Hello from Northern New Mexico!

Just wanted to stop by and introduce myself!

I just placed my first order for grape juice and a few extra supplies and am very excited to get going on my first batch. I am a native Texan (San Antonio) that escaped 25 years ago and moved to the cooler drier climes of Northern New Mexico (just outside Santa Fe). Looking forward to hanging out and learning from you guys.

Does anyone have a favorite Red kit for a newbie?

What do you like to drink? That would be the best choice! However you really can't go wrong with the Mosti Renaissance Amarone. I recommend you try to get a variety of kits going, some quick drinking and some longer aging. This kit is one that falls in the middle, its pretty good at 6 months and just gets better and better.
What kit did you order? Welcome to the forum!
VC

Welcome to the forum! My favorite red kits to date are the Cellar Craft Red Mountain Cab and the Walla-Walla Merlot. They are fantastic. I have several more aging and will report back when they are ready.

I never met a red wine I didn't like.........

I ordered a WE VR Shiraz because I just had no clue what to order. My only guideline was to start off with an inexpensive kit the first time just to get one under my belt and then move quickly up to better more expensive ones. I have (3) 6 gallon Carboys and want to order a couple more kits in the next few weeks and get them going soon while we are in our short Summer. I have been monitoring room temps in my "cellar" they are currently around 72 degrees which should be good for primary fermentation for the next few months.

Thanks for any kit recommendations, all are appreciated over throwing a dart at a board!

Welcome aboard. Glad to have you. When I started, I had the same question. I was told to makethetype of wine that you enjoy drinking. You will find folks on here with tons of knowledge. Good Luck!

Welcome Mike!!! Very nice kit to start with!! Good thinking on the inexpensive wine and working your way up. I did the exact same thing. I asked lots of questions here and always got an answer.
Enjoy your hobby and stay awhile.

Well, the first kit is on the way! I have to admit I "upgraded" to the Cellar Craft Red Mountain Cab before the order was shipped out. Much thanks for the recommendation Moto-girl!

I have zero wine making experience but am pretty good at "cookbook chemistry" if you catch my drift!

I am sure I will have a question or two once it gets here (and down the road) and will be checking back in often.

Now on to look for Kit # 2 !!

Welcome aboard Mike. I'm originally from Roswell, moved to MN 10 years ago for the "cooler" climate! Looking forward to your post and progression. Lot of good choices in the kits , and while usually you do get what you pay for (higher end being better) Mosti's mid range line does make some very good wine.

Everybody else has been helping you out with your kit selection, so I won't beat that to death. A more important question I have is " since you are in NM now and like chemistry, are you involved in the uranium industry?" Why on earth would I ask that. Well, I see your name is ibglowin. I can't think of may reasons why you would be glowing except that you are around radiation all the time , OR, you drink enough to just have a nice glow on all the time!

Google "LANL Wiki"

And you will get the pun!

Then it is pretty much what I was trying to allude to.............


I like your location you have set.


So what secret project do you work on? DOH, it wouldn't be a secret if you told us all now........

You will not go wrong on the Red Mountain Cab; fantastic choice. Ours is about 1 and a half years old. I bulk aged for a year and now its been bottled for about 6 months. Come to think of it, I should pull one out and see how its coming along.

ibglowin said:

Google "LANL Wiki"

And you will get the pun!

Click to expand...

Interesting, but I think I will stick to winemaking!!!

Welcome ib..glad to hav you onboard

Welcome ibglowin to the forum....you will find thereare so many wines you can make and just not enough time, but you can try....Have fun and enjoy..

IMO, the bigger the kit the better when it comes to reds and a grape pack makes a fuller bodied red wine. The white kits do come out pretty good with the smaller kits.

appleman said:

Then it is pretty much what I was trying to allude to.............

 
I like your location you have set.
 
So what secret project do you work on? DOH, it wouldn't be a secret if you told us all now........

Click to expand...

About half my time is spent on classified projects the other half is on an unclassified joint project between UCLA and LANL which I can talk about. We are working on the first (of several) fully automated rapid response (to bio threat) labs that once they come online will be able to quickly identify new flu strains in almost no time at all. Press release here:

http://pearl1.lanl.gov/external/c-cde/flu/

Work is never boring thats for sure!

moto-girl said:

You will not go wrong on the Red Mountain Cab; fantastic choice.  Ours is about 1 and a half years old.  I bulk aged for a year and now its been bottled for about 6 months.  Come to think of it, I should pull one out and see how its coming along. 

Click to expand...

What is the exact reason behind bulk aging over just bottle aging. Is it easier until the wine is more mature (stable, clarified, degassed etc)?

How many times did you rack before bottling?

moto-girl, how long before you started drinking the Red Mtn Cab? Mine will be a yr old in Feb. But I don't think I will be that strong to last that long!! hahaha I was thinking of opening one around Oct.

Mike, another great choice!! My Red Mountain Cab is bottle aging now.
Not sure I can wait until Feb to crack one open. You will find that "waiting" is the hardest part of the process.