Understanding Wine Technology: A Book for the Non-scientist That Explains the Science of Winemaking

Understanding Wine Technology is an essential book that explains the making of wine in an approachable way. It is written by two Masters of Wine.

Understanding Wine Technology has become the most favoured book of many students and wine lovers and has sold more than 40,000 copies worldwide. This book is aimed at the person with no formal scientific training, yet who is interested in the science behind wine and wants to know the mechanism behind the complex transformations that take place. Scientific terminology has been kept to a minimum and an attempt has been made to use everyday words and phrases. Indeed, there are places where the scientist might raise the eyebrows, places where perhaps science has had to give way to an easy understanding of a complex principle. 

In this fourth edition Nicolas Quillé, a well-qualified and widely-experienced French winemaker working on the west coast of the USA has brought the information up-to-date so that this book remains the mainstay for those who are studying for the WSET, the sommelier certifications, or for membership to the Institute of Masters of Wine.

The text has been expanded to include more information on the making of the major styles of the wines of the world, which should be of interest to those who are not engaged in study, but who have an enquiring mind and therefore want to know the mechanisms behind their production.

Understanding Wine Technology is organized in 24 chapters:

• The first three chapters introduce grape growing
• The next four explain what happens during fermentation
• The making of the different styles of wine is covered in four chapters
• Common winemaking operations such as stabilities and filtrations is discussed in six chapters
• Packaging choices, bottling and quality assurance are gathered in five chapter
• Legal matters and the practice of tasting wrap up the book in the last two chapters

DAVID BIRD trained as an analytical chemist and entered the food manufacturing business as an analyst working with baby foods, mustard and fruit squashes. He moved into the wine trade in 1973 almost by chance, but in reality because a passion for wine was already developing. 1981 was his vintage year, becoming a Master of Wine, a Chartered Chemist and father to his first son. He specialises in quality assurance techniques, such as ISO 9000 and HACCP, and has been involved with wine activities and education in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Algeria, Australia, Scotland, Ireland and England.
NICOLAS QUILLÉ has more than 30 years of experience in the wine industry with an emphasis on winemaking, quality control, and winery management. He was born in Lyon, France, into a family that has worked in the wine business for three generations. He has made wine in Burgundy, Provence, the Rhone Valley, Champagne, the Douro Valley, Oregon, Washington and California. He holds a Master's Degree in Enology from the University of Dijon, a Post Graduate Degree in sparkling winery management from the University of Reims, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Washington. In 2018, Nicolas became a Master of Wine. Besides his day job running wineries, he is a judge for several wine competitions, a wine educator, and speaker at wine conferences.