From Vines to Wines

Time-honored and celebrated worldwide, wine is often considered an elixir of life -- the good life. With the updated third edition of From Vines to Wines, anyone can enjoy the satisfaction of their own homegrown, homemade fine wine. With clear and concise instructions, Jeff Cox guides the reader through the intricacies of home winemaking, from appraisal of the potential backyard vineyard site to growing and harvesting the grapes to bottling and storing the finished product.

The Complete Guide to Growing Grapes and Making Your Own Wine

Easy-to-use lists, tables, and drawings will inspire readers to take on the rewarding task of crafting their own wines from scratch with confidence. This updated edition features additional trellising systems, revised growing and equipment resources, profiles new varieties of grapes, advises on new winemaking techniques, and covers state-of-the-art techniques for determining grape ripeness.

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

The author, Jeff Cox; e-mail: jeffcox@sonic.net , March 14, 1999 This is a complete revision and update of my original book. This book was originally published in 1985 when I was still living on the East Coast. In that year I moved to the Wine Country of California and have learned an enormous amount about grapes growing and wine making. This revision reflects my new knowledge.

About the Author

Freelance author and journalist Jeff Cox is a contributing editor to Organic Gardening magazine, The Wine News, and is the host of "Grow It!" on the Home & Garden Television Network. He has written 13 gardening books, including the Storey title, From Vines to Wines, as well as Seasonal Celebrations, The Perennial Garden (with his wife, Marilyn Cox), The Spirit of Gardening, and Flowers For All Seasons. Jeff is a member of the Author's Guild of America, Garden Writers' Association of America, and the San Francisco Professional Food Society. He lives in Kenwood, California.