cover image Foxfire Book of Wine

Foxfire Book of Wine

Hilton Smith. Dutton Books, $17.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-525-24467-7

For 20 years, Foxfire books have instructed readers in the skills and ways of rural life, and this companion to The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Cookery offers advice on wine making. The narrativea delight for anyone interested in wine, and/or the oral storytelling tradition or Appalachiaweaves instructions for persimmon beer and peach wine with discussions of fermentation, and memories of wine-making debacles or a father's smokehouse. Editors supplement interviews with information on equipment, ingredients and procedures. This material is useful but not exhaustive, and experimenters may want to consult additional sources. The recipes are arranged at the end of the volume in standard cookbook format, and the reader can try Granny Toothman's elderberry and dandelion wines, Ervin Taylor's homebrew or Mary Pitts's blackberry juice. Photos not seen by PW. (March 30)