Vintners Reserve Australian Shiraz

[JD25]

This forum is great. AsI mentioned before, I'm close to bottling my first kit wine - Piesporter. I'd like to start a kit red, possibly as shiraz or merlot. Two questions:


1)Do you recommend any particular brand of shiraz or merlot?
2) Do I need any special equipment for reds, as all i have currently is the starter kit.


Thanks in advance for your input.


JDEdited by: JD25

 

[grapeman]

Like all kits, there is extreme variability as to price, quality, body, etc. You need to decide how much you are willing to pay and what you expect in return. You won't make a $50 bottle of shiraz with one of the cheapest kits, but would you spend that kind of money on one? If you think a $7 bottle is good enough for you, then get one of the cheaper kits. If you are used to spending $15 or more on a bottle, you better get a higher end kit. I personally like the WE Australian Caberenet/Shiraz. It has a fair amount of oak, lots of juice and a good structure to it. Very fairly priced, but not the cheapest.

 

[JD25]

Thanks. It's worth it to me to spend the extra few bucks and get a higher end kit, but not the highest since I probably wouldn't know the difference. Medium bodied is good.


Anything special I need to have outside of the starter kit?

 

[Waldo]

Welcome to the forum JD. Not sure which starter kit you got but if you got it from George, regardless of which kit you got you need to get him to send you immediately about two of his biggest packs of "patience". I don't know why that rascal won't include it in all his kits but he just will not do it.


Seriously, as you progress and know for sure you are going to enjoy this hobby and continue it there arte lots of toys you will need..or at least you will convince yourself you need them. Until then, start on a wish list and enjoy your first kit.

 

[pkcook]

Yes, Waldo is correct! <?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />

George forgot to add a "good sense of humor" to my first kit as well, but I picked one up cheap from ebay! I can tell you that you will make some mistakes, like starting a wine volcano when using the drill mounted degasser for the first time or adding 1/2 a gallon of k-meta solution to a primary full of fresh juicebefore you realized that it WASN’T bottled water. Both were tragic at the time, but very funny to look back at! This is a great hobby that is full of surprises. ENJOY ALL OF IT!

 

[MikeC]

JD,
I had a similar question about equipment and had some excellent responses regarding additions to the starter kit. The link for the thread is http://www.finevinewines.com//Wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2798


Hope this helps!