Finer Wine Kit Finer Wine Kits

[bstnh1]

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 make a lot of chardonnay and for my money, the Winexpert chard is somewhat better than the FWK. I can't really put my finger om it, bit the WE chard just tastes better. FWK chard is not bad - it's just not as good.

 

[Codfish]

Has anyone tried the Williams Brewing 5 gallon wine kits?All my 6 gal. carboys are full but I have 3 empty 5 gal. ones.

 

[Shurt1073]

My 2023 order was a FWK Tavola Syrah for $77.87 and Pinot Noir $93.07 plus $35 shipping for both kits. Prices have gone up on everything I enjoy including making wine!

 

[Rocky]

Has anyone tried the Williams Brewing 5 gallon wine kits?All my 6 gal. carboys are full but I have 3 empty 5 gal. ones.

Yes, I have made their Muscat on several occasions and I was very pleased with the results. What drove me to Williams Brewing was that I needed a Muscat (which I blend with Zinfandel in an old family recipe) and there were no other straight Muscat's available at the time.

I will point out that I have never made one of their red wines and probably would not in the future. This is due to my belief that red wines need time on the skins and the Williams offering does not provide this. I would, however, have no problem trying their Chardonnay, Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc, although I feel there are more desirable options for all those varieties from other suppliers.

 

[Rocky]

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 need to issue a correction to this posting.

The FWK whites that I made and discarded were not Chardonnay's, they were a Sauvignon Blanc and a Moscato. Sorry for the mistake. I was re-reading my post and it occurred to me that I do not even like Chardonnay's and I wondered why I have purchased two kits. I went back through my orders from Label Peelers and found the correct wines. That clarified, I stand behind everything else in the posting.

 

[Codfish]

Yes, I have made their Muscat on several occasions and I was very pleased with the results. What drove me to Williams Brewing was that I needed a Muscat (which I blend with Zinfandel in an old family recipe) and there were no other straight Muscat's available at the time.

I will point out that I have never made one of their red wines and probably would not in the future. This is due to my belief that red wines need time on the skins and the Williams offering does not provide this. I would, however, have not problem trying their Chardonnay, Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc, although I feel there are more desirable options for all those varieties from other suppliers.

Thank you for the reply.

 

[szap]

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.

I've made some of my best wines with the Finer kits but unfortunately this seems to be a common practice with LP

 

[Ted Brumleve]

Has anyone tried the Williams Brewing 5 gallon wine kits?All my 6 gal. carboys are full but I have 3 empty 5 gal. ones.

I am a big fan of Williams for Pinot Noir and Petit Syrah. 5 gallons of each aging now. Have made multiple times since 2014. Concentrated juice now come in plastic bags instead of cans. The Cabernet and Merlot were both OK. Didn't care for their Chardonnay.

 

[JBP]

I am sure this has been asked already although not finding it anywhere. I started a FWK Bordeaux (Forte) last weekend, adding the yeast starter Monday am. OG 1.105. Stirred/pushed down skin packs on Tuesday pm (tons of activity, foaming, as per usual) and got distracted yesterday (Wednesday) by work. Went to punch down and add nutrient packet today, although the SG is already at 1.010. Is it too late to add the nutrient packet?

 

[Jovimaple]

I am sure this has been asked already although not finding it anywhere. I started a FWK Bordeaux (Forte) last weekend, adding the yeast starter Monday am. OG 1.105. Stirred/pushed down skin packs on Tuesday pm (tons of activity, foaming, as per usual) and got distracted yesterday (Wednesday) by work. Went to punch down and add nutrient packet today, although the SG is already at 1.010. Is it too late to add the nutrient packet?

I would skip the nutrient pack if the SG is that low. The yeast don't need it anymore as they are past the replication process where they use the nutrients, and are just in the work part of their cycle.

As I understand it, nutrients are valuable up until about 1/3 of the way through the fermentation process. You're way past that at this point.

 

[JBP]

I would skip the nutrient pack if the SG is that low. The yeast don't need it anymore as they are past the replication process where they use the nutrients, and are just in the work part of their cycle.

As I understand it, nutrients are valuable up until about 1/3 of the way through the fermentation process. You're way past that at this point.

Thanks - that is what I thought and I really appreciate the explanation underpinning it.

 

[winemaker81]

Yesterday my son brought a bottle of FWK Riesling he made a couple of years ago. We bottled it with a bit less than half of a conditioner pack, which at the time seemed enough. However, 6 months later the wine was sharp enough that he wished he'd added more sugar.

Time has changed it for the better. The acid mellowed completely and it's very good. I'm not a Riesling fan, but this one is good.

 

[Bmd2k1]

Yesterday my son brought a bottle of FWK Riesling he made a couple of years ago. We bottled it with a bit less than half of a conditioner pack, which at the time seemed enough. However, 6 months later the wine was sharp enough that he wished he'd added more sugar.

Time has changed it for the better. The acid mellowed completely and it's very good. I'm not a Riesling fan, but this one is good.

I'm hoping my FWK Chardonnay ages exceptionally well -- as I wasn't a fan of it at bottling --- somewhat harsh compared to other Chard's I've made using same protocol. Time will tell. ;-)

On the flip side -- my FWK Zinfandel I just bottled is absolutely delishhh! (2nd time making this....)

Cheers!

 

[DavesWine]

Label Peelers has a 40% off everything sale including FWK. The past couple years they've had a better sale to help clear out inventory on their wine. Just gauging everyones thoughts if you think this is probably the sale this year or there might be a better one coming soon. I'm hesitating as I want to get a couple more going but I was waiting for their clearance sale.

 

[wineview]

I don’t ever remember seeing more than 40% off sales on wine kits.

 

[DavesWine]

Two years ago they had a BOGO sale on FWK. Last year I believe it was buy one on sale and get second half off. Both times they did this in May.

 

[bstnh1]

Label Peelers has a 40% off everything sale including FWK. The past couple years they've had a better sale to help clear out inventory on their wine. Just gauging everyones thoughts if you think this is probably the sale this year or there might be a better one coming soon. I'm hesitating as I want to get a couple more going but I was waiting for their clearance sale.

You probably will not do much better than the 40% off sale. If they do a better sale, it will not be significantly better. I'd jump at this one. The BOGO sale you mentioned only amounted to 25% off each kit.

 

[wineview]

It’s all smoke and mirrors. In May of 2023 I purchased a FWK Petite Sirah for $90.26. This May with 40% off it’s $120.81. Quite a difference.

 

[winemaker81]

It’s all smoke and mirrors. In May of 2023 I purchased a FWK Petite Sirah for $90.26. This May with 40% off it’s $120.81. Quite a difference.

Not necessarily so. Inflation since the beginning of COVID has been ugly.

This doesn't mean I trust any entity to be honest, but some things are beyond control.

 

[bstnh1]

Not necessarily so. Inflation since the beginning of COVID has been ugly.

This doesn't mean I trust any entity to be honest, but some things are beyond control.

True, inflation has been very high. But when a price increases 50% or more, it's greed and price gouging on top of inflation. Some of the grocery price increases are just plain ridiculous.