An Inconvenient Fruit

The most exquisite fruit-bearing plant that civilization has ever known — vitis vinifera, the grapevine that gives us wine — has been on life support for 150 years. Menaced by an unstoppable root-killing parasite named phylloxera, the chardonnays and pinot noirs and rieslings of the world survive today only by being grafted, Frankenstein-style, onto the trunks of hardier species. So what could compel a small cluster of renegade winemakers to risk everything and grow a grape on its own endangered roots?


Propelled by an encounter with one adventurous winemaking family — the Cobbs of California — sommelier and National Magazine Award-winning journalist Andrew Braithwaite embarks on a half-drunk journey through France, Oregon, Germany, and the wild Sonoma coast. His mission: to discover what motivates an exceptional cast of characters to put their vineyards on the line for a bottle of something special and true. 


By turns breezily funny and deeply moving, An Inconvenient Fruit is an original and enchanting debut about grapes, vines, bugs, death, and magic. But it’s also, at its roots, a love story. And with each sip of these rare and star-crossed wines, shared with the determined mavericks who’ve crafted them against all odds, Braithwaite stumbles towards the answer to one of life’s most intoxicating mysteries: what are we really tasting when we drink wine?