Understanding Wine Technology David Bird

You know, Joe, I have to disagree on Yair Margalit's "Winery Technology & Operations" (I'm leafing through it now). I'm really less enthuiastic about this book... although obviously you've found it of great value. My takeaway impression was that if you already know your chemistry, this could be a good reference but as an introduction this seemed more of a "Winemaking for Chemists" book. I did encountered this book later, after already having covered the less technical material from other sources more targeted to home winemakers, so that may have some influence on my impressions of it.

With college chemistry (or even good high school chemistry) you can approach the book's material, but I don't think it's a particularly good resource for advancing the skills of an average home winemaker. I think it's better suited for someone with a chemistry (or other science) background who is considering going into semi-professional winemaking (say by opening their own winery) ... which is actually the background and experiences of the author (as he describes in the introduction).

I think the book will be frustrating for a lot of home winemakers because it transitions quite quickly from descriptions of basic winemaking concepts and procedures (which will be a bit boring for the experienced amateur home winemaker) into fairly rigorous chemistry treatments with little or no transition, and often presumes the availability of equipment that most home winemakers won't have or won't know how to use (myself included). Other times he seems to omit material home winemakers would find valuable. For example, the short section on fining covers betonite, carbon, gelatin, egg whites, and PVPP but omits Sparkolloid, a very popular fining agent for home winemakers. The book is also presented in a very dry, outline (lettered and numbered section) format -- a very declarative treatment of the material like you find in one of those review books you might use to prepare for a standardized test.

I recommend Philip Jackisch's "Modern Winemaking" instead ... I think this book is much better written and organized, and a much more considerate introduction to wine chemistry than Margalit's for those not already having a strong chemistry background. Plus, an amateur winemaker can easily take a lot of good info away from Jackish's book without even needing a deep understanding of the chemistry.

Thanks for the lead on the "Understanding Wine Technology" book, Joe! I'll check it out. Jon Check out my winemaking homepage