Jon,

Not the first time someone has disagreed with me and your points are well
taken. His books are dated and I love them for thier clasic nature as well
as Berries practical, casual approach. The British units are a challenge,
more so to some I guess. I can see where some may not care for it but I
feel they are good books for any winemakers library and they do not insist
that you run out and spend hundreds of dollars on equipment before you can
make a decent wine to see if you like the hoby. Berry also helps us see
where our hobby came from. I would credit him as a kind of father to the
modern winemaking hoby. He helped bring it to respectability.

I have many books in my library but not the one you mension. I really
should pick it up as I see it mensioned often.

As an aside, I thumb through Berry's "130 New Wine Recipies" about once a
year to brouse for things I have not tried and to chuckle at the winemaking
cartoons in it. It is worth the price just for the cartoons!

Ray

"Jon Gilliam" > wrote in message
...
>I diagree with Ray on Berry's book. "First Steps in Wine Making" is, in my
>opinion, is no longer well suited to beginning wine makers (particularly
>beginning American winemakers). It is out of date, British-oriented, and
>after banging in a few corks with a mallet, may turn you off to winemaking
>before you learn there's a better way. Definitely buy this book and read
>it for the historical interest and as a source of country wine ideas, but
>there are much better starting-out guides.
>
> For a first book on country wine making ("fruit wines"), I recommend "The
> Joy of Home Winemaking" by Terry Garey. Her easy writing style and
> contemporary persepctive make a nice combination for a new winemaker. She
> starts out with a recipe from store-bought concentrate using minimal
> equipment, and guides through easier to more advanced recipes. For
> country wines, I also recommend "Step by Step Homemade Wine" by Judith
> Irwin -- it is also British oriented, focuses more on recipe-oriented
> winemaking, and tends towards outdated winemaking practices, but it is so
> well illustrated that I still find it inspiring to leaf through it.
>
> If you're looking for a book to gradually move you from recipe-oriented
> winemaking to a more measurement-based approach, "Winemaking" by Stanley &
> Dorothy Anderson is a good choice. It relies pretty heavily on canned
> grape juice concentrates to ameliorate country wines and hybrid grape
> wines, but it does a great job of presenting winemaking by measurement in
> a recipe format.
>
> For making wine from grapes, my favorite book is "Home Winemaking Step by
> Step" by Jon Iverson. The advice is well organized, accurate, and well
> suited to a "modern" home winemaker looking to make wine in a non-recipe
> approache. If you're looking to find a more scientific/technical
> reference from there that is still approachable by an amateur home
> winemaker, I recommend "Modern Winemaking" by Philip Jackisch.
>
> I agree with Jeff Cox's "From Vines to WInes" as a great source for
> growing your own (especially on the east coast).
>
> Other winemaking books in my library:
>
> "The Art of Making Wine" by Stanley Anderson and Raymond Hull: Predates
> "Winemaking", and more recipe-oriented. A bit dated.
> "The Complete Handbook of Winemaking" by The American Wine Society : A
> collection of articles, some better than others. Large section on wine
> evaluation and tasting. A bit "stodgy."
> "Winemaking Month by Month" by Brian Leverett: An interesting collecton
> of country wine recipes, British oriented. Gives a chart that rates the
> country wines by primary ingredient, although no description of how these
> "ratings" were obtained.
> "Wine from the Wilds" by Steven Krause : Dated and more botany-oriented
> than wine-oriented, still a very interesting exploration of what might be
> growing in your back yard that someone, sometime has tried to make wine
> from. I would disregard the "recipes" for the winemaking, and instead
> read this just for historical interest and ideas.
>
> Jon
>
> "Ray" > wrote in message
> m...
>> For country wines, I would recommend C.J.J. Berry's clasic books "First
>> Steps in Wine Making". Very readable and practical. His other books are
>> good as well. Then there is Duncan and Acton's book "Making Wines like
>> those You Buy" and if you get into grape wines Cox's "From Vines to
>> Wines"
>>
>> Ray
>>
>> "robert" > wrote in message
>> .uk...
>>> Hi.
>>>
>>> I am new to making wine ... Can anybody recomend books to read on
>>> making
>>> traditional wines and lequres .....
>>>
>>> I have been given about 4lbs of Mullberry's thta i would like to make
>> into
>>> a mullberry and peach lequre but cant see anything at the library that
>> makes
>>> sence
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>