The Way to Make Wine: How to Craft Superb Table Wines at Home [Paperback]

Sheridan Warrick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 12, 2006

Written by a vintner and science editor with twenty-five years experience, The Way to Make Wine is the most readable and reliable handbook among the many winemaking guides. In engaging conversational prose, Sheridan Warrick shows that making your own wine is not only easy, but also fun. Geared to everyday wine lovers who want to drink well, save money, and impress their friends, this book reveals everything needed to make delicious wines--both reds and whites--from start to finish.
Warrick demystifies winemaking by explaining the nuts and bolts and demonstrating that if readers can replace a faucet washer or cook a pasta sauce, they can make food-friendly wines that cost less than the bottles they're now opening. He enables amateur vintners to equip a home winery, procure top-quality grapes, run a flawless fermentation, and enjoy their wine--its nose, its body, and finish--with renewed awareness and appreciation. At the same time, the author points experienced home vintners to new skills, describing top wineries' techniques. Rich with insiders' know-how, this book also divulges the many advances that have been made in the past few decades and makes clear that, with enologists' innovations, home winemaking is easier than ever. With straightforward illustrations of key steps, this book offers one-stop shopping for anyone who's ever dreamed of making table wines at home.
* two step-by-step sections: one for beginners, one for experienced home vintners
* sidebars offer quick tips and key elements of winemaking lore
* includes the only clear and comprehensive guide to minimizing the use of sulfites in wine
* section on suppliers and labs provides a wealth of information on sources of fine wine grapes

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Eminently readable. . . . Highly recommended to anyone eager to discover the thrills and delights of making wine at home."--Gastronomica: Jrnl of Food & Culture

From the Inside Flap

"An essential reference that takes you step-by-step through techniques used by professionals to create quality small-lot wines. A book like this would have been a huge help for me when I first started making wine! Both easy to read and serious enough so that the reader doesn't feel talked down to as an amateur, The Way to Make Wine is a much needed guide to the basics of modern winemaking."--Michael Dashe, owner and winemaker, Dashe Cellars

"This book is a terrific resource. Warrick clearly knows his stuff and conveys the sometimes technical information in a truly palatable manner."--Lynn Alley, frequent contributor to Wine Spectator and author of Lost Arts: A Celebration of Culinary Tradition

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 267 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (September 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520247191
• ISBN-13: 978-0520247192
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars you'll look hard to find a better winemaking book, November 10, 2006

By 

Jack B. Keller Jr. (Pleasanton, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way to Make Wine: How to Craft Superb Table Wines at Home (Paperback)

This is a very solid and readable handbook on making homemade wines. Sheridan Warrick has written this book the way I think I would have written it -- in a friendly, first person, conversational style. Along the way of learning what he has to teach, you get to know the author. It's a friendly, unassuming book with great content. If you are a beginner, it will teach you to make wine. If you are an experienced vintner, it will help you sharpen your skills.

Warrick explains things so simply that I found myself taking notes on subjects I have trouble explaining so well. He gets to the essence of it, and that is what the reader needs. The anecdotal asides all have a point to convey and do so well. Numerous sidebars contain both useful facts and interesting teaching points. His chapters flow from one to another seamlessly in an organized, logical fashion, making it a very readable and useful book. I was able to thumb back through it several times most easily to find something I wanted to re-read, using only the book's organization as the measure of where to look -- it has a useful index, but I didn't need it.

The book is organized into two parts. The first is a beginner's guide to winemaking, but loaded with a wealth of knowledge and explanation. The second part is about the refining techniques that help you master the business of making good wine great. In a phrase, this means knowing what is going on and that means testing, testing, and more testing. Too many winemaking books say to test this and test that, but don't explain how to do it. Warrick does. His section on malolactic fermentation, for example, is as fine and useful a treatment of the subject as I have read, and it includes the best step-by-step tutorial on paper chromatography I have in my sizable library. Indeed, all of his treatments of testing are well-done. And this, in my estimation, is reason enough to invest in this book.

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable, most helpful -- clear, concise and right on target!!! Winemaking demystified!!!, November 9, 2006

By 

Robert MacKimmie (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Way to Make Wine: How to Craft Superb Table Wines at Home (Paperback)

This book was published just in time for my second winemaking season and is remarkable in its helpful clarity, having the correct answers to mystifying challenges. I had one crazy challenge in my first season of winemaking which resulted in several answers being given by experts. This book correctly identified the problem, the fix, and how to prevent the problem. It somehow provides a more straightforward and simple walk through of the process, taking away any notion that wine making is a challenge. It also discusses in depth and allows consideration for those of us who would like to minimize the inclusion of sulfites. Just being aware of that as a concern of the home winemaker is a huge win. I couldn't recommend this book more - it is the perfect tome of essential information to those wanting to get going with their own winemaking. I keep saying, I wish I had started years ago. Get this book without hesitation - it will get you on your way to stunning wine produced by your own efforts. Great satisfaction is guaranteed.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEST book yet for homewinemakers!, January 5, 2007

By 

Vincent (Mt. Vernon NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way to Make Wine: How to Craft Superb Table Wines at Home (Paperback)

I see Jack Keller's rave review above. Enuf' said. He's the Pope of homewinemakers...
I've read them all and found them mostly to be poorly written, padded out with recipes for obscure wines, and even one book directly contradicting another book's instructions. This one is reader friendly, logically organized, well written, accurate and totally comprehensive without bringing in extraneous material.
If you want to make red or white wine at home, buy this book and look no further.