This book provides an interesting overview of the history of American winemaking. However, being written in the 1970's this text as a practical guide for winemaking is hopelessly dated. Much of the information is either contradictory to modern stylistic norms or simply innacurate. Better chioices for the home winemaker include Jon Iverson's "Home Winemaking, Step by Step" and Desmond Lundy's "Handmade Table Wine".
Cheers.

wagner is the original guru on grape growing and wine making. how he found the time for all of his interests is a story we will never know. first, of course , he was the editor of the baltimore sun newspaper. he founded and operated boordy vineyard and winery,which became a grape vine nursury. he somehow found more time to write books on all of this, books that were clear, consise, that covered these fields with a fullnes of purpose that is amazing everytime i read and reread them. when i am planting grapes or making wine , his books are never far from my elbow. if you have limited funds and want to buy the best books for the most reasonable prices, buy wagner!

Philip M. Wagner's earlier "American Wines and Wine-Making" became a bible for small producers and winemakers in America. First printed in 1933, it was revised several times and then completely rewritten over 40 years later under the current title. Although dated, it is still one of the more valuable resources for the small commercial or home winemaker intent on making excellent wine from grapes and grape concentrates.

Wagner discusses the grape and all its inherent qualities in clear, concise language. His treatment if both old French-American and new American hybrids is still a good historical and practical guide for grape selection. His appendix on wine grape varieties is a handy compendium for the single plant to small vineyard grower, while his appendix on "Wine Analysis Simplified" is invaluable to anyone wishing to make award winning vintages.

The "meat" of the book discusses the fundamentals of winemaking as an art. This is amply illustrated with chapters on making red, white, rosé, sparkling, and other fermentations. He discusses clarification, filtering, testing, blending, and bottling with the experience of someone who is at ease with their finer points. He devotes a chapter to the then growing interest in making wines from concentrates and another on what can go wrong. While not a tutorial or handbook, his treatment is more a dissertation that any but a master winemaker would find instructive and beneficial.

It is his chapter on wine tasting and drinking that sets his work apart, for these are the culminative activities for which all wine is ultimately made. His dissection of the anatomy and physiology of taste is a primer for any who aims to make really good wine. It won't make you a wine critic of Hugh Johnson's stature, but it will make you more conscious of what happens when wine is taken into your mouth. And that, after all, is what it is all about.

This is a solid addition to any home winemaker's library. For historical insight alone, it is worth the price.