From Vines to Wines: The Complete Guide to Growing Grapes and Making Your Own Wine / Edition 3

by Jeff Cox

Overview

Create you own backyard winery!

From breaking ground to savoring the finished product, Jeff Cox's From Vines to Wines is the most complete and up-to-date guide to growing flawless grapes and making extraordinary wine.

Wine connoisseurs, gardeners, and home winemakers will find the latest techniques in this fully revised and updated edition. With thorough, illustrated instructions, you'll learn how to:

— Choose and prepare a vineyard site

— Construct sturdy and effective trellising systems

— Plant, prune, and harvest the perfect grapes for your climate

— Press, ferment, age and bottle your own wine

— Judge wine for clarity, color, aroma, body, and taste

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580171052
Publisher:	Storey Books
Publication date:	01/03/1999
Edition description:	3RD
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Jeff Cox is the author of 21 books on food, wine, and gardening, including Gardening with Biochar, From Vines to Wines, and Cellaring Wine. He was the managing editor of Organic Gardening for many years, and currently serves as a contributing editor to The Tasting Panel, SOMM Journal, Clever Root, and Horticulture magazines, and writes a monthly garden feature for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. He has been the host of the PBS television series Your Organic Garden and Grow It! on HGTV. Cox lives in Sonoma County in California.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Making Wine

Part 1: Selecting the Vines

The Context of Winemaking

The Origin of Classic Wine Grapes

A Self-Education in Wine

Climate and Geography Affect Choice of Wines

Identifying Wine-Growing Areas

Part 2: Growing the Grapes

Parts of the Grapevine

Choosing a Vineyard Size and Site

Finding a Favorable Site

Vineyard Soil and Grape Quality

Other Site Considerations

Grape Trellises

Hardware for Constructing a Trellis

Construction Directions

Ordering and Planting Grapestock

Managing Vineyard Rows and Aisles

How to Prune Grapes

Grapevine Pruning Illustrated

Cluster Thinning

Trellis Systems Illustrated

Pest Control Strategies

Fertilization

Tending Grape Crops

Determining Ripeness

Harvesting Botrytized Grapes

Weather as a Harvest Factor

Harvesting

Part 3: Making the Wine

Making Consistently Fine Wine

The Primary Fermentation

The Secondary Fermentation

Further Racking and Aging

Wine Disorders

Filtering

Fining

Blending

Final Measurements Before Bottling

Bottling

Corking

Labeling

Cellaring the Wine

Wine Accoutrements

Sensory Evaluation of Wine

Appendix 1. The Home Winemaker's Record Book

Appendix 2. For More Information

Appendix 3. Sources of Supplies

Appendix 4. Sources for Grapevines

Appendix 5. Grape Pests and Their Controls

Index

Editorial Reviews

Cox has a lively prose style that keeps this guide for grape growers and home vintners from ever becoming dull or pompous. Whether you plan to grow or make your own wine or just want to understand what you’re seeing when you visit a winery of vineyard, this book will prove invaluable.”

— San Francisco Examiner

“Read a book or two on the basics of home winemaking — Jeff Cox’s From Vines to Wines is a good one.”

— Wine Spectator

“This book takes the reader from grape to glass . . . easy-to-use lists, tables and drawings will inspire confidence in readers who are interested in making their own wines.”

— Orlando Sentinel

“ ‘Complete’ aptly describes the tables, glossary, illustrations, and readable text. “

— Country Journal

“an intelligent handbook on how to make good wine. Without getting into the details of hard science, it teaches, informs and excites.”

— Beverage Business

From the Publisher

A reprint of the Harper edition of 1985. Practical advice for the amateur. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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