# WineMaker Mag Top 100 Kits



## Ron0126 (Nov 5, 2017)

Here are the top 10:

RJS Cru Select Riesling Ice Wine
Winexpert Cabernet Franc Ice Wine
RJS Orchard Breezin' Mist Peach Apricot Chardonnay
Winexpert Island Mist Coconut Yuzo Pinot Grigio
Vintner's Harvest Apricot
RJS Orchard Breezin' Roscking Raspberry Rose
RJS Orchard Breezin' Acai Raspberry Rapture
RJS Cellar Classic Winery Series Super Tuscan
RJS Cru Select Specialty Raspberry Mocha Dessert Wine
Winexpert Selection Limited Edition Italian Barbera
Interesting list.

They used UC Davis' 20 point scale and everything was completely blind. Judges only knew of the entry's tracking number and category and didn't know if it was made from a kit or fresh fruit.

Has anyone else received their copy?


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## sour_grapes (Nov 5, 2017)

Wow, surprising that only 2 of the top 10 were not novelty or specialty wines!


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## Ron0126 (Nov 5, 2017)

sour_grapes said:


> Wow, surprising that only 2 of the top 10 were not novelty or specialty wines!


Yeah, that's what I thought too.
15 of the top 25 were Dessert Wines, Orchard Breezin', Island Mist, or Vintner's Harvest.

Even Eclipse Stags Leap Merlot (#75) was surpassed by Winexpert Vintner's Reserve Merlot (#36), Mosti Mondiale Renaissance Old Vine Merlot (#49).

Looking by varietal, only TWO Cabernet Sauvignons, four Merlots, four Syrah/Shiraz, four Amarones, three Super Tuscans, three Chardonnays, ONE Sauvignon Blanc, two Gewurztraminers, four Rieslings ...
Don't know who the judges were. All it says is that they were "experienced." That could mean anything from Steven Spurrier to the girls from Chi Omega.


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## SouthernChemist (Nov 5, 2017)

What you can never tell from these lists is what the winemaker actually did when making the wine. Things like barrel aging or other tweaks can make a big difference.


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## Elizajean (Nov 5, 2017)

Wow, mostly sweet wines.


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## roger80465 (Nov 6, 2017)

Ron0126 said:


> Here are the top 10:
> 
> RJS Cru Select Riesling Ice Wine
> Winexpert Cabernet Franc Ice Wine
> ...



Seriously?!?!? It took until #8 to find a wine that is more than a soda pop wine. That is kind of sad really. Suggests this may be more of a list made for a marketing department than for a true wine drinker/maker. To me, this diminishes the value of the competition.


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## Elizajean (Nov 6, 2017)

roger80465 said:


> Seriously?!?!? It took until #8 to find a wine that is more than a soda pop wine. That is kind of sad really. Suggests this may be more of a list made for a marketing department than for a true wine drinker/maker. To me, this diminishes the value of the competition.


I know! I'm so surprised.


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## Hordak (Nov 6, 2017)

So what is 11-20? Can anyone post that list, maybe some normal dry wines show up there.


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## Elizajean (Nov 6, 2017)

Hordak said:


> So what is 11-20? Can anyone post that list, maybe some normal dry wines show up there.


11. RJS Black Forest dessert
12. WE VR Riesling
13. RJS toasted Caramel dessert
14. RJS Orchard Breezin Cranapple Chard
15. MM Meflioli Negroamaro
16. WE Red Velvet Dessert
17. WE IM Pomegranate Zin
18. WE Selection LE Super Tuscan
19. RJS en Primeur German Riesling Gewurtztraminer 
20. RJS Orchard Breezin Peach Perfection

Six of this group are specialty.


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## Elizajean (Nov 6, 2017)




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## Ron0126 (Nov 6, 2017)

roger80465 said:


> Seriously?!?!? It took until #8 to find a wine that is more than a soda pop wine. That is kind of sad really. Suggests this may be more of a list made for a marketing department than for a true wine drinker/maker. To me, this diminishes the value of the competition.


 Like I said, I think maybe the judge's ranks had just a few too many sorority girls ...


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## jgmann67 (Nov 7, 2017)

Ron0126 said:


> Like I said, I think maybe the judge's ranks had just a few too many sorority girls ...



Seriously. This is either a problem with judges or entries... how the WE LE Super Tuscan ranked so high is beyond me. My only disappointing wine in 20+/- kits.


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## Boatboy24 (Nov 7, 2017)

jgmann67 said:


> Seriously. This is either a problem with judges or entries... how the WE LE Super Tuscan ranked so high is beyond me. My only disappointing wine in 20+/- kits.



Yep - I'm not thrilled with mine either.

I find it a little more than interesting that only 6 of the top 20 are 'real' (aka: dry) wines. 6? And of those, two (#12 and #19) are probably not fully dry. Seriously? If I were considering making kit wines and looked at this list, I'd probably decide not to, assuming that the good ones tend to sweet wines and that 'traditional' wine styles don't do well in kits.


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## Johnd (Nov 7, 2017)

Boatboy24 said:


> Yep - I'm not thrilled with mine either.
> 
> I find it a little more than interesting that only 6 of the top 20 are 'real' (aka: dry) wines. 6? And of those, two (#12 and #19) are probably not fully dry. Seriously? If I were considering making kit wines and looked at this list, I'd probably decide not to, assuming that the good ones tend to sweet wines and that 'traditional' wine styles don't do well in kits.



Seems that they could do their readership a great service and at least break the competition up into categories, for a start, Dry Wines and Sweet Wines would certainly help.

I recall reading here, many times, from our commercial winemakers who sell to the general public, that their wines, when sweetened, sell better than the dry wines. I can't help but interpret that the "general public" probably prefers that type of wine. Since the judges in this competition preferred the sweet wines, their judges taste seems to represent that of the general public.


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## brewbush (Nov 9, 2017)

I enter this competition yearly, fun to get medals =P

I believe their list is calculated based on the number of entries that kit had coupled with the scores that they get. In the book that comes with the medals, there are hundreds of entries. So the list is a poor man's way of determining what is the "best" wine kit. I don't think it takes into account the kits that may have scored gold but not as many entries. 

There are 50 entry categories, they do seem to have differences in the categories that already separate sweet and dry. Many of the "dry" categories are won by traditional grape varieties.


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## Cibb (Nov 14, 2017)

I may have to try rjs super tuscan.

I will say the ice wines are a good value.


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## joeswine (Nov 17, 2017)

When the sweet kit wine's first came out they were directed at the female market,they succeed, last year a the Hammenton wine contest,the sweets took most of the gold in profressional judges awards , I took all the big red wine sets,9 out of 20 of which I would have won just the opposite ,the other part of the contest is the people's choice awards, same wine's I only won 1 award,it's all subjective.


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