Early (but good) Drinking Kits

[TonyP]

Doug, thanks. I'm somewhat familiar with it but haven't had an instance to chapitalize as I've only done fairly expensive kits so I only do limited experimenting. Being someone who routinely misspells, I always assume others are as challenged.

 

[cmason1957]

I think you will be able to make a fairly decent everyday drinkable wine out of the winelovers kits. Not so sure you will make a best of show winning wine (and I use that term loosely), but it won't be a wonderful, super age worthy wine. As always with opinions YMMV and take it with the full shaker of salt, not just a few grains.

 

[joeswine]

Each kit of the same manufacturer can be slightly different that's a fact.
So to tell you what the difference are would be a quess.
No matter what kit you chose the main difference is you and your plans for it.
If you chose a Melbec for example check what the profile is and let that be your guide that's the long and the short of it.
Plan your process then work it.

 

[joeswine]

Ithink2020

We are here for you, always

 

[winemaker81]

@ithink2020, I have no experience with Wine Lover's kits. However, my experience with Winexpert and R J Spagnols kits is:

• Lower end kits make an acceptable table wine. Something to be proud of.
• Middle-of-the-road kits make a better wine, and are worth the money.
• High-end kits make an even better wine, but not enough to justify the additional cost.

YMMV

The best course of action is to experiment with kits to see what you like.

 

[laxarwolf]

I was looking at Winloversonline.com. Nice pricing and free shipping! How do the 11.5% kits compare to Vintner's Reserve? Or how do the 7% kits (tweaked: made to 5 gallons, capitalized, added raisins & oak) compare to the Vintner's Reserve?

I know it is subjective but would love everyone's thoughts.

Thank you!

I think when you're asking how did they compare you're asking about Flavor more than ABV? At least that's my take away from your comment. You should probably read the thread about tweaking cheap kits that Joe's Wine has been administering for years. It will change how you make kit wines. The winelovers kits are good kits they're not world class wines but you can make them excellent wines with some basic strategies. We enjoy Syrah/Shiraz, we enjoy the heart healthy benefits of a glass of red wine each day we don't enjoy drinking a 13.5% big I'll sexy wine every night. For our daily drinker, I generally grab the 7% kit, I add grape skins, I reduce the volume to 5 gallons and I end up with a 10% wine that is really with dinner. For me a big part of the fun of winemaking is improving the cheap kits. The home winemaking Channel on YouTube also has some neat ideas for improving cheap kits

I was looking at Winloversonline.com. Nice pricing and free shipping! How do the 11.5% kits compare to Vintner's Reserve? Or how do the 7% kits (tweaked: made to 5 gallons, capitalized, added raisins & oak) compare to the Vintner's Reserve?

I know it is subjective but would love everyone's thoughts.

Thank you!

They're very comparable. If you get yourself a 7% kit add grapes skins and reduce the volume slightly it makes a really nice daily drinker. I pretty much only buy cheap kits. If I'm looking to make a real world class wine I buy Frozen must. That's actually more expensive than a high-end kit, but a hell of a lot more fun. Not terribly worried about the cost of wine making because it's always cheaper than buying great wine, but I will say buying the 7% or 11% kits does help with justifying the purchase of $200 pails of Frozen must.

 

[ithink2020]

Just purchased the Winexpert Classic California Pinot Noir Wine Kit. Got it before Labelpeelers' sale ends tomorrow.

I decided I wanted to do a kit per the included instructions, before getting into tweaks. Someday I'll tweak a cheap Kit, just in the future.

Wife and I both like dryer reds, so we went with the Pinot Noir.

Thank you everyone for your input!

 

[joeswine]

This will is a semi dry wine kit adding tannins in the primary smooths out the finish.
Just my thoughts.

 

[ithink2020]

This will is a semi dry wine kit adding tannins in the primary smooths out the finish.
Just my thoughts.

Okay, I have to ask. How much Tannins?

UPDATE
Better yet, don't tell me, teach me. How do I determine how much Tannins to add into the primary of a kit wine?

Also, I read on Winemaker Mag that adding Tannins to kit wines is not advisable because "some red kits have a grape skin extract added to them as a color enhancer. Tannins will bind to this additive, pulling it out of suspension, leaving the wine a light pink colour.". How do you know if it is safe to add Tannins?

 

[TonyP]

Okay, I have to ask. How much Tannins?

UPDATE
Better yet, don't tell me, teach me. How do I determine how much Tannins to add into the primary of a kit wine?

I have three points to offer. I suggest you go back a read Joe's comment in post #16; it's excellent and perhaps the best advice you'll find. I also agree with Joe's last comment but suggest you not add tannins because of it and neither did he. Instead, (as Joe suggested in #16) find out about tannins and decide for yourself what you want to do then feel free to ask how to do it. So, I suggest getting ideas here, research to find out about them, then getting information here on how to implement.

There are several reasons why the wine you selected will be low in tannins. One reason is that Pinot Noir is lower in tannins than other reds on your list. Adding tannin may make your wine's mouthfeel preferable to you but may also make it feel less like Pinot Noir.

There's two kinds of questions here: process and characteristic. Process questions involve things like racking and stuck fermentations. Characteristic issues involve the character of wine, its features. Tannins involve character, such as mouthfeel. These issues are more personal in nature. Some like the feel of tannins, others don't.

 

[GaDawg]

Since you want to drink them sooner, rather than age, go with the lower to mid range price point, that's those that are

It's harder for me to give actual names, since WineExpert just changed the naming of their kits.
[/QUOTE
also look at the RJ Spagnols Orchard Breezin'kits

 

[joeswine]

Tannins in the primary to some are a waste, ( winemakers mag.). To some the tannins in the primary start to build the structure in the wines base (me) that it lacks as a kit process.
Especially in cheaper kits. I've tasted kits that had no structure that's dirrectly do to the base wines ( make up), you really don't know what's in the kits grape structure, so it's safe to assume to start to build.
Not all wines need tannins, that's not to say ( why not)! Experiment.

 

[ithink2020]

Thank for the information. I'm going to make the kit per the instructions. I can always do it again and tweak if we feel it is missing something.

 

[joeswine]

Correct