Wine kit vs fresh grapes

[SoCalGuy]

What is it in the wine kits that make them mature so much faster than using fresh fruit?

 

[cedarswamp]

What is it in the wine kits that make them mature so much faster than using fresh fruit?

Just a guess but I'm thinking less tannin.

 

[ShawnDTurner]

Less dissolved solids

 

[Rocky]

I am not sure that kits do mature faster than fresh grapes. When we made wine at home from grapes a number of years ago, we usually started the first or second week of October. The crushed gapes and juice would ferment for about a week to 10 days and then be put into aging barrels. The wine would continue to ferment in the aging barrels until early December at which time the barrel was bunged. The wine would age in that barrel and be opened around or shortly after Easter, i.e. 4 months later. It was ready to drink at that point and got better with aging.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Just remember, a 4 week kit is not ready to drink in 4 weeks...

 

[SoCalGuy]

They say its drinkable in 6 mo. I'm setting aside 12 bottles for two year.

 

[DoctorCAD]

They say its drinkable in 6 mo. I'm setting aside 12 bottles for two year.

There's "drinkable" and "DRINKABLE".

6 months, yes, you can drink it and it will be OK. 1 year will make it taste like it should.

 

[jethro]

Is that one year after the wine is transferred from the fermentation vat into the carboy ? Or one year after the yeast is cast ? Or something different?

 

[KeystoneHomebrew]

This is a great debate.

Kits, without a doubt, taste better at their first racking than using fresh fruit. And as mentioned, it is due to a lack of "stuff" floating around in the product.

Many people prefer their "fresh fruit" wines aged only 4-8 weeks. Usually by Thanksgiving the supply is already starting to dwindle. The same goes for kits. At the end of the day, the winemaker is in charge of saying when a wine is truly ready.

A 4-week wine kit may shine brightly at two years of age. And likewise a mix of Cab Franc and Merlot juice/grapes may be delicious at only 4 weeks of age. Everyone has their preference, and no one is "wrong" or "right".

 

[DoctorCAD]

Is that one year after the wine is transferred from the fermentation vat into the carboy ? Or one year after the yeast is cast ? Or something different?

Like everything else in wine, its ABOUT a year. Since fermentation/racking only takes a few weeks, what does it matter?

 

[jethro]

Thank you. Now I understand.

 

[TicinoVintner]

This is a great debate.

Kits, without a doubt, taste better at their first racking than using fresh fruit. And as mentioned, it is due to a lack of "stuff" floating around in the product.

Many people prefer their "fresh fruit" wines aged only 4-8 weeks. Usually by Thanksgiving the supply is already starting to dwindle. The same goes for kits. At the end of the day, the winemaker is in charge of saying when a wine is truly ready.

A 4-week wine kit may shine brightly at two years of age. And likewise a mix of Cab Franc and Merlot juice/grapes may be delicious at only 4 weeks of age. Everyone has their preference, and no one is "wrong" or "right".

This is a great post. It all depends on what you want from your wine and your winemaking philosophy. I prefer my wines 4-8 years which allows me to make my wine with an emphasis on complexity and structure. At the same time it makes my wine absolutly undrinkable for the first few years but once all those tannin chains link up you have a wine that normally costs hundreds of dollars per bottle. So my philosophy is to make the wine I can't afford. Lol

As far as kit vs fresh I have no experience with kits but it seems the longer you go from harvest to ferment the more you lose the good stuff. Plus having it pre crushed means never getting to know the joys of whole berry fermentations.
However I wouldn't mind trying out a few kits just to experiment with different fermentation techniques.

 

[SoCalGuy]

This is a great post. It all depends on what you want from your wine and your winemaking philosophy. I prefer my wines 4-8 years which allows me to make my wine with an emphasis on complexity and structure. At the same time it makes my wine absolutly undrinkable for the first few years but once all those tannin chains link up you have a wine that normally costs hundreds of dollars per bottle. So my philosophy is to make the wine I can't afford. Lol

As far as kit vs fresh I have no experience with kits but it seems the longer you go from harvest to ferment the more you lose the good stuff. Plus having it pre crushed means never getting to know the joys of whole berry fermentations.
However I wouldn't mind trying out a few kits just to experiment with different fermentation techniques.

I hope I learn to be patient like that. I would love to be able to let a wine age that long And taste something I made 8 years prior. What an awesome experience that would be.

 

[TicinoVintner]

I hope I learn to be patient like that. I would love to be able to let a wine age that long And taste something I made 8 years prior. What an awesome experience that would be.

it's actually pretty easy. Just stock your cellar full of wine so your not tempted to drink your own.