Yellowface
R.F. Kuang
A publishing satire about plagiarism, racial masquerade, and the stories people tell themselves when ambition requires someone else’s voice.
The varietal
Ribolla Gialla, called Rebula in Slovenia · Collio–Goriška Brda, spanning the Italy–Slovenia border
Ribolla/Rebula beats more obvious orange-wine grapes because its name and national identity change across a nearly invisible border, making labeling, provenance, and who receives credit part of the wine itself.
Ask for Tannic skin-contact whites—think Georgian qvevri Rkatsiteli or Ribolla/Rebula from the Italy–Slovenia border.
These wines begin with the visual promise of white wine but acquire color, tannin, and bitterness by prolonged contact with their skins: an apt structure for a novel in which the marketed surface and the concealed source cannot be separated.
Accessible
~$18
Krasno Orange
Goriška Brda ZGP, Slovenia · Rebula-led blend with Malvasia and Sauvignonasse · 2022–2023
Apricot, tangerine peel, dried herbs, and a pithy grip arrive in a deceptively easy-drinking frame.
Prose texture
The juicy opening turns grippy at the finish, matching June’s brisk first-person sentences as each smooth rationalization catches on an omitted fact.
Refined
~$32
Kabaj Rebula
Goriška Brda ZGP, Slovenia · Rebula · 2019–2021
Quince, orange oil, chamomile, stone, and tea-like tannin unfold with savory persistence.
Same ground
It is grown in Goriška Brda directly across the border from Italian Collio, where the same grape becomes Ribolla Gialla—a literal case of identity being rewritten by the name on the label.
Prestige
~$110
Gravner Ribolla
Venezia Giulia IGT, Italy · Ribolla Gialla · 2015–2016
Dried citrus, beeswax, black tea, resin, and mineral earth lead into formidable tannin and a long oxidative finish.
Metaphor
Gravner openly foregrounds the Georgian qvevri method behind this Italian wine, providing the novel’s missing ethical distinction between acknowledged influence and material taken while its source is concealed.
P.S. If your wine shop doesn't have these specific wines, just ask them for a Tannic skin-contact whites—think Georgian qvevri Rkatsiteli or Ribolla/Rebula from the Italy–Slovenia border..
- Temperature
- 54–56°F
- Glass
- A large universal or Burgundy-shaped glass that gives the aromas and tannins room to open.
- Decant
- Decant Krasno and Kabaj for about 20 minutes; give Gravner 45–60 minutes.
- Alongside
- Roast chicken with mushrooms and preserved lemon, preferably at a book-club dinner where the question of attribution can remain on the table.