Book Review - Techniques in Home Winemaking by Daniel Pambianchi

Up until a few weeks ago, I thought I knew quite a bit about home winemaking. I've been making a variety of wines for years - both from kits and from "scratch." I've discussed the subject of making wines at home with others who have plenty of experience, learned from them and learned quite a bit on my own.What happened three weeks ago? Daniel Pambianchi's book, Techniques in Home Winemaking: The Comprehensive Guide to Making Chateau-Style Wines published by Vehicule Press (Montreal) in 2008 arrived at my door. When I opened it up in the evening, I began reading and didn't stop until about 2AM. I devoured the first 149 pages before fatigue set in and even though I wanted to keep reading, I needed to sleep.Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I picked up Pambianchi's book and read every day. And every day, I learned something new and useful. This book is complete with information about every aspect of the craft and is suitable for anyone who makes wine, whether they beg
in with grapes, juices, kits, or other fruit. Although it focuses primarily on grape wines, the knowledge inside can be applied to those made of other ingredients such as fruit. Of course, amateurs and professionals who primarily make chateau-style wines will especially benefit from this work.The book opens with an Introduction that covers the basics and even includes information on grape identification. From there, it gets into much greater detail with chapters on equipment, sanitation methods, analysis and the many different techniques that can be used in making wine. Many of these techniques may not be suitable for all, but knowing about them can be very helpful in creating wines.There is much detail about various equipment and testing tools that are available and how they should be used and interpreted. Pambianchi has provided easy to understand scientific equations where necessary so that the we can make better informed decisions about wines they are making. The book ma
kes it quite clear that winemaking uses both science and art in producing good wine. While some of this equipment is not necessarily needed for the person that makes one or two batches of wine from kits per year, it can be helpful to better understand the process and what might improve their wines.Many experience problems with the clarification process, and will benefit from Chapter 5 which has over 25 pages which discuss clarification and filtering methods and includes a very helpful description of the various additives that can be used, the pros and cons of each, and what they actually do.Thinking about purchasing some oak barrels to age your wine? Turn to Chapter 8 where you will find a comprehensive guide on barrels, types of oak, storage and maintenance of barrels, and much more! Presently, I don't have the space at home to consider using oak barrels, but someday when I do, I will be re-reading and studying this chapter in detail.One very helpful chapter is on diagnosin
g problems with wine, and goes through a number of common complaints and possible solutions to rectify or fix the problem.The author has provided many useful charts on a variety of subjects, including listing major grape varieties from California, and their characteristics, and his own quality ratings. The diagrams and images throughout the book are helpful in explaining the various subjects that the author is discussing.As well as full coverage of the process to make wine, there are individual chapters devoted to making Pinot Noir, Sparkling Wine and Ice Wine. For those who enjoy making these types of wines, these chapters are a must read.In short, this book is the definitive guide to home winemaking for both the novice and those in the art of fermentation. It should be on the desk of every person that has a passion for turning juice into the wonderful beverage of wine. I know that I will be referring to my copy many many times!The author, Daniel Pambianchi who is both a ho
me and professional winemaker for years and is the Technical Editor for Winemaker Magazine, has written an excellent book that I would recommend to anyone interested in this craft.

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