American wines and how to make them, by Wagner, Philip M - 1933-01-01

Knopf, 1933-01-01. Hardcover. Good/Missing. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1933. Hardcover, 295, xiv. Third printing, October, 1933. In good condition / missing dust jacket. Green cloth covered boards with maroon label with gold lettering pasted on front and spine. Light bumping and scuffing to edges of covers and light overall soiling. Binding tight. Previous owner's name and date (March 12 1923) stamped on front paste-down and spotting from sticker residue at bottom of front free end paper as well. Bookseller's label (The Bookshelf University Book Store USC ) on rear paste-down. Moderate spotting to edges of text block. Otherwise pages are lightly aged but unmarked, with occasional light spotting. Includes cut out scraps of what remains of original jacket flaps and blurb from back cover laid-in. An amateur wine maker and grape grower during Prohibition, Wagner is credited with writing the first modern book in English about winemaking. This book was published in 1933, the same year Prohibition was repealed. All other available books about grape growing and winemaking were written in French so Wagner's book was instrumental in bringing the art of winemaking to America. [From jacket flap] More Americans drink wine and more of them make wine at home today than ever before, for the quantity of grapes grown here has practically doubled since the advent of prohibition. Yet the wines made from American grapes, though they could be of excellent quality, are usually very poor indeed. To show American wine-lovers the virtues of American wine grapes and how to take the fullest advantage of these virtues is the object of this book - the only one of its kind. It is simple, complete, and practical. Anyone who wishes to make wine will find in it all that he needs to know about the best varieties of native grapes (and those not so good), and the technique of wine-making, both red and white, from beginning to end. The volume is complete with illustrations, bibliography, index, and a time-table showing the actual stages in the making of wine. This book is bound in a waterproof, washable fabric. All soil can be removed with a damp rag using an ordinary mild soap.