WineXpert Newbie Kit Selections?

[SPR]

Hi Guys

Im a new wine maker and have started at the higher end kits and currently have on the go or bottled
3x Selection Aus Chardonnay
Eclipse Barolla
Eclipe Stags Leap Merlot
Eclipse Lodi Ranch Cab Sav
Selection Shiraz Cab

I drink a lot of mainly red wine and having read various articles im thinking these reds need a lot of ageing?? Any experience on these ?
Also i was looking for any suggestions for early drinking Full Bodied reds?
I made the whites as i think these will be ready to drink much quicker

 

[Boatboy24]

Welcome to WMT!

Your Aussie Chardonnay will be ready much earlier then your reds - 6 to 12 months is good on most of the white wines I've done. Generally, 'full bodied' and 'early drinking' are mutually exclusive, though there may be exceptions. In my somewhat limited experience, even the high end red kits are 'drinkable' at about 6 months, but they change significantly by the 2 year mark and are worth the wait. I have an almost 2 year old Eclipse Barolo that is excellent. In contrast, I recently bottled the Stags Leap Merlot at about 1 year. It is good, but most definitely needs more time.

The trick early on in this hobby is to make twice as much as you think you need. That way, you can enjoy some early on, while still stashing a good bit away for aging.

 

[Rocky]

Hello, SPR and welcome to the Forum.

You have made some excellent kits to start your journey in this hobby. I have not made those specific kits but many similar ones. I would not expect the reds to be "good drinkers" for at least a year and a half to two years while the Chardonnay should be acceptable in 6 to 9 months.

Finding an "early drinking full bodied red" may be a fool's errand. I suggest that you are going to have to continue to patronize your local wine shop for a year or two. Good luck!

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome to WMT, SPR.

I certainly agree with the above statements. However, I can tell you which of my reds seemed to come around the most quickly. This was the WineXpert Selection International Argentine Malbec. It was drinking pretty well within a year. Others have reported (surprisingly) that the WE SI Australian Petit Verdot came around quickly. (Full disclosure: I have made this, and did not find that to particularly be the case.)

 

[ColemanM]

Hey SPR, welcome. I'll toss out a kit that may get some backlash as to early drinking but support on full bodied. If you could get the cellar craft Amarone, you could add some raisins and tannin during "secondary fermentation" (step two on directions
PS. You actually should make two of theses. One to age as well.

 

[SPR]

Thanks Guys

Ive been looking at the amarone having tried a 2006 bottle (commercial made) which was marvelous
Ill try the Cellarcraft but im also going to order the Selection kit which i think is one step back from Eclipse

 

[Brian55]

Thanks Guys

Ive been looking at the amarone having tried a 2006 bottle (commercial made) which was marvelous
Ill try the Cellarcraft but im also going to order the Selection kit which i think is one step back from Eclipse

The Selection amarone is quite unimpressive, especially when compared to the CC Showcase.

 

[heatherd]

Hi Guys

Im a new wine maker and have started at the higher end kits and currently have on the go or bottled
3x Selection Aus Chardonnay
Eclipse Barolla
Eclipe Stags Leap Merlot
Eclipse Lodi Ranch Cab Sav
Selection Shiraz Cab

I drink a lot of mainly red wine and having read various articles im thinking these reds need a lot of ageing?? Any experience on these ?
Also i was looking for any suggestions for early drinking Full Bodied reds?
I made the whites as i think these will be ready to drink much quicker

You're making high-end kits, so I would wait to drink the reds for at least a year. Doing otherwise would be akin to buying a fancy steak and eating it raw - you can do it, but the steak isn't at it's full potential.

That said, I did it when I was starting out and had a bunch of sunk time and costs and no finished wine to show for it! I tried to drink the whites rather than the reds, which helped.

I also made an early drinker for my first batch: island mist cranberry Malbec. Had I known what I know now, I would have put 2/3 the fpack into primary to make it stronger and dryer, without losing flavor. All those lower-end kits are meant to drink early, so if any are to your taste, they are a great (inexpensive) way to take the pressure off your aging ones.

Other options are things like dragons blood, skeeter pee, or hard cider. Check the recipe threads.

Good luck!

 

[SPR]

Thanks Heatherd

Im am also making beer/cider to ease the waiting but its not helping. Problem is im spending a fortune on kits and cant try them!!

Its also a bit of a gamble. I drink £10-15 french bordeaux wines which are pretty good from my wine merchant and i am also gambling that these kits will taste good. You guys are drinking the kits. Actually how good are they in general?

 

[sour_grapes]

I am looking at the same gamble as you. Now, take my opinion with a grain of salt, as I am relatively new; I have been making kits for two years now. I have been waiting until 18 mos. to start drinking, so I now have about 7 kits that have reached "drinking age."

My impression thus far is that the wine from these kits is vastly better than I could buy for the same amount of money (~$6), but is not nearly as good as commercial wines of the sort I would buy on my own (~$10-12).

I realize it is difficult to compare prices of bottles across countries, so let me just say that the cheapest wines you can get where I live are about $5, and you can get a number of marginal wines for $8 or $9; $10 or $15 gets you, with a few exceptions, a decent (not spectacular) wine.

 

[montanarick]

I'm facing the same issues with aging...i.e. trying to find something in a red that won't take a zillion years to be palatable. My first kit was RJS Cru Select California Pinot Noir, and it was delicious after 6 months aging. now that it's ten months old, it's superb. Only problem is that I only have a few bottles left to enjoy!

 

[heatherd]

My suggestion is to make four batches at once, and do so continuously. That is what I do and it helps build stock.

 

[SPR]

Thats what i am doing at the moment. I have 5 batches in at once to build a stock and was mainly looking for an early drinker.
I think the high end kits are going to take ages so maybe i need mid range that are drinkable within 6 months to keep my hands of the good stuff!
I think for a month or so i might keep away from the eclipses and go for the normal WE selections or try some of the others you guys have mentioned above