An informative, fun guide to making your own wineIt's estimated that one million North Americans make their ownwine. Relatively inexpensive to make (a homemade bottle costs from$2 to $4), a bottle with your own label (and grapes) is a fantasyeven someone with modest aspirations can fulfill. Author TimPatterson, an award-winning home winemaker, shows how it's possiblefor anyone to create a great wine. In Home Winemaking ForDummies, he discusses the art of winemaking from grape tobottle, including how to get the best grapes (and figure out howmany you need); determine what equipment is required; select theright yeast and figure out if any other additives are needed; andstore, age, and test wine. With detailed tips on creating manyvarieties -- from bold reds and demure whites to enchantingrosés and delightful sparkling wines -- this guide is yourultimate winemaking resource.

Introduction 1Part I: Motivations, Materials, and Methods 7Chapter 1: Making Great Wine at Home 9Chapter 2: Finding Good Grapes 21Chapter 3: Provisioning Your Home Winery 37Chapter 4: Obsessing over Temperature, Oxygen, and Sanitation 61Part II: Phases and Stages 71Chapter 5: Sorting, Crushing, and Pressing 73Chapter 6: Letting Yeast Do Its Thing: Fermentation 91Chapter 7: Doing the Post-Fermentation Tango 111Chapter 8: Aging and Blending 125Chapter 9: Finishing and Bottling 145Chapter 10: Storing, Serving, and Starting Over 159Part III: Deeper Into Reds 169Chapter 11: What's Special about Red Wines? 171Chapter 12: Bold Bordeaux Reds 185Chapter 13: Ravishing Rhône Reds 199Chapter 14: Handling the Hard Cases 213Chapter 15: Up-and-Comers and Off-the-Radars 229Part IV: Deeper Into Whites 237Chapter 16: What's Special about White Wines? 239Chapter 17: Fruity, Herbal Whites 253Chapter 18: Aromatic Whites 271Part V: Beyond Red and White 289Chapter 19: Thinking and Drinking Pink 291Chapter 20: Dessert, Fortified, and Sparkling Wines 299Part VI: The Part of Tens 315Chapter 21: Ten Mistakes Most Home Winemakers Make at Least Once 317Chapter 22: Ten Ways To Save Money (and Make Better Wine) 321Chapter 23: Ten Differences between Wine(makers) and Beer(brewers) 325Part VII: Appendixes 329Appendix A: Glossary 331Appendix B: Conversions 333Appendix C: Resources 335Appendix D: Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) and pH 339Index 347