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I used Lallzyme EX for the first time on my 2011 Cab and I think it helped the color and the yield (125 lbs of fruit will turn into ~9 gallons of finished wine). I slightly under-dosed because I was concerned about the skins turning into goo by the time I pressed, which others have reported. I...

Since you're interested in eventually growing vines and making your own wine, I'd suggest making a couple kits to get a rough feel for how fermentation works but then quickly moving on to buying frozen grapes and/or juice from Brehm, or better yet, fresh grapes from your LHBS or a local vineyard...

I'm seriously considering buying this refractometer but I have a question about using it along with the magic spreadsheet. The MoreWine version of the spreadsheet says to ignore entering the temperature if your refractometer is equipped with ATC while the Valley Vintner version does not say to...

Rob, thanks for the offer. I may take you up on it eventually, but for now I think I'll give it another six months to see if it rounds out and gains some complexity. I'm hopeful it will with enough time.

The kit I'm describing is the 2010 Selection Limited Edition Shiraz/Viognier. I didn't keep notes as to the amount and type of oak, but I recall it came with quite a bit. I think it included both chips and sawdust, which were added to the primary and left behind when transferred to the...

A 6-month tasting note. Started in Mar-2011 and followed the Tim Vandergrift 5-20-40-90 schedule but otherwise didn't deviate from instructions. I also hit all the gravity and temp numbers. This past weekend was the 6 month mark counting from the instruction's bottling date (though it's...

This is a single kit that's a blend of Shiraz and Viognier, not two separate kits. It's probably something in the neighborhood of 95% Shiraz 5% Viognier. Very common in the Northern Rhone and increasingly popular in the Central Coast of CA. I don't follow Australian wines but it must be...

That's odd. I thought this was a 2010 limited edition. I didn't realize it was going to be offered again in 2011 or 2012. I checked on Midwest Supplies and the only listing I could find was for the sold out 2010 kit.

I used to have a few 6-gallon glass carboys but I broke one recently so I decided to switch over to the PET plastic carboys that MoreWine sells for $25.50. They're made by The Vintage Shop and I love them. Super light, smooth sides unlike the better bottles, and unlike the glass carboys that...

Floor corker and some 375 ml bottles. Some may disagree, but I would also forgo a hydrometer and instead buy a 0-32 brix refractometer on ebay for $30 and download the free magic spreadsheet from morewine.com. For me, it's quicker, no less accurate, and I only need to pull out a couple drops...

There's a lot riding on your pH reading (e.g., TA adjustments, sulfite additions) so it makes sense to get the best one you can afford. When narrowing choices, I decided mine would need a resolution of 0.01 and would need to be accurate to at least +/- 0.05. My budget was the same as yours...

I just finished monitoring fermentation of a wine kit using a refractometer for the first time. I used the MoreWine spreadsheet and I definitely prefer this approach to using a hydrometer. That said, I noticed something odd and wanted to see if anyone has experienced something similar and can...

I like buying from www.finevinewines.com too, whenever possible. However, if price is an issue, you may want to check ebay. I recently bought a new pHep 5 for $79 with free shipping. The seller was onewayoutsales. Great transaction. Just a thought. Best, Jason

+1 on From Vines to Wines. Excellent book that covers both aspects in a clear, understandable way.

My personal vote would be for the Central Coast. I love Santa Barbara County for the syrahs and pinots, and Paso Robles for the zins and Rhone blends. Probably not real convenient if flying into San Fran unless you're willing to do some driving though. If staying close to San Fran, I'd do the...

Adding citic acid lowers the pH of the water, which makes your kmeta more potent. This means you can use less kmeta to achieve the same level of effectiveness - a very good thing. My LHBS says 1 teaspoon of each per gallon for a no-rinse sanitizing solution, and "The Way to Make Wine" by...

+1 to what Duster said.

Haven't tried these, but your inability to tell the two apart reminds me of the fraud case from last year where a French vineyard conned Gallo into buying 18 million bottles of "Pinot" that was later determined to be a merlot/syrah blend. As far as commercial wines are concerned, I...

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but who gave you the free kit for winning a bronze? WE or Wine Maker Magazine? Is it standard to get a free kit for winning medals. Sorry, I've never entered a competition and have no idea how this works.

Paul, thanks for the info. It does makes sense. However, I was hoping someone here had already done that and could share their practical experience, thereby saving me the time/expense of buying the bottle, waiting for it to pass its expiration date and then comparing the results against...