Wild Winemaking by Richard Bender

[RevA]

Hi

Has anyone read the book? If so what was your opinion of it?

 

[BernardSmith]

I haven't but what is Bender's unique "story"? What his "news"? From Amazon, it looks a lot like a book of country wine recipes, and a book of recipes is not very helpful to anyone but a crass novice and even then a focus on process rather than on recipes would make more sense to me. After all a recipe is someone's snapshot of a wine that a) is unlikely to be accurate; b) is unlikely to be something that they themselves follow like an automaton; c) may be simply based on notes they may have recorded once and d) is unlikely to be repeatable as the ingredients you have are not identical to the ones they used. A focus on process and on outcomes - then I would suggest that that might be a worthwhile addition to a wine maker's library. But hey! I'm a contrarian.

 

[franc1969]

Hi

Has anyone read the book? If so what was your opinion of it?

I did read it. Not worth the time I waited for my library hold to arrive.It went back the next day, which happens rarely.
This is one of the recent books that celebrates no 'chemical' intervention, 'wild wines' as the title says. So no standard winemaking steps kmeta or stabilization, no pH readings, etc. No focus on how to get the best flavor, choose best yeast, etc. Not enough fruit. Little explanation of process. One gallon recipe ideas if you want to try some unusual country wine flavors, but I won't bother to pick this up again.

 

[rustbucket]

Hi

Has anyone read the book? If so what was your opinion of it?

I was sent an advanced copy of it in 2017. You can see my review on Amazon. While Bender succeeded in what he was trying to accomplish, that is to write a fruit wine making recipe book with a diatribe about all-natural ingredients, I didn't get much out of the book since I have no interest in making fruit wines.

Andrias, I think that you can get what you're looking for by reading through Jack Keller's website. There are a number of fruit wine making recipes there and a lot of good how do information.

Here is the essence of my thoughts immediately after reading Wild Winemaking.
"The book is logically laid out starting with the basics of winemaking. It then goes on to include a listing of the equipment and supplies needed. Although the author makes an initial point that you don’t need a lot of equipment to make local produce wines, his long listing of equipment, its use, and why it is useful seems to contradict this. Although I already have all of the equipment and supplies listed, I would have found this list a little frightening if I were new to the hobby."

 

[Ty520]

I'm new to winemaking, but when i chatted with a local vintner about how to get started, that was one of the books he specifically insisted on avoiding - said it contained really outdated info, and means and methods that could actually end up just ruining your wine