound, but I’m not sure I could spell them. I’m going to get the hard copy of this book so I can write down some of the wonderful grapes, vintages, and regions I’d like to get wine from. Very enjoyable, interesting stories and views.

Wine Nerd Heaven

I really enjoyed this book and have recommended it to several of my friends and colleagues. It’s geared towards wine enthusiasts who are looking to expand their palates, so I’m guessing casual wine drinkers would start yawning as soon as things like Chesselas come up. However, these ‘Godforsaken Grapes’ make some of the most fascinating wines you will ever drink. It’s just as much of a story about the unique places where these varietals hail from as it is about the wines themselves. If you dare to go off the beaten path and you will find some true gems. This book may not be for everyone, but I found it very entertaining and informative.

This book was written for me

I love odd wine grapes, and Wilson covered most of my favorites. Plus I added a few to my must-try list.