WineXpert WE Island Mist = Gross IMO

[FloridaWino]

So I bought and bottled some of the WE Island Mist Pinot Grigio White Cran....
Can I say that it is terrible in my opinion. Taste like a sickening sweet, flat wine cooler. Has anyone else made this kit? Im not sure what to do with this garbage. Im thinking of making a White Sangria with it by adding fruit and club soda. I might even fortify the sangria with some 153 grain alcohol. Kinda mad I spent time and money on this cool-aid I mean "wine kit"....

 

[Runningwolf]

I made this kit and a lot of people loved it. I added at least half the fpack in the beginning and also added some sugar to increase the alcohol some (being a lighter wine you don't want the alcohol too high). By adding only 1/2 the fpack in the end the wine was not so sweet. You definitely get what you pay for and at $2.00 a bottle this is a nice patio wine. There are other posts on this forum also about tweaking Island mist and Orchard Breezin kits.

 

[FloridaWino]

Yeah...I read about what people did to tweak the kit. I wish I had read before I followed the directions.

 

[Dugger]

I make these kits as well and find them sweet also, but others love them and that's who I make them for. I have some in a Wine on Tap dispenser and will mix it half & half with a White Zin I made that is a bit tart for me and together they make a much better drink.

 

[BobF]

I add a 5# bag of sugar to IM kits to get the acohol in balance with the sweetness.

 

[joeswine]

what to do

y WE mist kits are what they are not every flavor combination hits the mark ,but as a patio wine my wife and her lady friends fine them entertaining,I can tell you one thing for sure they do know how to produce a fpac of flavor,however if it didn't come out to your expectations that's another story,they are fun wines and yes you can tweak them,i fine most of the fruited kits are ok,at this moment I have a rass/cab underway and a cosmo wine lounge kit nothing fancy just fun...by doing these kits I can better understand how to make my own kits from a fruited wine and a standard one,how to blend and infuse the combination together,that's all a part of the learning curve we as wine makers go through..try a different blend ..

 

[ferymark]

Yeah...I read about what people did to tweak the kit. I wish I had read before I followed the directions. I make these kits as well and find them sweet also, but others love them and that's who I make them for. I have some in a Wine on Tap dispenser and will mix it half & half with a White Zin I made that is a bit tart for me and together they make a much better drink.

 

[robie]

One man's "garbage" is another man's treasure.
I haven't made this particular summer wine, mist kit, but I do make several summer wine kits each spring.

Remember, these are not ever going to be great wine, they are meant to be more like a glorified wine cooler... a fun, alcoholic beverage. I can't imagine NOT drinking this guy over ice.

If you pour this drink over a full glass of ice and maybe add some fruit slices and/or berries, you might find that it makes a cool, fun summer drink that many people really enjoy at parties. You can tweak the kit, but you don't really have to in order to enjoy it. No matter how you tweak it, it still will be only a very simple, nice wine cooler style of drink.

Just don't expect such inexpensive kit wines to ever make Wine Spectators' top 100 list.

 

[eblasmn9]

It seems that several of them make winemaker magazines top 100. The Island Mist Green apple Riesling has made me my mother-in-law's favorite son-in-law, priceless.

 

[robie]

It seems that several of them make winemaker magazines top 100. The Island Mist Green apple Riesling has made me my mother-in-law's favorite son-in-law, priceless.

That's one I haven't made..... yet.
I just have never found one I didn't enjoy. Like I wrote, I drink them over a glass of ice and many times add some extra fruit slices. The ice seems to tame down the sweetness a little. I always up the alcohol in my kits to about 11 or 12 percent and use the full F pack after stabilizing.

Hey, if I showed up at any of my friends' summer parties without my summer wines (I usually have two different ones on tap), I'd be in big trouble.

 

[soccer0ww]

Have made the Green Apple Riesling twice and it is very popular with my son and his friends. Also the wife and her friends also enjoy the Green Apple. I did make the White Cranberry which also seems to be popular with the wife and younger crowd.(mid 20's) Personally I find the these wines to be a bit too sweet, 1/2 F-pack instead of the full helps on the sweetness. Still a cool drink on a hot summer night for 2.00 a bottle it really can't be beat.

 

[CB750]

I don't think WE makes any bones about it when they advertise Island Mist series as a "Delicious Alternative Wine Based Beverage" They are what they are a fun wines. In fact my interest in wine making was sparked when I was given a few bottles of Green Apple Riesling by a friend. I enjoyed the wine knowing what it was and figured that if a cheep kit turned out that good it was worth the gamble to purchase a Premium wine kit which started my adiction to wine.

 

[robie]

I don't think WE makes any bones about it when they advertise Island Mist series as a "Delicious Alternative Wine Based Beverage" They are what they are a fun wines. In fact my interest in wine making was sparked when I was given a few bottles of Green Apple Riesling by a friend. I enjoyed the wine knowing what it was and figured that if a cheep kit turned out that good it was worth the gamble to purchase a Premium wine kit which started my adiction to wine.

Yep. They are better than a typical wine cooler but no, they are not what one would call a quality wine. They are great, lite, summer wines; sweet, fruity, go great over a full glass of ice because they need to be drank very cold.

 

[joeswine]

For beter or worse




MADE A LOT OF THESE KITS AS WELL AS THE MORE STRAIGHT TYPES AND THESE FALL INTO THE CATAGOIRY OF THEY ARE WHAT THEY ARE AND THEY DON'T PRETEND TO BE ANY THING ELSE,SOME ARE NOT AS PRONOUNCED IN FLAVOR AS OTHERS ,BUT, I STATED BEFFORE THEY KEEP MY WIFE HAPPY AND HER FRIENDS.:

 

[Runningwolf]

I agree with the above posts. They are a good patio drink and they can be tweeaked to be even better. For two dollars a bottle, you can't go wrong. If you really want to kick 'em up a notch, put the finished wine in a keg an serve it on tap. They make a great bubbly wine.

 

[jeryjohn12]

Yeah...I read about what people did to tweak the kit. I wish I had read before I followed the directions. these are not ever going to be great wine, they are meant to be more like a glorified wine cooler... a fun, alcoholic beverage. I can't imagine NOT drinking this guy over ice.

 

[robie]

Last evening at a friend's, for the first time I tried the RJ Spagnol Orchard Breezin' Cranberry Chianti. I have tried about 5 other OB kit wines, which were all good, but it was the best OB kit wine I have had to date.

 

[dangerdave]

My wife really digs the OB Blackberry Merlot (full f-pack). She grabbed one of those IM White Cranberry Pinot Griz kits back in early August. It's till sitting on my table, waiting to clear. For a cheap quick kit, it has taken a very long time to clear---if it ever will. The instructions said to "wait two weeks to clear" (did that), then "if not clear, wait an additional week" (did that), then "do not bottle cloudy wine". I waited two more weeks, then another month. I can just now barely read news print text through the carboy. I'm not touching it until it's clear. Yes, we did add the full f-pack. This has been a troublesome kit, IMO. None of my other kits has ever had these issues. I won't do another one of these.

 

[babered]

They are very sweet! I mix mine with a dry champagne...makes it very tasty.

 

[derunner]

I just bottled the pomagranate Zinfandel. Took 5 weeks total. It seems ok on sweetness, but I was expecting i to be sweet from what everyone said. I think i screwed up and did not get all the fizz out so it changes from sweet to tart at the end of a sip. I'll plan to make some more of these and probably tweek the next one.