Traditional Home Winemaking by Paul and Ann Turner (Foulsham, £8.99)

AUTUMN is probably the perfect time for any book on winemaking, when the trees, hedges and meadows are full of Nature's bounty.

But although the passing of summer is the time when many a person's thought turns to a groaning drinks cabinet, timed for the onset of the Christmas season, the authors are at pains to point out that it is easy to find ingredients to make wine all year round.

Usefully divided into seasons, the recipes use traditional ingredients and methods. These take longer than kits to mature, but the satisfaction of making your own concoctions from the hedgerows and seasonal gluts of fruit and vegetables make the waiting worthwhile.

Sparkling wines and meads are also included in this 126-page book which is illustrated in colour. It's these pictures that help to make it such a valuable aid for the beginner to master wine-maker. So what's keeping you? Dust down those demi-johns, now!

John Philpott