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I recently bottled wine from this kit after bulk aging for 6 months. I was really disappointed in the taste at this point. The wine seemed very "shallow" tasting. It has no real body at all. Do you think this is possibly just an aging issue? This is my first kit from the series and I was...

Have any other members made this kit? I have been very satisfied with all the Winery Series kits I've made previously as they all turned out excellent wines. The Meritage I recently bottled was bulked aged for 6 months. The wine is not bad but it has what I consider a really shallow taste. With...

My muscadine wine from last year is now 4 months old. I've just finished about a month cold stabalization. The problem is the wine just doesn't have much fruit flavor. It was made from Carlos grapes but I suspect I was probably a little light on the fruit since the vines didn't have a very good...

I have made numerous wine kits over the past 4-5 years. All have been either Vineco or RJ Spagnols. The instructions for the two brands are almost identical for every step. I recently started my first Wine Expert kit. The instructions call for re-suspending any sediment during the degassing and...

My white muscadine wine is about two months old. It has been racked 3 times and is now in a carboy to cold stabilize. Prior to the last racking I added required sulfite, sorbate, additional sugar, and a clarifying agent. After a couple of weeks I racked it again into the present carboy. When I...

I want to bulk age some muscadine wine in a 5-gal. carboy. I added 1/16 teaspoon of K-meta per gallon at 50 days along with a clarifier when the wine was racked from the secondary fermenter. I plan to rack it again in about two weeks to the carboy. Based on kits I have done, I assume I have...

I've never adjusted acidity in muscadine wine before but would like to try it this year to see if it will help reduce the acid crystal formation. What TA level should I target? The muscadines I'm using are Carlos.

What is an adequate temperature to cold stabilize a wine?

I need to add some extra favor to my muscadine wine. I can purchase bottled 100% muscadine juice from a local winery but it contains Citric acid and Erythorbic acid to "preserve freshness". Will these cause any problems in using this juice to make a fruit pak?

I was advised to add this to a weak wine on a previous post. What is it?

I recently started a batch of muscadine wine. Previously I have added water and sugar per a recipe amount. This time I decided to mix to a specific gravity. I used 30-35# of fruit which in the past made 5 gallons of wine. After crushing fruit I added it to a mesh bag and squeezed out (did not...

I'm about to get started with this year's muscadine wine and would like to ask for suggestions on the best yeast. I've used Montrachet a couple of times; last year I used 71B-1122 that I purchased from a local muscadine winery. They actually make a low alcohol, sweeter wine. The recipe (from EC...

I want to cold stabilize a five gallon carboy of muscadine wine. I plan to use an old dorm room refrigerator. The 5-gal. carboy fits but it likes about an inch of clearance with a standard air lock attached. Are there any lower profile designs out there? I've looked at a couple of the supply...

Has anyone had any experience making either of these kits? I have made a couple of other kits in the International series and was pleased with the results of both. I am not really familar with either of these wine types but the catalog description make both sound like they might be worth trying.

Occasionally, I have an issue with corks staying seated in a bottle. I use Size 9 straight cork. I've purchased most from Kraus. The directions with the corks say bring water to a boil, remove from heat, added corks, cover and let steam for 2-5 minutes. I am using a hand corker. The corks go...

I'm helping a friend get started with his first kit. It's a Grand Cru International Collection Syrah. The kit contains one plastic bag of oak chips and another "tea bag-like" package of oak. I have made several Vineco kits but never one from RJS. It's instructions are somewhat confusing about...

How long have you aged kit wines that you have made? Although none of mine have lasted that long yet, I noticed that most of the Vineco kits I have purchased note a maximum as well as a minimum aging aging time. Most of the reds are anywhere from 24 to 36 months. Do these wines go "bad" or just...

Is there a "shelf" life to a bisulfite solution once your prepare it? I know it's not terribly expensive, but I pour a lot of the stuff down the drain.

My Ken Ridge merlot has been bulk aging for about 2 months. I added sorbate and sulfite when it was transferred to the current container. Now that it's ready to bottle, do I need to added additional sulfite before bottling? If so, how is it mixed in the wine without disturbing the sediment in...

Do you add any type acid to your sodium or potassium bisulfite solutions when using them for sanitizing? A container I recently purchased called for the addition of 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid with each teaspoon of sulfite per gallon of water. It also said to allow 20 minutes contact time. I...