# Help me choose a wine kit!



## Newbie (May 13, 2010)

Any recommendations for a red wine that would be ok to drink in a few months? My better wines still aren't ready and I'd like something to fill the gap. 

I was thinking of either a malbec, valpolicella or sangiovese. Being in Canada, I can get almost any product line, ie. Vinco, Wineexpert, RJ Spagnols, etc. 

According to Vincos website, the Legacy series is a 16 litre, 6 wk kit:
"Valpolicella - This ruby red wine is fresh and dry with rich fruit flavours and is perfect to be consumed early."

Exactly how long is early? Am I better to go with a 10litre kit?


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## Tom (May 13, 2010)

If you plan on drinking in 3 months and you don't care of the quality get a entry level kit. Personally the wines listed would do so much better if aged. 
The Malbec and Sangiovese I bulk age almost a year . The Valpolicella I bulk age 1 year


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## cpfan (May 13, 2010)

Newbie:

After we moved from BC to Ontario we started (among others) a Ken Ridge Classic Merlot (10 litres) and a Legacy Valpolicella. My wife likes them both, and so do I. But if I have a glass of the Merlot then the Valpolicella I find the Val a bit weak.

When I ran an FoP, the KRC Merlot was our best seller. Why? Most of the customers really liked it at bottling, and liked it even more a month later.

Steve


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## Newbie (May 13, 2010)

I'd like to get the best quality possible that I can still drink in 3 mths. 

I tried a Kenridge Classic Cab last year that I was very happy with, it was drinkable after 3 months (when decanted) and it's gotten much better. I've tucked away a few bottles not to be opened for another year or two, to see how it changes over time.

The Cheeky Monkey brand sounds interesting, any comments on those?


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## cpfan (May 13, 2010)

Newbie said:


> I'd like to get the best quality possible that I can still drink in 3 mths.
> 
> I tried a Kenridge Classic Cab last year that I was very happy with, it was drinkable after 3 months (when decanted) and it's gotten much better. I've tucked away a few bottles not to be opened for another year or two, to see how it changes over time.
> 
> The Cheeky Monkey brand sounds interesting, any comments on those?


Customer feedback was that the KRC Cab needed more time than the Merlot.

Cheeky Monkey was new to the market when my store closed. We did make a few though. One customer and her out-of-town daughter loved the Chardonnay. Over the winter I made a Cheeky Gewurztraminer. I added the sweetening pack, and initially it was a bit too sweet for my tastes, but either I'm getting used to it or it's getting better. Usually I make them dry, but wanted to try one off-dry.

I usually make KR Showcase of Founders Series (or equivalent) but would definitely make the Classic or Cheeky kits as well under the right conditions.

Steve


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## mmadmikes1 (May 13, 2010)

? CPFan, why would anyone move from BC to Ontario? LOLOL...Never mind I figured it out, you wanted to move closer to the Vineco Plant in St Catherine


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## cpfan (May 13, 2010)

mmadmikes1 said:


> ? CPFan, why would anyone move from BC to Ontario? LOLOL...Never mind I figured it out, you wanted to move closer to the Vineco Plant in St Catherine


Granddaughter.

and the plant is about 20 minutes away.

Steve


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## Slyder73 (May 14, 2010)

My first 3 kits were WineExpert 10L kits; an Australian Shiraz, Sangiovese and a Sauvignon Blanc. I chose them because they could be ready fast. All three kits have been quite the dissapointment. They all taste like grape juice with that ever omnipresent "kit taste" that so many threads are about. 

I tend to believe those who attribute that terrible kit taste to the quality of the kit....which equals the amount of juice, which equals what you pay. Here is why.

My 4th and 5th kits were both Cellar Craft, one a 16L Rosso Fortissimo with grape skins, the other their Pinot Noir 16L kit (no skins). Those went into the bottles a month or so ago. I have to say that even at bottling time, those two kits had more flavour, depth, tannin, lasting aftertaste and richness than the three previous kits. Best of all, neither had that horrible kit taste. There is even a discernable difference between the Rosso with the skins and the Pinot Noir. 

The Pinot is good, but if you've had a little experience tasting wines, you can tell it is not going to have the "quality" of a good commercial Pinot Noir, even though it has the crispness, the peppery clarity (my own meandering descriptions) and a "real" wine taste that the earlier Wine Expert kits cannot even come close to. 

On the other hand, the grape skin Rosso Fortissimo has what I can only describe as "power". Even at bottling time and the test bottle that I opened 2 weeks after, it tastes like a commercial wine. There is no "kit taste", it has the qualities of a low cost wine at this point as it hasn't had a proper time to age and develop depth but it is good.

So...me being a complete newbie to this less than a year ago (though experienced with wine and had several kits made at the neighborhood brew on premises), will support wholeheartedly the more experienced members on here who have been helpful and informative. Many of those in many threads have said you get what you pay for. I have had my own experience and my own kits and have come to the conclusion that I will never make another kit that doesn't have skins. It is absolutely true that the more juice the kit has and the more skins it has, the better the quality of the wine that results. 

I don't mind waiting...some unfortunate bottles will be culled early on for "testing"  but the 6 months to a year or more doesn't seem so bad now that I've experienced what the difference actually is. My strategy, keep making wine!!!! In a year or so, my overlap of good, grapeskin kits will provide an ample wine cellar. I currently have a 16L Amarone kit with a 2.6L skin addition in the secondary. At racking time, I was impressed, it already had a better taste than the original 10L low cost, fast kits that I started with do after 6 months...and NO kit taste.

That is my opinion on your original post anyway.


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## Chateau Joe (May 14, 2010)

WinExpert Bergamais is a good kit to drink early. Its a nice sitting out on the deck wine.


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