Help with choosing kit

[Killa J]

I know this comes up a lot, but figured that I’d ask for help anyway.

So far I have made 2 cheap kit wines, batches of Skeeter Pee and Dragon’s Blood, and a few 1 gallon batches of fruit wine. I’m trying to decide what to make next. I’d like to stay at or under $100 for the kit.

I’d like to step up to a higher quality kit than the Fontana kits I’ve made. My original idea was to get one of the Mosti Mondiale 23L kits, but I read that they really need 2-3 years to age. I want something that is good at a year or less because I am moving around the middle of next year and don’t want to have a lot of wine to move.

My favorite commercial wines have all been Cabernet or Cabernet blends. I see a lot of people here make kits with wines I’ve never heard of, so I don’t know if I’d want to make one like that until I have a decent stock of wine I know I’ll like.

 

[Cibb]

For white wines I've found nearly all the kits have good taste and are drinkable at a young age. Red wines to be honest I've tried with and without the skins and found that an extended maceration time of red wines helps them be drinkable at a younger age. Long story short is red kits with skins tend to taste better earlier and hold up better long term as well. Unfortunately there aren't many red skin kits that can be had under a hundred shipped to be honest. I'm still new as well but Hope this helps. There are some far more experienced than myself so I'd wait and get more opinions.

Happy fermenting

 

[Killa J]

I’m just looking for red kits right now. My wife would love a Riesling or maybe gewurtzraminer, but she’s pregnant and not drinking for a while.

 

[heatherd]

Label Peelers is having a sale, I think, so you can get a Cabernet or Cabernet/Shiraz kit for around $90.
https://labelpeelers.com/selection-australian-cabernet-sauvignon-16l-kit/
Extra age will help this taste better.

 

[Killa J]

The Shiraz/Cabernet blend is at the top of my list, and that’s a good price.

One last question - is it better to get a kit with more juice or less juice plus skins or grapes?

 

[heatherd]

The Shiraz/Cabernet blend is at the top of my list, and that’s a good price.

One last question - is it better to get a kit with more juice or less juice plus skins or grapes?

Generally, the kits that have more juice require less water, so they are better in that regard.

Skins are good for reds. You can buy them individually from Mosti Mondiali and put in your red kits to enhance the body and flavor.
http://www.juicegrape.com/Mosti-Mondiale-All-Grape-Pack/

 

[Jasienic]

I know this comes up a lot, but figured that I’d ask for help anyway.

So far I have made 2 cheap kit wines, batches of Skeeter Pee and Dragon’s Blood, and a few 1 gallon batches of fruit wine. I’m trying to decide what to make next. I’d like to stay at or under $100 for the kit.

I’d like to step up to a higher quality kit than the Fontana kits I’ve made. My original idea was to get one of the Mosti Mondiale 23L kits, but I read that they really need 2-3 years to age. I want something that is good at a year or less because I am moving around the middle of next year and don’t want to have a lot of wine to move.

My favorite commercial wines have all been Cabernet or Cabernet blends. I see a lot of people here make kits with wines I’ve never heard of, so I don’t know if I’d want to make one like that until I have a decent stock of wine I know I’ll like.

I am choosing my wine kits following results of WineMaker International Amateur Wine Competition. So far, I am always very happy. I also discovered new great wines. See my thread https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/winemaker-competition-2018.65456/