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Hi. Are there any modifications I can do to my kits to lengthen their finish, or is this something that comes with age? I've made quite a few now (most all high end - Mosti Mondiale, RJS and Cellar Craft) and I find the flavours sort of just vapourize off the palette after the first sip...

I have chosen two different yeast strains for the RJS RQ 2014 Spanish Monastrell-Petit Verdot kit to hopefully bring out its flavour profile of black fruit, smoke and cedar and maximize on body. My plan is to split this kit into two 3 gallon batches and use the Lalvin ICV-D80 (enhance...

I recently purchased some Fermaid K from Morewinemaking.com, since I cannot seem to find this in Canada (paid an arm and not one, but two legs in shipping costs to get it here!!) I used Go-Ferm and a first packet of Fermaid K with BM4x4 (also using for the first time) in a RJS Winery Series...

I am by no means a wine expert and have always struggled with trying to identify the flavours of any wines, however; I recently tasted two commercial red wines, which had flavours so pronounced that even a newbie like me could taste them. These two wines were a 2009 Duoro from Portugal and a...

I recently started a RJS Cru Select 16L Nebbiolo kit that I added a left over Mosti Mondiale Barolo All-Grape Pack. I also used liquid Wyeast (Chianti) instead of the EC-1118 dry yeast pack. The rep at the wine store said that I could harvest the used yeast from the fermenter, store it in the...

Last week I experimented by adding a couple of drops of glycerine (from my local wine making store) to a small glass of 2013 RJS Caramel Port, which I happened to have a half-opened bottle in the fridge. What a difference it made!! I think I now know what the term "mouth-feel" of a wine is...

I started making the Cellar Craft Specialty Washington Riesling Ice Wine style kit (3 gallon) on December 1st, 2013 and racked into into the secondary fermenter (I used three 1 gallon carboys, since I did have a 3 gallon carboy available) on December 21st. It was fermenting like crazy, so I...

I just made my first Mosti Mondiale Meglioli (Barolo) kit and decided to use the dried grape skin pack instead of the All Grape Pack that also came in the kit. (The instructions say not to use both.) I hate to waste the good juice, what should I do with it? It's a 4kg pack of fresh grapes and...

My long-awaited Meglioli kit arrived by mail cross-country. When I opened the packing box it came in there was a bit (maybe a teaspoon or so) of sticky juice in the inside of the packing box. The box of the kit was cut open on one side and the plastic bag was bulging out. (The seller said he...

Despite all the variations of chocolate flavoured wines out there, I can't seem to find a recipe for chocolate ginger wine. I've had chocolate-covered crystalized ginger before and figured there must be a wine. Has anyone ever made anything like this?

I recently came across some information on the web about ideal temperatures for wine storage, it essentially said the cooler the temperature the slower the aging process. It also went on to say that for every degree warmer the storage temperature is, it would translate to one year faster in the...

I am looking for a super full-bodied Shiraz kit to make. I have tried commercial bottles of both the South African and the Australian varieties and find I like the Australian much better. I thought of going with the Cellar Craft Showcase Australian Shiraz, but wanted to see if anyone had any...

I thought I'd start a separate post on bottle wax in case anyone else had questions, or thoughts/experience using it. I came across some information (link below) on the benefits of wax, such as how it can reduce the risk of spoilage can that come from imperfect corks. Some other information...

I am a big fan of highly tannic red wines. I am wondering if it is possible to achieve that same dry bite that I love so much with red wines with fruit wines, or does this characteristic not lend well to fruit wines? All of the fruit wines that I have tasted so seem to lack that nice tart...

Hello, I am relative new to wine-making - only with a few kits and home-made fruit wines under my belt. I am getting to a point where I would like to make some of the higher end wine kits, with more juice/all-juice so I can start to age them between 5-10 years. I have heard that synthetic corks...