Customer Reviews

Techniques in Home Winemaking: A Practical Guide to Making Chateau-Style Wines

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This is a very good book. The rather lofty objectives inferred by its title and stated in its "Preface" are more than adequately met. Indeed, the book is geared toward achieving good wine from average grapes through proven methods of balancing aroma, body, clarity, color, taste, and style. In all, it succeeds in achieving these goals.

The book is laid out in a logical order that progresses from the general and introductory to the specific and detailed. Among the introductory topics are a discussion of wine styles, grapes, juices, concentrates, and an analysis of wine itself. The author then discusses winemaking equipment and the additives and chemicals used to control musts and shape the character of the wines produced by controlling sugar, alcohol, acidity, pH, and sulfur dioxide. He discusses the preparation of the grapes for processing, the maceration process, pressing, alcoholic fermentation, malolactic fermentation, and stabilization. Not only does he explain the processes themselves, but he offers sound advice and skillful techniques even old hands will appreciate. He then devotes a well-written chapter to clarification methods and products, from simple racking schedules to a variety of fining products and filtration systems. He then moves into and through the all-important and oft-overlooked subject of blending varieties and vintages to achieve more complex and interesting wines. His chapter on oak barrels is perhaps the best I have read. Not only does he thoroughly discuss the preparation and maintenance of oak, but also traditional and modern methods of fermenting and aging wines in oak, including spoilage problems, how to treat them, and more importantly how to prevent them. Alternative oaking methods are also discussed. Finally, he concludes the basics of winemaking by discussing bottling, closures and cellaring.

Had Pambianchi stopped there, his book would have surpassed most in useful content. Instead, he spends three chapters discussing the ins and outs of making sparkling wines, ports and icewines. From must preparation to specific techniques of alcoholic fermentation for each, he explains the fundamentals with clarity and thoroughness. For sparkling wines, the bottle fermentation, disgorgement, dosage, and bottling are the final steps that lead to success or failure. Portwine making is not simply fortifying a sweet still wine, and icewine making is not simply prematurely stopping the fermentation in a late harvested, highly-acid, very sweet, grape must. Pambianchi clarifies these differences and defines the essence of each. Here, his book excells.

He then goes back to the basics and discusses vinification and winemaking problems anyone could encounter and how to treat them. This is a wonderful chapter for anyone who ever encounters one of these, for Pambianchi discusses the 14 most common problems and their resolutions better than do most authors of similar books. When combined with his coverage of the problems associated with oak barrel aging, this book's value is potentially enormous.

Lastly, the book contains a number of very valuable appendices. But the whole of the book is peppered with detailed and useful charts, tables and illustrative figures. I highly recommend this book.

Excellent book, at least for a beginner, which I am. Certainly very useful for experienced winemakers due to lots of advanced topics. Was a clear winner after comparing it with other books on the same subject. Very clear and to the point, well organized. I definetly recommend it!

The charts and illustrations in this book are worth the price in explaining the process of making wine. The book includes the wine making process for fresh grapes, concentrates, or kits, this book is a valued reference. Many topics are covered, from pressing to bottling. Details of fining and malolactic fermentation are also explained.

Of the "Home Winemaking for beginners" books out there, this one is somewhere in the middle for me. The descriptions of basic procedures are all solid, and there are lots of explanations on how to use winery equipment, but there are some problems. First of all, the author's approach is very much that of an engineer: the view that quality wine is a product of what the winemaker does. This is explicitly stated in several places. The book contains almost no discussion of how to obtain high quality grapes, for example, which everyone must agree is the overarching determinant of quality in any wine. Even though the "engineer" approach can be useful at times, the book has very little to offer in terms of explaining how winemaking options affect the final product (length of maceration, rack-and-return, fermentation temperature, etc.). Buy Jon Iverson's or even Jeff Cox's book instead, and be sure to get a good book on wine and winemaking as well (Hugh Johnson etc.).

This book is a great start for a fledgling vintner and appears to have enough detail to be useful even after becoming competent. It doesn't assume you know anything about winemaking, giving detailed descriptions of the various processes and explaining the purpose and importance of each of the steps. Source information for supplies is also very helpful.

Techniques in Home Winemaking blends the careful attention to detail that any winemaker should strive for, and expresses it with a clarity that makes you breathe a sigh of relief. Garden variety topics are made plain, and the more esoteric pursuits are referred to in enough detail that you can at least get started.
This is a great book to take a beginner on up through the intermediate level and beyond.

This book provides great guidance for the new Home Winemaker. It is a must read before picking up that first load of grapes. All of the processes from the crush and fermentation through aging and bottling are clearly described. The book has excellent technical detail on subjects like pH, TA, Brix and sulfites as well as remedial items when things don't go quite right. It is a handy reference that should be kept close with key areas tabbed.