WineXpert Sick of KT bad reviews on winexpert

Billy8998 said:

Hello all

I for one think winexpert red kits can make some excellent wines.

If your like me and sick of reading threads about kit taste and winexpert red kits being poor. Join me by bigging them up and give me a review of a winexpert red you have made with good results.

Happy brewing

Billy

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I just opened a few bottles of Vintners Reserve Merlot and everyone that tried it said it was great. I've never had a WE red that anyone said was other than really good.

kevinlfifer said:

I think one of the attributes of the WE kits is they need longer to age in the bottle. Most of the negative editorial comments usually relate to when those wines are consumed. I noticed that several of the winners in fairs or contests this year were WE kits and some were the VR series, but they were also Pinot 2009 or Cab 2008.

I have made 7 WE kit since Nov 2011, my first 5 kits ever were WE. The WV Cal. Pinot is all but gone, The Lodi OVZ is going to be great, but not yet, the VR Cad/Sauv is still not ready but it will be OK. The ES Du Roi is very drinkable if it breaths for 2-3 hours, as is the VR Zin/Cab blend. The WS Zin/Sz blend needs more time. It all boils down to timing.

The Paklab kits I've made are drinkable much sooner, but I don't think they will ever devolope the depth of the WE kits.

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I agree wholeheartedly! The WE kits I've made are much better when they sit in the bottle a lot longer than what WE recommends. Italian Pinot Grigio was pretty good at 9 months, but really great at a year and a half. I have a French Cab that's been in the bottle for 14 months. It's OK if you let it breath a couple of hours but it's not ready to face the world yet. Maybe at 24 months it'll make its debut. I don't usually consider evaluating anything I've bottled until it's at all least a year old.

Great thread. I personally am biased to RJ spagnols EP kits. It was funny, i did the WE australian shiraz kit and thought it tasted better at about 3 months then at about 7. Either way tho, I ordered two LE's from WE for this december so I will see what happens then. As of now i have done an RJS EP California Cab, EP super tuscan, and EP reisling gewertztramminer.

Wine kits

MY personal oppion is that the spagnol's kits are better in flavor and depth, winexpert kits are better priced at the intermittent ranger kit and deliver a consistently decent product at a price range as most of you know winexpert has supported me in making the high-end kits and they turned out great, either way if you think outside the box ,you can do anything with a moderate price kit as you would do with a high price kit.it just takes a plan.

TommBomb said:

Great thread. I personally am biased to RJ spagnols EP kits. It was funny, i did the WE australian shiraz kit and thought it tasted better at about 3 months then at about 7. Either way tho, I ordered two LE's from WE for this december so I will see what happens then. As of now i have done an RJS EP California Cab, EP super tuscan, and EP reisling gewertztramminer.

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Many of the RJS Winery Series are very VERY good!

For best results with WE kits you must age them the correct amount of time. They different varieties of kits should be aged different amounts of time based on the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) amounts in each type of kit.

I would refer you to the article from WineMaker magazine that was written back in Feb/Mar 2008 by Tim Vandergrift, Master Vintner and Technical Wine Making Advisor to Midwest Supplies (www.midwestsupplies.com)

https://winemakermag.com/90-big-kits-wine-kits

He gives a break down of how long at minimum you should age your wines by kit variation to maximize your end flavor. Such as the premium Eclipse kits with grape skins, they should be aged atleast 2 years to maximize the flavors. the instructions for all the kits always give the "minimum recommended" amount of age time for drinking them.

I have bottles from kits that are 5 years old and they are absolutely excellent! I hope this article helps everyone understand that there is a 'green wine" flavor until the wine has had time to mature. Patience is required to get the maximum from your kits.

Or just drink them at 9-10 months and recycle your bottles to the next kit that is being made.

The wines that are winning the gold medal etc are almost all aged atleast 2 years, no matter what kit brand. Below is a link to the 2016 competition results.

https://winemakermag.com/1569-competition?viewDesktop=true

Kinda like how you aged this thread?

DoctorCAD said:

Kinda like how you aged this thread?

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Hahahahahaaaaa! Awesome.

I'm one of those fortunate enough to NOT have very sophisticated taste buds. I've enjoyed every single RJS and WE red kits I've made from both the low and the high end. Low end kits get bulk aged 2 months and bottled aged 2 months before I start drinking them. 3 moths and 3 months for the higher end kits. I did start holding back a bottle or two from each batch for later consumption as recommended by several folks here on WMT. Believe I have a few reds that are now over a year in the bottle. Probably pop the cork on one this thanksgiving and/or Christmas.

Ps. The only kit wine I did not like was from a 23L MM kit. The bucket the juice came in has been used for my corkidor so I guess that's a plus.

I am with Billy on this. I have had very good results with WE kits (with grape packs, i.e. the reds in the Eclipse series and the Selection International w/ grape skins). I have also enjoyed their whites in the Selection series. I am not sure what "kit taste" is but if is in these kits, I like it. On the other hand, I find I do not enjoy the "winery taste" of many commercial wines.

I think a lot of so-called kit taste is psychological.

Have there been any case studies using a triangle test? It's a pretty simple thing to do to see if there is any statistical significance supporting the claims.

It's interesting to revive an old thread. I have switched to almost exclusively juice and grapes. The last kits I made was a WE Mezza Luna red and a 16L WE Barolo (added 5# Marquette skins). Both turned out quite nice. I did the kit Barolo in tandem with the juice and grape (Alacante) Barolo. The wine from juice, IMO, is drinkable sooner and has more flavor and depth if you give it time. I have 120 gal of Barolo and 120# of Alacante grapes coming this week.

Time to toast some oak.

I made the Selection Spanish Tempranillo w/grapeskins about a year and a half ago just before they discontinued it.

It is excellent.

I agree with rocky I never had a kit. Wine having a KT. Taste nor do I know what it would be like
If your sanitation is spot on then your kit with some aging
Should tasteas expected,depending on your prospective and taste profile.

I'm with Joe and Rocky. Dont know what kit taste is. I have made 100's of kits and sometimes they are a bit green or tart or young. This is 100% due to drinking a wine before it has matured. The only kits that can produce acceptable tasing wine in the time specified by the manufacturer are the mist type and that is due to the large F-pack that covers up the greenness of the base wine. Time is your friend.

cheers

I never had KT, had too young wine taste, but no KT.

Great info from Vandergrift Oldvines, thanks.

I had given up on kits cause they all taste like sh*t so far to me. I'm excited to revisit my kits as they move past 30 months and see what happens. My Eclipse Zin will hit 24 months shortly.

I have made some good wines from WE kits and can prove it with a stack of empty wine bottles! Some minor tweaks, longer time lines, and more time in the bottles have proven to be effective and good wines result.

Trying find time to start my first two kits with skins, but life schedules keep getting in the way!

Let it age!

I have tremendous success with WE kits - both reds and whites. The key is letting them age long enough. I age most reds at least 2 years and as long as 4 years. I made a French Cabernet in 2012 that was excellent by 2016. Whites I generally age at least 2 years, although a few have been really good at one year. I won't uncork a bottle to taste until it's been in the bottle for a year. If it's ready, fine. If not, I wait at least 6 more months before I try it again. Anyone drinking this stuff only 6 months after bottling must be guzzling down some pretty rough rotgut! Don't blame the kits for bad wine. It's what you do with the kit that makes it good or bad!