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10 Best Home Wine Making Books

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Growing your own grapes for winemaking is an exhilarating process. But if you’ve never done it before it can also be surprisingly detailed.

The best way to learn winemaking is through practice. But with books you’ll have a much easier time avoiding common pitfalls and crafting delicious wine the first time. That’s exactly why I created this post of the best wine making books.

If you’re looking to start making your own wine at home then I guarantee there’s something here that’ll help you out.

From Vines to Wines

This massive 260+ page guide is the ultimate learning tool for new wine makers. From Vines to Wines teaches everything about picking the right vineyard space, setting up trellises, and creating a space where your grapes can thrive.

Author Jeff Cox has almost two decades of experience writing about food and wine. He’s a connoisseur of the finer things and knows his way around a wine bottle. But he also understands the actual process of developing a vineyard that works and produces quality fruit for fermentation.

You’ll learn about picking the right grapes for the kind of wine you want and how to grow grapes that best fit your region.

If you’re looking for a single resource to go from soil to cork then this is the book for you. It’s full of pictures to help you understand the setup and you’ll learn a lot of cool wine facts along the way.

Plus Jeff’s writing style feels natural enough that anyone should be able to follow along with ease.

 

The Wine Maker’s Answer Book

Learning to make wine on your own comes with a lot of questions. The Wine Maker’s Answer Book is meant to answer all of these questions and many others you didn’t even know you had.

With 384 pages this book is a treasure for anyone new to the wine game. Whether you’re attempting to produce in bulk or just create some wine for your family, this book covers everything about the process.

Author Alison Crowe is known as the “wine wizard” in the popular WineMaker Magazine.

Her goal with this book is to explain the entire process including basic wine chemistry, pH levels, fermentation, aging, bottling, literally everything you’d ever need to know.

This is yet another staple that I highly recommend for anyone looking to make their own wine from scratch.

 

The Home Winemaker’s Companion

From basic how-to guides to detailed equipment breakdowns The Home Winemaker’s Companion is the best book analyzing winemaking from the ground up.

You’ll learn the basics of the fruit and how it turns into the delicious nectar we all know & love. The author Gene Spaziani has been making wine for over 40 years so he’s clearly built up some experience with the process.

He offers well over 100 unique recipes for crafting wines, ports, and champagnes to hit a variety of flavors and preferences. Gene explains many differences between white & red grapes including their tastes and how you can design flavors around them.

Later chapters delve into solutions for common problems and troubleshooting the not-so-common problems. This guide is your ultimate companion into the wacky world of home winery.

 

Techniques in Home Winemaking

At over 500 pages long this book is a doozy. Techniques in Home Winemaking was written by Daniel Pambianchi, CEO of his own winery of Ontario.

This book may look simple on the surface but it’s really one of the best resources for studying wine making at home. Lessons range from picking equipment to deciding which ingredients to choose for your wine.

Each chapter covers detailed procedures that offer a step-by-step guide to home winemaking. You simply cannot screw this up! It’s easy enough that anyone can follow along and by the end you’ll feel like quite the wine expert yourself.

More advanced chapters get into blending wines and ice wines along with running tests for acidity levels while fermenting. Daniel’s many years of experience offer a solid foundation to build up your own knowledge of wine.

 

Home Winemaking For Dummies

I rarely recommend any books from this series but Home Winemaking For Dummies is one grand exception. The author Tim Patterson is a winemaking expert and it really shows in this writing.

Over the course of 380 pages you’ll learn the entire winemaking process from procuring grape vines and trellises to harvesting and fermenting with the right equipment. Aging, blending, and bottling all have their own sections with plenty of detail.

Tim also gets into the differences between red and white grapes along with blended varieties. His expertise spans deeper than just growing grapes to include a passion for wine itself.

At the very end of this book you’ll find a few chapters made for beginners. They offer 10 common mistakes to avoid and 10 ways you can save money during the winemaking process.

If you’ve typically avoided books from the “for dummies” series I’m happy to report this one is a rare gem in the collection.

 

The Joy of Home Wine Making

Some people would rather import grapes and skip the vineyard process. That’s what The Joy of Home Wine Making teaches in great detail.

It’s written more like a recipe book where you’ll learn which grapes offer certain tastes that you can look for while crafting your own wine at home.

This book is much more about mixing herbs, spices, and related fruits into your wine to create flavorful varieties that’ll mesmerize your guests. Each chapter has some handy illustrations to capture the essence of winemaking and help you understand the process.

Note this book will not help you setup a vineyard in your backyard. Instead it’s made for chefs and wine lovers who prefer to make their own wines from existing ingredients while exploring many diverse tastes.

 

Wine Making Journal

Following through with the winemaking process can be stressful and confusing. All the other books in this list should help you learn the process, but Wine Making Journal is here to make sure you stick to it.

Author Adam Courtney has over 20 years of winemaking experience which he shares in this journal. It’s more like a checklist or guide for beginners who aren’t sure where they are in the process.

With this journal you’ll learn how to gauge temperatures, take accurate measurements, and learn about wine additives that can make your job a of a lot easier. Adam shares his tips along the way but leaves a good ~100 pages for journaling and tracking your steps.

This will only be useful as an extra book added alongside a real teaching tool. The Wine Making Journal does not cover a step-by-step methodology; instead it’s a technical resource for winemakers who know what to do and just need to make the leap.

 

The Science of Wine: From Vine to Glass

When you start making your own wine there comes a point where you’ll want to get into the details. The Science of Wine: From Vine to Glass offers a complete view of every aspect related to growing grapes, fermenting wine, and bottling/storing for aging.

This may feel like a science book but it’s written like a fun learning resource for non-experts.

The author Jamie Goode is regarded as a wine expert and the tips in this book prove his knowledge is sound. Jamie talks about biodynamics and climatology and how these factors affect the grapes you grow.

Other chapters get into fermentation, flavor chemistry, and ultimately what turns grapes into wine. It’s a sizable book with 215 pages and well over 100+ custom illustrations used to explain more complex ideas.

If you want to push your knowledge to the next level then I absolutely recommend this book. A beginner can learn a lot from this material but it’s a detailed read that even wine experts will come back to over and over again.

 

Home Winemaking Step by Step

No matter how much you know about wine and matching foods, none of it compares to the process of making your own from scratch. Home Winemaking Step by Step offers 250 pages of detailed instructions covering materials, equipment, and common tasks you’ll need to follow for every batch you grow.

The goal of this book is to cover winemaking in simple terms so that beginners can follow along with ease. The author Jon Iverson has a colloquial writing style that feels natural and easy to consume.

He shares advice on yeasts, chemicals, additives and many different types of grapes. He also covers different acidity levels and techniques for raising or lowering acidity. Later chapters get into testing kits with detailed appendices for finding any topic at a glance.

Based on the title you’d assume this book would offer a step by step approach, but sadly it doesn’t have the best structure. While I do think it’s great for beginners it really doesn’t offer the clearest steps.

However the information in this book is gold and it will push you far beyond the beginner level.

 

The Homebuilt Winery

Building your own winery at home is not an easy task. The Internet does have plenty of information but certainly not everything.

That’s where The Homebuilt Winery comes into play. This detailed book talks about presses and pumps, corking devices, and how to find the best wine bottles for storing your creations.

Every chapter offers a series of exercises you can follow along to learn different techniques for home winemaking. Hydrometers, SO2 testing, and acid level testing are all covered in great detail. You’ll also get tips for creating a wine cellar that keeps your wine fresh and secure.

This book is not for novices and it really helps to have some experience under your belt. You should at least know a bit about the winemaking process and how to grow your own grapes.

But if you’re looking to take your home operation to the next level I absolutely recommend this title. It’s detailed enough to get you questioning your own routines and it’ll force you a bit outside your comfort zone(where the good stuff happens).

I certainly hope this guide offers some great resources for anyone curious to make their own wine at home. The process is very detailed but incredibly fun and rewarding if you put in the effort.

Although for complete beginners I’d recommend From Vines to Wines along with a copy of The Wine Maker’s Answer Book. However all the books in this post offer valuable perspectives on winemaking and they’re all incredible resources for wine aficionados.

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