Finer Wine Kit red wine kit taste

[Cibb]

It has been some time since I've made wine as we moved and other things.

I'd like to get back into wine making and a lot has changed. I will admit I've been underwhelmed by red wine kits in the past. Mostly I've always had a bit of an off taste to them, chemically is how myself and others describe it.

How is the body on the new wine kits and how does Finer compare to say a 10 dollar bottle of say 19 crimes or something similar.

 

[winemaker81]

I've made one Winexpert Cabernet Sauvignon since they re-did the concentrate process, and I was very pleased with it. No KWT.

I've made 8 FWK reds and am very pleased with all. We have had a few people displeased with FWK, but the vast majority of folks reporting on the brand has been pleased. Two of the kits were the Tavola line with no skin packs -- they're lighter bodied and quicker drinking. If you want heavy body, go with the Forte line which includes 2 skin packs.

 

[Cibb]

Thanks for the information Bryan. I was planning on the forte line anyway. I normally did the LE kits previously and I found the white wine kits to really come out great but red wine kits simply had a bit of that odd taste and were not very good. I'm mostly looking to product a 10-15 dollar bottle taste if you will.

 

[GretchenR]

I did my final Winexpert Lodi Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon comparison tasting. In 2020, right when they were changing to the new process, smaller kits with more concentrate and less juice, I made one of the old style and one of the new style at the same time, so exactly the same conditions and timing and everything. This week I tasted them again side by side to see if the new process made a better wine. The answer, to my palate, is no. The old process wine is rounder, fuller, and more balanced. The new process wine is thin by comparison and tastes sharp and maybe acidic, not well balanced at all. The good news is that after all this time, neither one of them has the dreaded "kit taste." But, again to my palate, my Finer Wine Tavola Cabernet makes a better wine than either one of them. Also, in case someone from Winexperts is reading this, their new process Washington Riesling can't hold a candle to their old process Washington Riesling. I still haven't found a kit that makes as good a wine as that old Riesling kit. So I basically don't buy Winexpert kits anymore because I think their new process made their quality worse.

 

[Rice_Guy]

they were changing to the new process, smaller kits with more concentrate and less juice, I made one of the old style and one of the new style at the same time, so exactly the same conditions

There will be organics that volatilize in the concentration process.
Having less water some of the acids and minerals will reach the point where they aren’t soluble any more.