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

I would suggest The Home Winemaker's Companion by Gene Spaziani. First try your
library. If not, it can be bought at Barnes & Noble
).
Good luck!

I would suggest The Home Winemaker's Companion by Gene Spaziani. First try your
library. If not, it can be bought at Barnes & Noble
).
Good luck!

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
>
>
>

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 It is out of date, British-oriented, and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tends towards outdated winemaking practices, but it is so well illustrated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
>>
>>
>>
>
>

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
>>
>>
>>
>
>

I have, of course, just realized that the original poster was from the UK,
so
my criticisms of Berry and other authors as being "British-oriented" should
be
reversed for you ... the other book sources I listed are
"American-oriented",
and you'll have the same confusion of imperal versus US gallons, and other
language confusion that Americans have reading Berry.

In "American-oriented" country wine books you'll also see less mention of
certain fruits that are less popular or less available here, such as
medlars,
sloes, and quince.

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
>>
>>
>>
>
>

I have, of course, just realized that the original poster was from the UK,
so
my criticisms of Berry and other authors as being "British-oriented" should
be
reversed for you ... the other book sources I listed are
"American-oriented",
and you'll have the same confusion of imperal versus US gallons, and other
language confusion that Americans have reading Berry.

In "American-oriented" country wine books you'll also see less mention of
certain fruits that are less popular or less available here, such as
medlars,
sloes, and quince.

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
>>
>>
>>
>
>

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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

In message > , Ray Calvert
> writes
>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 agree completely. As someone explained to me when I first started
posting here, if one of Berry's recipes says 'sweet', you can be sure it
really *is* sweet. And his recipes for Island Magic, Irish cream, and
"Whisky and Ginger Ale" are buttock-clenchingly awful.

That said, the book is full of useful facts and rules-of-thumb, and the
table of SG, sugar and potential alcohol I refer to every time I make a
batch of wine. One of the most useful features is the calendar of what
to make in each month of the year - obviously it's done from a British
perspective, but it should hold roughly true.

I generally look on the book as a source of ideas, rather than a rigid
collection of recipes; I'll find a recipe in it, then go and look up
what Jack K recommends, and maybe try something half-way between,
according to what ingredients I've got. Works for me...

cheers,
robin
--
www.newforestartgallery.co.uk
www.badminston.demon.co.uk www.robinsomes.co.uk
www.amazonian-fish.co.uk www.pisces-conservation.com
www.irchouse.demon.co.uk www.blackwell-science.com/southwood
Trust me, I'm a webmaster...

In message > , Ray Calvert
> writes
>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 agree completely. As someone explained to me when I first started
posting here, if one of Berry's recipes says 'sweet', you can be sure it
really *is* sweet. And his recipes for Island Magic, Irish cream, and
"Whisky and Ginger Ale" are buttock-clenchingly awful.

That said, the book is full of useful facts and rules-of-thumb, and the
table of SG, sugar and potential alcohol I refer to every time I make a
batch of wine. One of the most useful features is the calendar of what
to make in each month of the year - obviously it's done from a British
perspective, but it should hold roughly true.

I generally look on the book as a source of ideas, rather than a rigid
collection of recipes; I'll find a recipe in it, then go and look up
what Jack K recommends, and maybe try something half-way between,
according to what ingredients I've got. Works for me...

cheers,
robin
--
www.newforestartgallery.co.uk
www.badminston.demon.co.uk www.robinsomes.co.uk
www.amazonian-fish.co.uk www.pisces-conservation.com
www.irchouse.demon.co.uk www.blackwell-science.com/southwood
Trust me, I'm a webmaster...