Brands of Wine Kit

[MDVDuber]

My first Wine kit is in Secondary and I'm already thinking of what's next....

I went sort of cheap with a World Vineyards Zin/Shiraz to test the waters. So far so good.

Anyhow, My local HB/Wine Maker store carries Wine Xperts kits. I've seen a few of you suggest that there are better brands available.

We pretty much drink Reds - with Zins, Shiraz, and Malbec being top of our list right now. The Wife also likes Merlots and Cabs.

Thank in advance for the suggestions.

 

[ibglowin]

You get what you pay for in this hobby/obsession. The bigger kits are more expensive but they will make a much better wine. Make the biggest, most expensive kit you can afford and give it time to properly age. You will be rewarded for your patience. The Cellar Craft Showcase line can't be beat IMHO, the RJS WInery series is another. Anything with a grape pack of sorts is almost a necessity for a commercial quality red wine.

 

[Runningwolf]

I agree with everything mikes said but you might also want to consider a quick drincker that a lot of your guests will like. Island Mist Blackberry Merlot is one that many folks make and is well liked. You can tweak it by adding additional sugar up front to increase the abv.

 

[Wade E]

I agree with ibglowin!! The grape skins make a world of a difference when making the red kits and then on top of that the more concentrate or even better "juice" there is the better. What I mean is that some brands sell 2 different size kits with the skins, one being like a 12 liter concentrate with skins and the other like a 16 - 18 liter bag with the skins and the bigger is way better. Id say the best out there are the Mosti Mondiale Meglioli which is "All Juice" no concentrate and some come with a grape kit and raison kit ( you use one or the other, not both!) They follow that by the Masters Edition which again is all juice and then an All juice bucket, each time they step down the quality of the juice drops some so dont think they are basically the same. The Masters and te Meg.are awesoem, Im not that thrilled with the buckets my self but I havent bought a grape skin pack seperately and added it to one which might just put them above what i make which are the RJS Winery series and En Primeur. The Cellar Crafts are very good also but I dont have access here to them as cheap as the RJS. Personally I find the W.E. top kits take a lot longer to come around though. There are a lot of other brands that just arent available at all to me and mainly sold up there around Canada which Ive heard are very good.