reading about wine

[countrygirl]

i love to read. i've been cruising all the routine books for wine making, from vine to wine, the healthy grape, and others.
i am currently reading
wine and war
it's about ww2 and the germany invasion of france and how they tricked the nazis and hid their wines and helped the vineyards and wine houses survive and generally how they survived as a nation.
it has been a great read...
i also have
the wild vine
to start next. anyone read either of these?

 

[djrockinsteve]

I have a few wine books around. Can't recall their names but I'm sure they are the popular ones. I refer to them from time to time but sometimes they can be vague. Thank goodness for this forum.

 

[djrockinsteve]

I just bought my wife an iPad, I should pry it away from her and see if there are any wine books on there. I'll wait till she goes to work and sneak a peek.

 

[countrygirl]

I just bought my wife an iPad, I should pry it away from her and see if there are any wine books on there. I'll wait till she goes to work and sneak a peek.

let us know how you like the ipad. i hear the amazon kindle is popular too. could be very handy...

 

[JohnT]

I have read this book. Very informative. I cringed when the Nazis poured diesel fuel in centuries old kegs to ensure that any wine made in them could only be used for industrial alcohal.

I would highly recomend "A Vinyard in Tuscanny" by Frank Mate. He converted a 12th century abby into a winery and can really paint a verbal picture.

"The Billionares Vinegar", "The House of Mondavi", is also another great one.

Also, "Judgement of Paris" (George Taber) is the real facts behind the "Bottle shock" movie and very enjoyable.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

CountryGirl,

If home winemaking ever becomes illegal, you'll be our resident expert on techniques and strategies of covert winemaking. As they say, there's nothing new under the sun. History can teach us a lot if we're willing to listen.

 

[countrygirl]

CountryGirl,

If home winemaking ever becomes illegal, you'll be our resident expert on techniques and strategies of covert winemaking. As they say, there's nothing new under the sun. History can teach us a lot if we're willing to listen.

heaven forbid! if it does, we'll just make skeeter pee, cause we'll just be buying lemon juice and sugar and no one will think a thing about it, lol!!!

and, john, i too cringed, many times in the book so far. it just hard to imagine such...i don't even have a word for it...injustice?
can't wait to start the wild vine and i will check out some of the book u recommend, also, thanks!

 

[AlFulchino]

how DID they hide the wine(making)?

 

[countrygirl]

how DID they hide the wine(making)?

they didn't hide the making. the germans wanted them to make...and make alot, and make alot of high quality with little to no equipment and help. family members were take to work in factories and be in the army. horses were taken for war use, etc. (one section/chapter talks about a young man trying to figure out how to make copper sulfate, because all the copper was taken for the war), what they did do, was send in inferior quality wines with the high quality labels; they walled up entire sections of their cellars, etc. some germans were fooled, some were not. i'm just now to the part where france was liberated. it sounds like the germans coveted the french wine...the americans didn't seem to understand the importance of wine in french living/culture.

 

[AlFulchino]

fascinating stuff thanks

 

[Minnesotamaker]

One of my good wine buddies was Gerry (Gerimalo). He's gone now, but his winemaking spirit lives on every time I make wine using some of the equipment he gave me.

He moved to Canada from Italy right after WW2. He was a youngster on a family vineyard/winery and told me stories about the German occupation when he was just a boy. Scary stuff. I wouldn't want to have to go through that situation, it was just plain bad for everyone.

 

[countrygirl]

One of my good wine buddies was Gerry (Gerimalo). He's gone now, but his winemaking spirit lives on every time I make wine using some of the equipment he gave me.

He moved to Canada from Italy right after WW2. He was a youngster on a family vineyard/winery and told me stories about the German occupation when he was just a boy. Scary stuff. I wouldn't want to have to go through that situation, it was just plain bad for everyone.

wow lon, so cool to see a face that actually experienced the things i'm reading about. like al said, fascinating stuff.

 

[djrockinsteve]

My neighbor's brother told me about the book.....Modern Wine Making by Philip Jackisch. He said it's a very good book to read if you are making champagne. Ding that's me. It's not available at the book stores less online ordering. So I walked up the the library and it will be there Wednesday.

I'll let you know how I like/thought about it. Sometimes the things we need is just around the corner.

P.S. My wife's iPad, she loves it and ignored her sister when she stopped in the evening I gave it to her. Now you have company, put the new toy away. She didn't listen. She was too excited.

 

[Runningwolf]

My wife's iPad, she loves it and ignored her sister when she stopped in the evening I gave it to her. Now you have company, put the new toy away. She didn't listen. She was too excited.

Ditto with my wife and the Kindle I got her 18 months ago. She still reads it every single day.

 

[countrygirl]

looks like barnes and noble now has "the nook"
did u get ur book steve?
i am now reading "the wild vine", the norton story and history of wine in america. not as hard to put down as wine and war was...

 

[djrockinsteve]

I got the Philip Jackisch book from the library and am reading it now, amongst other things. Glad they give you 3 weeks.

The HOME WINEMAKERS MANUAL by Lum Eisenman
is a free book that I have been told is outstanding. It's a free download and is a hundred plus pages. It was written a long time ago but is still current.
Just Google it.

I downloaded it and am 1/3 of the way thru reformatting it to take up less space. I will run out a copy when I'm done. It would be too hard to read that large a book on the computer. My wife wouldn't like me drawing on the monitor with a yellow highlighter.