Unusual Wines - Book of the month April 2026
Written by Pierrick Bourgault, "Unusual Wines" is a work dedicated to those seeking to discover unusual, unusual wines:
- Volcanic vineyards listed as UNESCO World Heritage,
- a peace wine blending over 600 varieties from around the world, vines standing 15metres tall in Italy and Portugal, ice wines from Quebec, a wine from the Gobi desert, Taiwan s huge yields, harvesting on 31December, classical music among the vines, a Bordeaux made with dry ice, a sparkling wine for disgorging at home
This book features the viticultural techniques of many countries; they are far enough off the radar to delight anyone who loves originality and hates standardization.
Chapters:
1. Uncommon climates
Taiwan's double harvests
Wines with altitude
Wines in Bali
Taiwanese ice wine
Wines of the Gobi desert China)
Quebec's ice wines
2. Off-the-radar terroirs
Wine of Montmartre
A marine fossil terroir
Garage wines: amateur dramatics
Wine from non-grafted vines
The walled vines of the Azores
Wines of Pompeii
Wines of the Venetian lagoon
3. Amazing grapes
A monovarietal Bordeaux
A vine classified as a historic monument
Vino della pace
Sinefinis: a political wine
Rare or forgotten varieties
Accursed, banned and mythical varieties
Wines from interplanted vines
PIWI grapes
4. Work in the vineyard
Vineyard music
The alberello vines of Pantelleria (Italy)
New Year's Eve harvests
Vineyard horses
Verjuice
Biodynamic wine under the spotlight
Wine from very old vines
Jack and the beanstalk vines
5. Unconventional fermentation methods
Wines with little or no alcohol
The strongest wine in the world
Iraq's clandestine wines
Rare sweet wines
Wine that's really sulphite-free
The amphora wines of Georgia
Vegetarian wine
Champagne, an English invention?
Bordeaux made with dry ice
A sparkling wine to disgorge at home
6. Curious colours
Greek rose from the Oenoforos estate
Pink champagne
Yellow wine
Orange wine
Black wine
7. Extraordinary ageing methods
Underwater wines
Ancient wines
8. Striking packaging
Odd bottles
Original stoppers
Labels with a difference
Wooden barrels
Reasons to read the book: The book covers eight topics (Climates, Terroirs, Grape varieties, Work in the vineyard, Winemaking, Colour, Ageing, Packaging) which it's a pleasure to discover through the vision of the author, winner in 2013 of the Grand Prix of the Association Francaise des Journalistes Agricoles.
Where you can find the book: the book is published in English and you can find it online on Book Express website; the orders are received in about 2-3 weeks. The image in this article is the 2016 edition, but in the meantime the 2023 edition has been published, which you can find here.
Carmina Nițescu
Winesday & Winesday App