More than 1,300 varieties of grapes are used around the world to produce wine. Dedicated wine fiends may be able to experience most of those over a lifetime. Jason Tesauro would like us to taste an alphabet’s worth in a single fascinating evening.
He calls it Grapetionary, an A-to-Z exploration of the world of wine that combines ampelography (the study of grapes) with geography. It’s educational and fun — emphasis on fun.
Tesauro, 44, is co-author of “The Modern Gentleman” and sommelier and brand manager for Barboursville Vineyards in Virginia. He thought up Grapetionary while flipping the pages of Wine Grapes, an encyclopedic reference written by Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding and José Vouillamoz. Think of it as the Oxford English Dictionary of wine grapes.
“I was going through the book page by page, and I realized there were a lot of grapes that sounded interesting but not very delicious,” he told me. “And there were some that were interesting and delicious. I thought, what a great party these would make. And I love a theme party.”