Welcome to WMT
* many of us start with a kit to see the mechanics
* oxidation is the biggest quality problem, to control oxidation we add campden tablets ( potassium metabisulphite) and use hardware as air locks and siphon tubes
* wine is made for crops where we have a glut and want to preserve them, above 11% alcohol is extremely safe, that said a hydrometer is useful to predict finished alcohol.
* EC Kraus on the web is an excellent place to find reliable recipes, all recipes build a product with about pH 3.5 (for preservative) and gravity of about 1.900 (for % alcohol)