Kit Wines vs. Pressing Fruit vs. Canned Fruit Concentrate

[aljohnson85]

I am pretty new to winemaking, getting ready to bottle my first kit wine this weekend. I am just wondering the pros and cons of kit wines, to doing everything on your own (including pressing the fruit), to buying the canned fruit.

I started with the wine kit to get a feel of how the whole process goes and I think I have the hang of it to move on.

Is it cheaper to buy the canned concentrate and then buy the other ingredients in bulk? I plan on having a few batches going at a time so it wouldn't be a problem to buy the other items in bulk. Does this process result in better wines than the kits.

Or is it better to press your own fruit and go that way?

Looking for pros and cons of each and which you guys prefer!
Thanks!

 

[dubsession]

As far as using wine kits and the canned fruit/juices for wine making, I've never used either one of them. To be honest, it depends on the type of wine you wish to create and whether or not you can actually "press" it for its juice. A true wine is made from 100% fruit juice, but wine made with water is also very good. I would say it depends on the type of fruit/vegetable you decide on using would determine the method of producing it. If you don't have fruit in bulk easily (or cheaply) accessible, it won't hurt to find out what days your local grocery stores get produce shipments in. Being a regular shopper and talking with some of the employees that work with produce will more than likely help you out a great deal with fruit that is on the verge of going bad within the next 1-2 days that no one else wants. Rather than them throw it away, I'm sure they would give you a great deal on a bulk of fruits if they can still make a penny off of it. The question I ask myself before making a new batch is, "What fruits or vegetables do I like but haven't made wine from yet?" My next experiment will be making mint wine, although I've never dealt with herbal wines before.

Edit: Sorry, but I can't give a completely list of the pros and cons for each, but I have noticed that the canned fruits for wines at my local brew store are quite expensive for the small amount you receive. If you have a press and nylon mash bags you can dive into both worlds dealing with fresh fruit/vegetables/herbs.

 

[Kraffty]

As a rookie with my 3rd and 4th kits, nectarine/strawberry from scratch, blackberry from canned fruit, grape/pineapple from scratch and Merlot from pure juice all currently in progress I say experiment with all for a while. You'll keep gaining experience, find out what you like and what suits you best. Cheaper and better seem to be two different animals, you'll have to try them to find what's best for you.
Mike

 

[Rocky]

Al, welcome to the forum! Glad to have you aboard. (You are not from Quincy, MA by any chance, are you?)

I have made wine from fresh fruit, kits, juice buckets and concentrates. In answer to your question, in my opinion, the best wine is made from top quality fresh fruit, ceteris paribus! The problem as I see it is that the ceteris are rarely paribus. While fresh fruit, say grapes for example, to me make the best wine, they also require much more work, more equipment, more time, more space, in some cases more money and make more of a mess. While many people feel this is worth it for the better quality, in my advanced (old, over-weight and lazy) years I no longer feel that way. I feel I can make a very, very acceptable wine from a top quality kit or juice buckets (with a little free lancing in the recipe) and avoid all the hassle, so that is the way I go.

I think it is great that you started with a kit just to become familiar with the process. I have no idea which kit you chose, but I recommend getting one of the better quality kits, e.g. the RJS Winery Series or En Primeur lines, the Cellar Craft Showcase Collection or the Mosti Modiale Meglioli line. All of these are large kits with at least 16 liters of juice and some kind of grape pack or skins. Get a couple of these under your belt and then if you want to try fresh fruit, go for it.

Good luck!

 

[jensmith]

I make fresh fruit wines for several reasons. I like fruit wines better then grape wines. I like dry wines that do not taste artifically flavored. The store bought wines I like cost $16-23 each. I am broke so they are out of my price range. I can get fruit quite cheep to "free". 5 galeons cost me about $10 to make, if I drink it and not bottle it!
I do not press/juice my fruit, I chop it and ferment it whole. I have bought at full price fruit for my wine. That brings my cost up to about $40- $50 a batch.
I have not tried a kit yet. I would like to, but have not run out of fruit yet. I did try canned fruit. That worked out well. I have used apple cider, that is as close as I have gotten to using straight juice. I have made one batch of grape wine from the neighbors grapes, and have enough for several more batches. Grapes are more work then stone fruit or berries, but not bad.
I have done a ginger root mead and a mint wine. Mixed fruits make my favaorit wine. Just toss in whatever is handy, add suger, water, ect, and you are good to go!

Ok, getting to the point.... It is all good! Make wine anyway you can and as often as you can out of anything you can get your hands on!
It is all a matter of what works for you and what you have avalible. If you are good about following directions try a kit. ( I have never been good at following directions ) If not, read lots of recipies and wing it!

 

[Rocky]

Just to clarify, when I say "fresh fruit" I am including (and mostly meaning) grapes. The only other fruits that I have made wine from are cherries and blackberries.