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Root Cause
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Paperback, 400 pages
Published
February 19th 2019
by Turner
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Corvina Guerra, a flying winemaker, worked for a multinational wine distributor, Universal Wines. The company owned over 175 wineries and represented another 500 wineries. Corvina was based in Barcelona and was sent to a vineyard in Italy to inspect it and make suggestions for improvement. While there, she discovered a disease called Phyllorexa that was spread by aphids. The aphids destroyed the roots of the vines and the only known solution was to rip up and burn all the vines in that vineyard.
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Root Cause by Steven Laine is a globetrotting ‘beach-read’ thriller set within the world of wine.
Corvina Guerra, a flying winemaker for one of the world’s biggest wine brands, discovers the devastating aphid Phylloxera in an Italian vineyard. Even worse, this strain is resistant to the grafted rootstock that saved European wine production in the 1800s. Corvina partners with Bryan Lawless, a disgraced Master of Wine candidate, to find the ‘root cause’ of this outbreak. They will quickly discover ...more
Corvina Guerra, a flying winemaker for one of the world’s biggest wine brands, discovers the devastating aphid Phylloxera in an Italian vineyard. Even worse, this strain is resistant to the grafted rootstock that saved European wine production in the 1800s. Corvina partners with Bryan Lawless, a disgraced Master of Wine candidate, to find the ‘root cause’ of this outbreak. They will quickly discover ...more

Being somewhat of a wine geek who regularly reads non-fiction wine books to further my knowledge and understanding of the grape, this fictional novel was an absolute treat to read as the main characters took me on a global tour of the world's best wine-making regions, all while solving the mystery of finding the eco-terrorist who bio-engineered a devastating threat to the world's vines.
Flying wine maker Corvina Guerra comes from a wine making family and has dreams of eventually settling down and ...more
Flying wine maker Corvina Guerra comes from a wine making family and has dreams of eventually settling down and ...more

Corvina is the name of a grape variety. It is also the name of the heroine in this story. She is is a flying winemaker but throughout the tale she does much more flying than winemaking. She needs to catch the villain before the world's grapes are wiped out by a new strain of the vine louse that attacks the roots of the vines. She manages to visit most of the world's wine regions during her mission dropping incidental notes about wines as she goes.
If you started reading this book as a non wine d ...more
If you started reading this book as a non wine d ...more

If you like wine, traveling and a little mystery on the side. This is the book for you. I felt like I was on a world wide trip through all these wineries I wish I could have tasted the wine mentioned in the book. I felt like I was right along side with Corvina the main character as she is trying to figure out who poisoned so many wineries. It was a fun read!

Steven Laine delivers a fun read for wine lovers and creates a longing for a sequel. The suspense is well constructed and the characters come to life. My favorite part of the story is the Canadian ice wine scene. The book is full of wine factoids, historical wine bits, and unsuspecting tasting notes.

Feb 22, 2019
Joelle Thomson
added it
Root Cause , A novel by Steven Laine, Turner Publishing, RRP $19.99
Review by Joelle Thomson
It’s easy to escape into Steven Laine’s new book about Philomena – the intentionally mis-spelt name for the vine louse, phylloxera, which wiped out two thirds of Europe’s vineyards in the late 1800s.
It’s a novel concept to bring back phylloxera as a new, more deadly threat to the global wine world, and the author does a good job, even if I have spotted a couple of typos in the uncorrected proof sent for re ...more
Review by Joelle Thomson
It’s easy to escape into Steven Laine’s new book about Philomena – the intentionally mis-spelt name for the vine louse, phylloxera, which wiped out two thirds of Europe’s vineyards in the late 1800s.
It’s a novel concept to bring back phylloxera as a new, more deadly threat to the global wine world, and the author does a good job, even if I have spotted a couple of typos in the uncorrected proof sent for re ...more

Mar 11, 2019
Chasity
added it
If you're a wine nerd and love a good suspense fiction, Root Cause is definitely one to put on your reading list! What I love most about this book is that it takes the reader on a wild ride across the globe, but doesn’t skimp on the important this we need to know about the world’s most beloved wine regions. Grab a glass of your favorite wine, cuddle up on the couch and enjoy!
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A wonderful fictional read that nay wine-lover will enjoy! I couldn't put this one down. Enjoy it with a nice glass of wine! ;)
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Fast paced thriller based around my own personal love of wine. To say it was a page turner would be an understatement, as we rapidly moved from vineyard to Vineyard, country to country, and twist to turn.
The author knows his wine and wine regions, with impeccable details, and anyone with knowledge of the history of phylloxera and vines, will have been on nervous tenterhooks as the story develops.
The author knows his wine and wine regions, with impeccable details, and anyone with knowledge of the history of phylloxera and vines, will have been on nervous tenterhooks as the story develops.

Definitely one for those interested in wine or have visited wine regions around the world. Was remarkably accurate about those regions I’d visited
Fast paced, flying around the world, trying to save the world’s vineyards from a genetically modified outbreak of phylloxera with a few twists and turns. I thoroughly enjoyed it
Fast paced, flying around the world, trying to save the world’s vineyards from a genetically modified outbreak of phylloxera with a few twists and turns. I thoroughly enjoyed it
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