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American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare example image of the 1933 - wine book.
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  • American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare example image of the 1933 - wine book.
  • American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare detail of the 1933 - wine book.
  • American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare photograph of the 1933 - wine book.
  • American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare detail view of the 1933 - wine book.
  • American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare image of the 1933 - wine book.
  • American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare interior highlight of the 1933 - wine book.
  • American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare example image of the 1933 - wine book.
  • American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare detail of the 1933 - wine book.
  • American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare photograph of the 1933 - wine book.
  • American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare detail view of the 1933 - wine book.
  • American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare image of the 1933 - wine book.
  • American Wines And How To Make Them by Wagner, Philip M., a rare interior highlight of the 1933 - wine book.
American Wines And How To Make Them

Mapping U.S. wine’s first steps, with brains, bottles, and a bit of boldness.

Wagner, Philip M.

American Wines And How To Make Them

1933, New York, Alfred A. Knopf

First edition

$30 USD

Overview

Published in 1933, just as America was emerging from Prohibition, American Wines, And How To Make Them by Philip M. Wagner stands as both manual and manifesto, a practical guide for a young, uncharted viticultural nation.
Wagner, a journalist-turned-vintner, provides one of the earliest systematic surveys of U.S. wine districts while also advocating for controlled fermentation and cellar techniques, what we would now call interventionist winemaking. Blending technical rigor with regional curiosity, the book is an indispensable early American wine document, part blueprint, part time capsule, and part quietly revolutionary handbook.

Inside the book

Wagner acknowledges Prohibition itself for inadvertently encouraging American wine culture, since the legal loophole of home production nurtured a generation of domestic winemakers. To this audience, he offers both methods and a vision of quality. His introduction places American wine in a global context, with a scholarly discussion of world wine history that digresses charmingly into the Georgian cradle of viticulture, then newly under communist rule. He also reviews grape growing through the lens of post-phylloxera recovery and defines the elusive quality of “foxiness.”
The core of the book delivers a detailed technical guide to home winemaking. Its conclusion, however, is especially memorable: an anecdote from Talleyrand on wine connoisseurs, followed by a list and map of U.S. grape districts with recommended varieties, focusing on non-vinifera.
Even the Reference reflects Wagner’s care and ambition, while a charming note on the origin of the Janson typeface used in printing underscores the book’s craftsmanship and attention to detail.

Why La Fenice chose it

Post-Prohibition wine optimism. Wagner maps early U.S. wine regions with journalistic flair and oenological curiosity, crafting a pioneering guide that’s both blueprint and time capsule.
Condition Report

Pp. [1] f.e., [1] folded paper, [14], 295, xiv, [4], [1] r.e.

Original green cloth binding. Leather label on the front cover with gilt title and grape motifs; similar label on the spine. Manuscript library notes at lower spine. Stamp ‘Frank Goodman, Jr’ to lower edge; top edge red. Manuscript note on the inside front cover, apparently in Goodman Jr.’s hand, covered by an applied ex-libris: ‘Sigillum Universitatis Californiensis, MDCCCLXVIII , Wine Research’, later cancelled with a ‘Surplus duplicate’ stamp. Folded leaves with synopsis preceding the title page. Attractive title page with decorative grape border. Blindstamp on title ‘Univ. of Calif. Medical School’; a few further marginal collector and library stamps. With technical illustrations in the text and a map of the wine-growing regions of the United States (p. 284). Fascinating copy from the University of California Wine Research Medical School Library and the library of Frank Goodman in fine conditions.

Dimensions (inches): 7.5 x 5 x 0.5
About the author

Philip M. Wagner (1904–1996), U.S. journalist and vintner; founder of Boordy Vineyards, pioneer of French hybrid grapes in America.

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