You're wrong on this point, as we have numerous members who specifically make their own wine to save money. Read the Tweaking Cheap Kits thread from the beginning, and also look at the new members forum. Check the Country Wines forum -- a lot of members make only that which they can forage, some simply because they can, and other for cost reasons.
Some folks make kits because it's all that is available to them. I switched to kits in the mid-90's because the grapes I could get were low quality.
Some folks have access to grapes but don't have tools such as crushers and presses. Those are expensive items which have to be stored the 11.5 months of the year they're not in use.
There are more reasons for winemaking than there are active members on this forum.
Emphasis mine. It's not a fair comparison. You make 1 wine and you're comparing it to potentially hundreds or even thousands of wines. I can easily find a dozen wines that will beat my best.
Are you fairly judging your own wine, or are you being your own worst critic? Make sure you're being fair to yourself.
[This is coming from a guy who has to watch his self criticism.]
That said, kit quality makes a significant difference. The kits I purchased in the 90's and 00's were FAR below today's kits in quality. I think the Wine-Art kits were about 3/4 gallon concentrate -- the boxes were tiny compared to today's low end kits.
The WE Reserve kits I made for my son's wedding reception compared well to $8 to $15 USD wines. I barrel aged a FWK Forte Super Tuscan for a year, and you'd not know it's a kit.
Which raises the point that winemaking technique matters greatly. Comparing a kit wine that was aged on oak cubes to a commercial wine that was 30% to 100% barrel aged is an unfair comparison.
Is the new FWK worth the price? I 'spose that's a personal decision.
