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Oh no! A Bordeaux blend and two Super Tuscan are on the way. I was a little bit surprised that SWMBO agreed to that much, but she really likes both of those wines. Woo hoo, I'll be up to six carboys in the basement! That's way below what I have had in the past.
 
Oh no! I purchased the Sonoma Forte last week and now it is $20 cheaper. I'll make a note to wait for the big sale next spring, before I purchase any FWK.
 
Almost pulled the trigger on some more FWK today but i feel like its time to take a break from FWK and go a different route. Ended up spending more money and went with RJS en primeur amarone kits to fill my barrel. These are in the queue to be my third batch through the barrel.

I really like a big amarone and I'm hoping these oaked in a barrel don't disappoint. I suspect this will be a 2 to 3 yr wine before we drink it (maybe longer). Hopefully it doesn't suck. Lol
 
Oh no! I purchased the Sonoma Forte last week and now it is $20 cheaper. I'll make a note to wait for the big sale next spring, before I purchase any FWK.
They've run sales in the spring the last 2 years. That's how I ended up making Frutta Strawberry and Blackberry -- I saw the sale, dithered for 6 hours, then everything I wanted was gone!
 
I have watch many of the sellers of wine and beer kits. just wait. There will be a sale sometime. then stock up. Remember that Label Peelers had that buy 2 get one at 75% off three weeks ago. now they have the 37% off a single kit (or that 43% few of us can get). More Wine have a weekly special. Others have theirs at different times. It is like buying pop, coke, or soda at your local grocery stores. One has Pepsi on sale. Another has Coke. 5 weeks later, the opposite occurs. Yes, it takes going to the sites often, but that is the fun. I have seen a one-day sale at 45% off on the MoreWine site for a single wine kit. I have noticed that this occurs every few months. Walmart had a Wild Grape kit for $39.99 (6 gal) for a white. I bought it to add additional fruit flavorings for summer drinking.
 
Curious what folks think about the FWK whites? Just bottled my first white (Chardonnay) -- and at this point it's seemingly just OK at bottling -- and not as good as Chard's from other companies. Will wait awhile to pass final judgement.

Cheers!

ps >> have been thoroughly impressed with all the FWK reds I've made to date! ;-)
 
Curious what folks think about the FWK whites? Just bottled my first white (Chardonnay)
I recently finished the last bottle of pre-carbon Chardonnay and am down to 1 bottle of post-carbon Sauvignon Blanc. In hindsight, both are aging better than other whites in recent years, but both have a heaviness to them that isn't as pleasing.

Having had whites fermented on the skins, I'm wondering if the concentration process used by FWK's vendor produces a result that is closer to that than the juice-like concentrate produced by other vendors.
 
Curious what folks think about the FWK whites? Just bottled my first white (Chardonnay) -- and at this point it's seemingly just OK at bottling -- and not as good as Chard's from other companies. Will wait awhile to pass final judgement.

Cheers!

ps >> have been thoroughly impressed with all the FWK reds I've made to date! ;-)
Bmd, I have made wine for many, many years and in all of those years I have only dumped 2 carboys of wine because they were undrinkable and not even good enough to make into vinegar. Both were FWK Chardonnays, one without the "carbon fix" and one with the "carbon fix." I have not and will not try any other FWK whites. It is my view that there is something in the process that they use for their white wine which requires a remedy (charcoal) to overcome.

Further, making "kit" whites does not, in my opinion, produce as good a white as buckets of juice, widely available in my area in both Spring (from South America, South Africa and Australia) and Fall (from California and Europe). In addition, making wine from juice buckets seems easier to me. Lastly, buckets of juice are very close to the production process used by the majority of wineries, i.e. crush, destem and separate the juice from the skins immediately then into fermentation tanks.

I do, however, agree that the FWK reds are very good wines and the equal of the best kits I have ever made.
 
I've only made 5 FWK whites, a Chard and a Sauv Bl (both pre-carbon fix), a Sauv Bl, a Cheverny and a 4 Blancs (all Post carbon fix) I've never been a big fan of Chardonnay and there is something about the FWK Chard that tastes a bit off. I don't know if this is due to the fact that it's re-carbon fix or not. As I recall, the Sauv bl, while the color was off, the taste was fine. Cheverny and 4 Blancs both kind of flabby and alcohol forward but they haven't been in the bottle very long so that could change. The post-carbon Sauv Bl is rich, well balanced, not overly acidic. It just invites you to swish it around in the mouth and has a really long finish.
 
FWKs on sale at Lablepeelers today with "free" shipping. However, don't expect to save any money. The kits are 20% off, not the usual 40% or so and that more than nullifies any savings on the shipping cost - at least for me where I pay around $20 for shipping.
My thoughts exactly. I looked to see what I paid on the 40% offer compared to free shipping and it’s not even close. The kit prices are extremely high.
 

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