The Untold History of Grapevines and Wines

Wine gets all the attention.  However, the unsung grape that yearly gives its life to create a new vintage has a remarkable story.  The Promiscuous Life of Grapes  is a non-fiction exploration  of the remarkable history of wine grapes from the Neolithic Age through classical Egyptian and Roman civilizations to the establishment of famous wine regions in France, Italy, and California.  This book will trace the historical and genetic roots of the main grape varieties, revealing the little-known events that threatened their extinction and the entrepreneurial pioneers in the field who helped the industry to thrive.  

For centuries, wine consumers rarely knew the types of grapes that made up their favorite vintages.  Regional names became the basis of wine identification such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhine, and Chianti with little acknowledgment of the grape varieties grown in those areas.  Only more recently, in the last fifty years, have grape names become more widely recognized especially with California wines, but the back story of these grapes remained shrouded in mystery. Until now.

In The Promiscuous Life of Grapes, author Rob Chimsky draws on his years of firsthand research and viticultural sleuthing to create a richly detailed look at the familial relations of grape varieties that have contributed to the world’s most popular wines.  Starting formal research in 2014, he consulted hundreds of secondary and primary sources to uncover the various myths and facts that he has not seen reported previously in a single reference.  In this book, Rob reveals the true origins of a wide variety of wine grapes, and he charts their evolution while examining the impact of political discord, disease, and scientific triumphs on grape-growing and wine production.  The Promiscuous Life of Grapes is one of the only sources to separate fiction from fact for all the primary wine grapes in a single volume.  

Rob states, “The title of the book really relates to the two very different meanings of the word ‘promiscuous,’ both of which apply equally to grapes.  In modern times the term has come to imply many indiscriminate romantic liaisons.  Grapes throughout history have been robustly prolific, even in times of hardship, they have survived and produced new progeny each of which are unique.  By current count, there are over 10,000 identified varieties of wine grapes although there actually may be many more which have just not been documented.  In this book, I’ll be focusing on the varieties that produced some of the world’s most popular wines.” 

“In an earlier age, the term promiscuous was also applied to agriculture and simply meant that different crops would be grown together on the same plot of land.  The theory was that certain crops would prove to be symbiotic in nurturing the soil, and even more importantly that the failure of one crop would not totally destroy the economics of the farmer.  This was true of grape vineyards, which were intermixed with other agriculture throughout history.  For example, grape vines often used trees to achieve the climbing support that allowed them to flourish.  In significant ways, the survival of grapes depended on this ecosystem of interdependencies.”   

The Promiscuous Life of Grapes presents a lively chronicle of grape genetics, geography (and which countries can actually claim bragging rights to the origins of some of the leading wine grapes), and the giants in the field of viticulture (including the flamboyant Agoston Haraszthy, who pioneered California’s wine industry and the French widow, Veuve Cliquot, who revolutionized the technology of champagne production).  

Like a grape P.I., Rob traces the parentage of individual grapes and uncovers fascinating stories such as the birth of Chardonnay from Pinot Noir and a little known white wine grape that France attempted to ban for its poor quality.  By bringing to light these familial relations, Rob helps readers to discover why certain combinations and taste profiles may appeal to them.  

Rob demystifies the “biographies” of famous wine grapes from Europe and North America.  For example, it is well documented that Grenache, the primary red wine grape of the Southern Rhône wine region in France, came from the Spanish grape Garancha.  The story gets controversial in terms of whether Spain is the origin of this variety or was it from the island of Sardinia meaning the grape was really of Italian descent.  Further conflict involving Italy has to do with the Sangiovese grape, which is the basis of Chianti in the Northern region of Tuscany.  However, the possibility exists that Sangiovese really had its start around Naples in the southern part of the boot, further fueling a long simmering rivalry between regions.  These disputes have major consequences, as national pride is at stake. Which country, for instance, first extolled the virtues of sparkling wine – the English or the French in Champagne?  Rob analyzes the different theories and delivers his own verdict.  

He also investigates the unexpected associations that gave different varieties their names: for example, Merlot grapes were named for the small blackbirds seen eating them, and Pinot is a reference to the pinecones that were observed having a similar shape.  Rob will also chart the trajectory of how grapes were transported from their vineyards of origin via seafaring routes that took them around the countries of the Mediterranean to America, where they made the arduous trip westward around Cape Horn or on wagon trains along with people lured by the promise of gold riches. 

Furthermore, Rob illuminates why the geographic origins of some grapes helped them to thrive while those in other locations did not.  The Promiscuous Life of Grapes reveals how genetics and geography combined with the fortuitous cultivation of certain varieties and happy accidents led to the world’s foremost wines.  Squire Fridell, owner of the GlenLyon Vineyards and Winery and past president of the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Association calls this “the best book on wine grapes that I have ever read.”