The Best Guides for Making Your Own Wine in 2021
If you love wine, why not experiment with making your own? Yes, we know the idea can be daunting, but don’t let the challenge scare you off! Making your own wine can be super fun, tasty, and is great for your wine education!
Once you’ve learned the basics, you’ll be able to start your own vino adventure. But how to get started? Well, we’d first recommend one of these Best Guides for Making Your Own Wine.
You’ll learn all the fundamentals on winemaking in these easy-read titles. See our favorites on ‘how to make your own wine’ below and be inspired to think outside the box. Or should we say: your regular bottles!
Tip: Want more reading material? Check out our post on Best Wine Magazines. There’s even a WineMaker Magazine, perfect for those that want the latest news, interesting features, and expert advice on making their own vino!
Best Guides on Making Your Own Wine
The Complete Guide to Making Your Own Wine at Home
The Complete Guide to Making Your Own Wine at Home is an in-depth and comprehensive guide on everything vino. The book helps you navigate the world of winemaking in an easy-to-read, understandable way. It aids you in discovering your inner vintner, providing you with all the basic fundamental knowledge needed to get started.
So, which aspects of the winemaking process does the book cover? Well, all of them. It focusses on the basics, such as ingredients, grape, and tannins. Then it moves on to all the equipment and tools needed to produce your own wine. The title makes a distinction between white and red wine, going in-depth on the different profiles and techniques for each type. You will learn all about wine pressing, flavor development, wine bottling and more.
The Complete Guide to Making Your Own Wine at Home also comes with extra perks, such as a 16-page color insert with pictures.
A wealth of expertise
It’s a source of inspiration and wine education, filled with expert tips and tricks. The makers of the book have interviewed more than a hundred vineyard owners, professional winemakers, and amateur vintners: bundling their knowledge in this one, informative title. And don’t just think the book covers only the basics. It goes all the way. Including chapters on how to measure and influence sulfur dioxide levels, and how to adjust for dryness or color.
If you want a great value, comprehensive guide that walks you through each step of the winemaking process: this title makes an excellent choice. It teaches you how to make your own wine at home, and really helps take your knowledge of vino to the next, semi-professional level!
From Vines to Wines: The Complete Guide to Growing Grapes and Making Your Own Wine
Other titles may flirt with technical terms without giving a proper definition of what they actually mean, but Cox presents his info clearly and well-defined.
The book encompasses the entire winemaking process. You’ll learn a plethora of things about selecting vines, growing grapes, fermentation, bottling of win and more.
Cox also allocates time to dive into how a wine should taste, helping you develop a better understanding of tannins and flavor profiles.
If you have space in your backyard and don’t mind getting your hands dirty, From Vines to Wines can help you kickstart your own mini vineyard.
Don’t have a backyard? Don’t worry: if you want to buy their vines, instead of cultivating them, the book still provides plenty of useful tips and tricks.
Home Winemaking For Dummies
This makes the book an easy read for all amateur and wannabe vintners. Patterson helps you create cheap, tasty blends that will only set you back a few dollars a bottle.
From dummy to yummy
In Home Winemaking For Dummies, you’ll learn everything about the winemaking journey. The title takes you from grape to bottle in a step-by-step guide. This includes learning which grapes to use, but also how many grapes to use (so you don’t end up with a pile of rotting, unused fruit).
The book also helps you determine which equipment you’ll need. What additives to add. How to select the right yeast. How to bottle and store your labels. And much more…
Patterson has also included his expert tips on how to create the best wine varieties, including bold reds, delicate whites, and yummy sparkling wines. No matter which wine you drink, Home Winemaking For Dummies helps you on the way to creating it at home
Great for beginners, novices, and amateurs new to winemaking, this title serves as a solid foundation for your own vino adventures.
101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines at Home
One of the more original, unique guides on this list is the 101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines at Home. This title is all about ‘wild wines’: blends that have been around for centuries, beloved by many different cultures.
From strong blends that were sipped by kings and queens, to pagan 
varieties that warmed the hearts of peasants: it captures a rich heritage in winemaking in one, comprehensive collection.
The book includes, as you might have already guessed, 101 ‘wild wine’ recipes from all over the globe. The title also helps you understand the basics of wild winemaking, including tips on fermentation and distilling techniques.
You’ll also be educated on different types of herbs, fruits, and flowers; and how they are used in wild wine blends. 101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines at Home covers both red and white recipes, allowing you to get experimenting with your own favorite wine types.
A wildly inspiring read
What we love about 101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines at Home is that the book is that the book combines wine history, wine making, and wine education in one, easy-to-read work. Expert interviews, tips and tricks, plus delicious recipes form a perfect blend to get any amateur winemaker excited about the possibilities.
Though, we have to say: if you want an education on modern-day winemaking, this might not be the book for you. But, if you want to get wild, 101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines at Home might be your match!
The Homebuilt Winery: 43 Projects for Building and Using Winemaking Equipment
The Homebuilt Winery is subtitled ‘Projects for Building and Using Winemaking Equipment’. This guide teaches you how to set up your own, at-home winery. It outlines how to construct all the basic equipment needed in the winemaking process, for only a fraction of the (commercial) retail price.
The writer, Steve Hughes, has included detailed building plans and step-by-step instruction on more than 30 winemaking tools and devices. His expert tips and tricks are in-depth, well-defined, and easy-to-follow for those with a knack for do-it-yourself.
The various wine equipment plans vary in difficulty. There are some projects that only require basic tools and a relatively basic understanding of woodworking. This means that even without the fancy drills and carpentry experience, you should be able to make at least some of the equipment. Praised by other consumers for its clearly outlined plans and original content: it’s a must-have for amateur winemakers.
Get equipped
Though this guide includes instructions for building an entire wine room, you can simply mix and match plans according to your needs. Even if you want to buy all your equipment ready-made; this guide can help you determine which devices you’ll actually need.
The Homebuilt Winery – available in a Kindle and paperback version – can save you a lot of money in the long-term, if you’re willing to put in some blood, sweat, and possibly some tears, first.
Verdict and Top Choice
Each title on this list offers a wealth of information for aspiring winemakers. For those that are new to the winemaking process, and are yet to take their first steps towards creating their own blends, we’d recommend:
The Complete Guide to Making Your Own Wine at Home + The Homebuilt Winery
The first title educates you on all the fundamentals of modern-day winemaking, the second is a must-read guide on equipment. Even if you don’t want to construct your own winemaking devices, it offers plenty of insight and inspiration on how you can save money on equipment. Combined, they serve as an in-depth, comprehensive introduction. And will definitely help wannabe winemakers get started on their journey!
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