If you haven't visited The WineMaking Pages yet (see Wine Making in Southampton), you really should. Tom How and Alec Harkness have done to winemaking what Penn and Teller have done to magic, i.e. they've painted it with an undercoating of irreverence while still delivering the essence of what is advertised. It's a delightful, tongue-and-cheek read, but it still manages to be educational.

The Southampton philosophy is simple and can be phrased as follows (my apologies to How and Harkness if I get it wrong!):

• Winemaking can be both easy and cheap. Or, you can make it just the opposite.
• You can master the technicalities, or simply master the techniques. Remember, the objective is to make wine.
• Make as much as you can so that some of it has a chance to mature. Mature wine tastes pretty damned good, but young wine tastes pretty damned good too, if you drink enough of it.
• When you make an exceptional wine, it's nice to remember how you did it. That's pretty unlikely.

At Winemaking, we admit that there is a certain attraction to the Southampton philosophy. Good wine can be made easily and cheaply. But mastering the technicalities allows true mastery of the techniques, so we think this is advisable, even if not essential. Aging does improve wine, and self control is as essential in husbanding one's supply as it is in making the stuff. And of course, our position is that you can remember how you made that exceptional wine -- if you follow established recipes and make notations when you deviate. If this spoils the fun of it, then you really do belong in How and Harkness' camp.

In either case, both this and their web sites are dedicated to making good wine. I'm sure they'll agree and join me in inviting you to join us. There's wine to be made, so let's get started.