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So my RJS Amarone Classico arrived, double boxed. I took it out of the first box, stripped the plastic covering off the top and sides and down to the bottom, then went to lift the box off the rest using the cutout handles near the top of the box. I suppose you can tell by the title what happens...

Great stuff! Any mention on length of the cold soak or if they add any enzymes during this period? It was mentioned that fermentation temps were a big factor. Maybe I missed it but did they say what those temps were (only made not of the cold soak temp above). Thanks again for passing all...

Keep in mind there can be a big difference between room temp and wine temp once fermentation gets rolling.

I’d suggest to try kits different manufacturers to see if you have a preference. I thought the WE Stags Leap Merlot was pretty good before I tried some of the RJS En Primere kits. I highly prefer the RJS kits but everyone’s preferences are a bit different so just try to get a feel for what you...

I’ve done the SLM 2x, one of the better ones but I now have bottles @2yr and at @4yr and they taste pretty similar. I’m not expecting the 4yr one to get any better. I think I’ve made my last WE kit and I have found the RJS high end kits to be much better.

Well...depends on how early you bottle [emoji57] I may be in the minority here but IMO most kit wines do not change significantly after 1 year. They change of course, but @ 1yr it’s 90-95% of what it will be at 3-4 years. Again, that’s my opinion anyways after 15 premium kits and 4 years...

I made this 2 years ago so still fairly young but I go back and forth on it. Sometimes I think it’s really good and other times I pick up the jammy tase that I associate with kit wine. To date the RJS Amarone Classico is the only kit wine that I have never found to have that.

Grabbed an Amarone Classico for $134 shipped. This remains the best kit I’ve ever made and likely the only one I’ll ever make again now that I’ve moved on to all grape wine.

Must have grabbed the last 2!

OP here. FWIW the RJS Classico is about 18m now and has turned out pretty good. It’s certainly head and shoulders better than any of the |~10 WE Eclipse reds that I make 2-4 years ago (still drinking).

Don’t see any issues with this as a lot of people reuse pressed skins. Only concern might be throwing the kit acids off balance. Never had a Brehm bucket but thought they were already crushed and destemmed?

I’ve made the SLM twice now. First without EM and second with. The non-EM one is about 3.5 years old and the EM is about 16mo. So far the EM one hasn’t made me think “I should do this every time”. Honestly not noticing a large difference from what I remember last time.

Interested to see what you think of these Brehm buckets vs. fresh grapes. I’m always wondering if the premium is more for quality or convenience? Starting a batch in December certainly does sound appealing!

What kind of kit? While it’s possible it was off I think that it’s more likely that your meter was off or you maybe didn’t add the correct mount of water. I’ve made about 25 kits and pH was always good and I don’t recall ever seeing a post here that kit ph was off that much.

I think the latter half of that thread has some questions if the high cost is due to convenience or superior quality. I haven’t seen anything to lead me to conclude it’s not primarily convenience but I have never actually tried it. Seems there is a fairly limited experience with those buckets on...

There is a ongoing thread on this: Fresh grapes vs Brehms must https://www.winemakingtalk.com/index.php?threads/Fresh-grapes-vs-Brehms-must.68639/

I haven’t tried a CC kit so wonder if they are better than WE and RJS. With labelpeelers and the unmentionable place down south having such good deals on WE and RJS I guess I just stuck with those. Who has the best deal in CC?

I also find the RJS kits to be better than the WE Eclipse, though I still feel that it’s not quite like all grape wine. Something a bit off. Sometimes I forget about it but am reminded after having some decent commercial wine. While I wish you the best of luck with those WE Eclipse kits over...

Yes, I think this is exactly what I am getting at as the heart of the question for me: Is the premium you pay for a Bhrem (or other) premium bucket a marked increase in quality over fresh grapes or only/mostly in convenience? The convenience is significant: -crushed -destemmed -available year...

I guess what I was saying is that this is kinda like spending $260 to by leather to make the redwing boots by hand rather than just buying the boots for $260 [emoji848]. Typically the raw materials are cheaper than the final product but there is a availability factor here as you mentioned...