# Best wine making kit



## Carling wine (Jan 21, 2021)

Hello everyone, I am new to the kit wine scene and I am on a quest to discover who makes the best wine kit. After calling around to a few local wine making stores I was told Vineco signature series is the best kit that you can buy. My wife and I are looking for a good red wine. Please let me know if you agree with Vineco signature series as the best kit money can buy. If not, please let me know what I should be looking at.


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## Bossbaby (Jan 21, 2021)

My question is what are you looking for in a kit wine and what did they say the huge difference between Vineco and other common kits? If they didnt specify they are simply just pushing the Kits they happen to be selling. It's a good question though it may be up to personal preference...


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## Carling wine (Jan 21, 2021)

Bossbaby said:


> My question is what are you looking for in a kit wine and what did they say the huge difference between Vineco and other common kits? If they didnt specify they are simply just pushing the Kits they happen to be selling. It's a good question though it may be up to personal preference...


What is your favorite kit?


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## NJWhino (Jan 21, 2021)

Carling - 

This is a tough question as it is up to your taste/preference and how you end up fermenting/racking/aging your kit (i.e. time/yeast/oak/no oak/degassing/etc). I have had EXCELLENT luck with the WineXpert line of kits.. Especially the Vintners Reserve kits from them. 

Good Luck!

NJW


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## sour_grapes (Jan 21, 2021)

Welcome to WMT!


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## Johnd (Jan 21, 2021)

In my opinion, the Most Mondale Meglioli kits are the best money can buy. They’re not cheap, and require years of aging, the wine is some of the best I’ve made from kits.......


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## pillswoj (Jan 22, 2021)

Johnd brings up an excellent point, how long are you willing to wait for the "best" to be ready for drinking? For red I do mostly the RJS EnPrimeur kits and they are excellent after 2 years aging, I have some of the MM Meglioli kits and they are not ready to drink yet at 2.5 years.

For a quicker drinking red I have been very impressed with the RJS Cru International Pinot Noir which is great at 6 months, as long as you like a Pinot Noir.


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## winemaker81 (Jan 22, 2021)

This raises another point -- each vendor makes multiple lines of kits of differing quality. For instance, WineXpert has 3 main lines:

Classic -- lowest juice/concentrate ratio, lowest quality
Reserve -- middle juice/concentrate ratio, medium quality
Private Reserve -- highest juice/concentrate ratio, highest quality

The word "quality" means with respect to the other lines of WineXpert kits. Most people who've made WineXpert like the brand, and all their lines make good wine. However, in general, the higher priced the kit, the higher the juice/concentrate ratio, the better the final product, and the longer it needs to age.

In addition, WineXpert makes:

Island Mist -- low alcohol wine with a fruit F-Pack, a "fun wine"
LE_yy_ -- each year limited edition kits of are sold. I believe these are equivalent to the Private Reserve or maybe a bit better.

R J Spagnols (abbreviated RJS on this forum) is of comparable quality and also has numerous product lines.

I've had success with both brands using all levels of kits.

IMO, make a few lower end kits first, then go with higher quality. This way you have wine to drink while the better stuff is aging.


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## Mike Parisi (Jan 22, 2021)

My first kit, and my favorite so far, is the Mosti Mondiale Nero D'Avola. It is an all juice kit, meaning it contains 6 gallons of juice, no need to add any water. It is also a very easy kit for noobs -- no grape skins to mess with, oak chips (and maybe dust) in primary.

Started drinking Nero D'Avola while visiting Sicily, where it originated, and it is one of my favorites. This kit is very drinkable early on and just gets better with age.


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## StreetGlide (Jan 22, 2021)

My .02. Like others said it comes down to time and investment, and what you like. The bigger reds like Cab Sauv, Zin, Syrah etc I don’t think your going to get “the best“ quality in anything but big kits with skins and aged a minimum of 18-24 months. I tried a RJS Red Trio that was about a year and it was good but will be very good in another 9 months. Same with the EP Super Tuscan good at a year but that one Iwont touch again until next Nov earliest. If you like Pinot Noir the RJS Cru Intl is very good at 1yr, drinking it as I type this.


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## szap (Jan 25, 2021)

The only kits I have done are winexpert and RJS. I have made very good wines with both but have done more winexpert than RJS. One that I would recommend looking at is Limited Editions that both brands put out annually. They are usually unique wines and we have been very happy with everyone we've made. Price wise they are in the upper tier for both brands.


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## Tipsy (Jan 26, 2021)

szap said:


> The only kits I have done are winexpert and RJS. I have made very good wines with both but have done more winexpert than RJS. One that I would recommend looking at is Limited Editions that both brands put out annually. They are usually unique wines and we have been very happy with everyone we've made. Price wise they are in the upper tier for both brands.



thats great to hear. My daughter and I are planning on starting to buy those limited edition kits to try and just split them. We just started our first on the weekend. Grenache Mourvedre. Hoping to pick up a Nerello when it comes in Feb. ( we missed the pre-order date). Nice to have some variety.


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## winemaker81 (Jan 26, 2021)

Tipsy said:


> My daughter and I are planning on starting to buy those limited edition kits to try and just split them


I made the LE2018 Corazon and Symphony/Gewurztraminer. Both came out very good -- I really like the Corazon and am fighting to let it age.

I'm not as happy with the Symphony/Gewurztraminer, but this is personal preference, not the quality of the finished product. This is my own fault as I did not read the description -- I didn't realize Symphony is a grape, all I saw was "Gewurztraminer" and ordered it.

Some years back I made one of the LE's and was not impressed but the 18's changed my mind.


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## JohnW (Jan 26, 2021)

Carling wine said:


> Hello everyone, I am new to the kit wine scene and I am on a quest to discover who makes the best wine kit. After calling around to a few local wine making stores I was told Vineco signature series is the best kit that you can buy. My wife and I are looking for a good red wine. Please let me know if you agree with Vineco signature series as the best kit money can buy. If not, please let me know what I should be looking at.



I started winemaking with the mid-priced kits. Other than the RJS Cru International Sangiovese Wine Kit I was never totally happy with how they turned out. Lately I stick to the top line kits like the WinExpert Private Reserve line. These all seem to be quite good. One thing I will add is that grape skin packs which come in some of the red kits seem to make a big difference in how well they age. Just make sure you have a container large enough to ferment the juice and grape skin packet like a 7.9 gal bucket.

Enjoy your new hobby!


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## mainshipfred (Jan 26, 2021)

Not kits but supposedly somewhat balanced are juice buckets. They are 100% juice but you get nothing else, maybe sometimes the vendor will throw in a packet of yeast. Although you can get frozen buckets they are for the most part seasonal and much less expensive than a kit even if you have to buy the yeast, sulfite and clarifying agents. A typical bucket will cost $50 to $60.


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## szap (Jan 26, 2021)

Tipsy said:


> thats great to hear. My daughter and I are planning on starting to buy those limited edition kits to try and just split them. We just started our first on the weekend. Grenache Mourvedre. Hoping to pick up a Nerello when it comes in Feb. ( we missed the pre-order date). Nice to have some
> Don't give up on not making the pre-order date. A few weeks ago my wife took a bottle of the Cape Blend, which is a 2019 LE kit, to a get together where one of the ladies begged us to split a batch with her. I had to do some searching but was able to find the kit online. Let us know how the Grenache Mourvedre turns out.


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## WinoDave (Jan 27, 2021)

I typically buy the expensive wine kits if I’m making a Red or White. I’d give a nod to the RJS premier kits over Winexpert because it seems most of their $130+ kits have a grape pack and lots of oak to add. Grape packs and oak packets in the wine kits are what makes a red wine taste better so look for those when your buying whatever brand of kit. If you want a sweet fruity wine, I’ve bought about every cheap island mist or orchard breeze kit there is and have never been disappointed. I add a 4 pound bag of sugar to add to up the alcohol % and these are delicious. These kits are in the $70 range. Also any Limited Edition wine that comes out seems to be really good also but once again with those I tend to buy the reds with grape pack and lots of oak.


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## bstnh1 (Jan 28, 2021)

I've had great luck with the lower and mid-priced Winexpert kits. Many of the whites can be very drinkable 6 months to a year after bottling. The reds at all price levels improve greatly with age. I've never managed to hang onto one for longer than 8 years, but the stray bottle of Cabernet from 2012 I found recently sure went down smooth!!


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## Tipsy (Jan 28, 2021)

bstnh1 said:


> I've had great luck with the lower and mid-priced Winexpert kits. Many of the whites can be very drinkable 6 months to a year after bottling. The reds at all price levels improve greatly with age. I've never managed to hang onto one for longer than 8 years, but the stray bottle of Cabernet from 2012 I found recently sure went down smooth!!



yeah we found some Cab Sav that my dad made in 2007 last year. It was so good. I think it was a Costco wine.


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