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So, I picked up that replacement kit at the end of March. It has been waiting in my basement for a spot in the lineup, which was going to happen today. Lo and behold, this one has also started to ferment in the bag. I will return it and get a Lodi Zin and call it a day. My rjs retailer still has...

Southern hemisphere fresh juice should be available soon!

Stir it. Worst case scenario is you have to add a second packet of yeast. Make sure that the yeast all finds its way back into the juice and does not stay on the side of your primary fermenter,or on your spoon.

It could be KT, but it could also be that kit wines are generally fruit forward. If the fruitiness reminds you of bubble gum, it is likely that you are sensitive to potassium sorbate. If you are not back-sweetening your wine, and your sanitation is good, you can skip the potassium sorbate. Do...

I found your #1 not believable, so I went there. You are in fact, correct. What a mess! Good luck getting answers.

You'll notice it says it's from the Languedoc region, which is a completely different wine grape growing region from Bordeaux. Blends in the Languedoc are called Vins de Pays. Since winexpert either doesn't know this or is using the misnomer to get away with using the term Bordeaux, I'm on a...

In addition to the advice provided by bstnh1, you may want to consider adding another dose of chitosan and give it a good stir.

Yes, on all accounts. The difference here is that we are talking about kit wines which, although easier to work with than grape or country fruit wines, do have their quirks. I didn't even know what wine diamonds were until I started making ultra-premium kits. To restate a comment I made years...

If you don't want to filter your kit wines, my experience is that a couple of extra rackings and a 90 day process seems to work. As for cold stabilization, that is a process to remove potassium bitartrates (wine diamonds) from the wine. While considered to be a fault, they are harmless and don't...

Don't forget to add the K-sorbate, or it will ferment back to dry. Sorry if I missed that part of the discussion.

My experience is that they take a couple of extra days to get get to. 992,but nothing like your nebbiolo. I always use a brewbelt until the wine is stabilized. You may have a problem.

For the first 5 years that I made kit wines, I never added the 1/4 tsp of k-meta, mainly because my wines did not last that long! However, my bottle tree has a bottle washer on top and I have always rinsed my bottles with a k-meta solution at bottling time. Still do even though I also add the...

In a continuation away from the original topic, I recently added 1kg of Saskatoon berries to a Malbec kit. It's still resting but early results are very promising. Has added body and tannins. Bottom line is it's your wine, add what you want. Be aware that when you drift far from the...

When the Eclipse kits came out, I would add the grapeskins to the must, sanitize my Hands and squeeze the crap out of the bag. It usually added .022 to the SG. I have not done that with a private reserve kit, but my initial SG has been in the 1.068 range, so you're not far off.

From your description, your wines are still quite young. Once they are 12-18 months old that will probably go away. As dessert and white wines are generally served chilled, you can remove from the fridge and uncork 15 minutes before enjoying.

Depending on the kit I'm working with, I may agree or disagree with your position. I made Selection Estate series kits, and the Eclipse kits were definitely an improvement across the board. Since the private reserve version launched, I have made the Stag's Leap merlot, Lodi ranch cab, Lodi Zin...

I'm wondering if you have oxidation or perhaps some other fault in your wine. Without questioning your analysis, I offer this description just in case : How you can tell: Oxidized wines lose their brightness, both in color and in flavor. Deep reds turn to a brownish-orange color and have a...

It's too bad that kit manufacturers don't frequent this important forum. Maybe they would take a step back from the brink!

Wow, that's a lot of CO2! You could (and likely should) literally "dump" all the bottles back into a carboy. Aging is not the issue; you need to stir the crap out of the wine to get rid of the CO2, then you'll need to add a little KSo and let it settle a bit. Make sure the carboy is full b4...