2002 C.J.J. Berry Obituary

[Source not recorded]

It is as though a chapter has closed in the annals of the winemaking movement with the death of Mr. Cyril Berry in Spain on the morning of Friday, 8th November 2002.

Cyril was a wonderful man, as anyone who knew him well will endorse. Without doubt he did more for the winemaking fraternity than anyone else. In fact there probably would not have been the unison of so many winemakers in Great Britain and overseas had it not been for his energy and acumen.

After World War II, when sugar came off the ration, Cyril founded the Andover Circle, which still flourishes today and of which he was still a member. Then Cheltenham, Bournemouth, Harrow and Hertford Circles sprang to life and gradually the bubbles of wine spread all over the country. Clubs learnt about each others’ events through a little magazine which Cyril and his dear wife Peggy produced in the upstairs bedroom of their house in Andover. This was for sale to Clubs at 6 pence a copy.

Cyril had an ebullient personality and energy which not only embraced his family and social life but also gave him the courage at a mature age to give up his safe, professional life as Editor of a local Andover paper in order to concentrate on producing the Amateur Winemaker magazine on a National scale. He also wrote the best-ever selling winemaking book ‘First Steps in Winemaking.’ Not only was the title very clever and appealing but it gave people the chance to make wines from fruits, flowers and vegetables in an easily explained manner. Yes, the recipes were ‘country’ style, often using a lot of sugar, but they gave the encouragement necessary to try them out and, in those early days, it was THE book to own. When a chicken was really a treat to be eaten just at Christmas and a bottle of wine had to be sought out and afforded only once in a while, the idea of making one’s own wine was very attractive. No rows of wine in Supermarkets then.

The main names at that time which readily come to mind after Cyril were Cyril Lucas of Bournemouth, Ben Turner of Harrow, ‘Andy’ Andrews of Hertford; they and some others got together to form a nucleus to start the National Conferences. A little later, after a Conference in Brighton, the Amateur Winemakers National Guild of Judges was formed (now N.G.W.B.J.) In those very early days Cyril was asked to assess vast volumes of competition wine at one sitting, which he manfully attempted. No wonder the Judges Guild was formed!

Clubs proliferated and prospered, friendships all over the country were cemented, winemaking graduated from granny’s country brew to commercial quality counterparts, all in essence due to Cyril Berry’s original initiative and drive. Winemaking queries were answered, informative articles published and Club News kept everyone informed. Someone once sent in to the Winemaker a recipe for a Yorkshire Pudding wine as a joke (Jack Dixon I believe – now no longer with us) and to keep the joke going Cyril printed it. He was taken aback some months later, however, when a member of the Andover Circle asked him to taste just such a ‘wine’! Many books associated with wine and beer making evolved from Cyril’s printing presses until he eventually retired and bought a holiday flat in Nerja, Spain, so as to enjoy the winter sunshine.

Although Peggy, Gay and Natalie, their daughters, and the grandchildren, were the heart of Cyril’s life, he found time for other interests such as gardening, viticulture, music and painting. He even had time to be on the local Council and received the honour of being Mayor of Andover at one time.

He was a warm, friendly, very special person, who will never be forgotten by those who loved and admired him – always with a smile and a joke on his lips – truly the Father of the winemaking movement. Blessed he was to leave us, sitting having a pre-prandial drink in the Spanish sunshine, but our heartfelt sympathies must go to Peggy and his family for his passing and the abruptness of this sad farewell. May he rest in peace.

2 thoughts on “2002 C.J.J. Berry Obituary”

  1. [Original comments…]

    Mike Smith – March 29, 2005 2:04 PM
    Just read your obit on C.J.J Berry here in bleak old England (UK). Fascinating. You speak with warmth and accuracy. I should know I married Natalie the younger of his two daughters, and tonight both my wife and Cyrils wife, who is staying with us for a few days over Easter read it too. Did you meet with Cyril? Did you visit Andover?
    Many thanks for the kind words. He is greatly missed. He had a larger than life personality and was a great strength within the family right up to the end, yet despit his many achievements was always so modest. PS First Steps in Winemaking is still as popular as ever. Regards Mike Smith.

    Alan – March 29, 2005 2:16 PM
    Hello Mike and thanks for this.

    I am not the author of the obit, merely a copier and I am sorry for not having provided the link to the source on the internet where I located it. It is, indeed a fine piece of writing which is why I copied it for my own record.

    …now I understand what I did. I found it only at Google, cached on its computer from a page on a website, http://www.nawb.org.uk/documents/obitcyrilberry.doc., which is no longer apparently available. The site “http://www.nawb.org.uk/” is the website of the National Association of Wine and Beermakers of which Mr. Berry was President in the 1960s. It was likely written by someone who knew your father-in-law. It may also be an entirely lasped website as it was last updated in 2002. I will correct my copied posting of the obit to link to this comment.

    As it turns out, I copied it to make sure it was not lost and am glad in doing so that it was saved for you, his family. By the way, I talked about your father-in-law at my beer blog in a post on another beer author, Terry Foster, and noted how CJJ Berry was one of the founders of the craft brewing revival which can be logically traced from his writings on homebrewing through David Line to the early stages of brew pubs in the USA.

    B. Green – November 3, 2011 7:08 PM
    Re: ‘Who are you?’; I live in Reading, England, and I googled ‘C.C.J. Berry’ because I have a few of his excellent books and I love making wine.

    Beer brewer – January 21, 2012 12:22 AM
    Another C.J.J.Berry googler here, beer brewer moving to the vine side of life.

  2. Hello, CJJ Berry’s books , I have two , got me started on wine making I love the elderberry wine recipes, however its the Home Brewed Beers & Stouts book the I use now to produce very palatable Ales.

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