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I've never made wine from grapes...only kits. Thinking about the jammy skins pack in Eclipse kits, does that resemble how crushed grapes look? What is the gooey stuff in with the skins? Does anybody know?

I make mostly red kit wines with skins. I often will ferment to dry in my bucket, keeping the lid loose until the SG gets to around 1.010, then snapping it down under air lock to let fermentation finish. The only slight drawback for me is that I can't see the bottom of the bucket well when I...

I am sitting here enjoying a 2011 WE Lodi Ranch 11 Cab...the Estate Series, prior to the current Eclipse line. It's good...more nose than I usually get with kit wines. Mine always seem a bit deficient in that area. Minimal browning. I also have a couple bottles of 2010 LE Primitivo and 2010 LE...

I started my WE LE Fourtitude kit this morning. Not knowing what yeast would be included, I had purchased some BM 4x4 for this kit when it arrived. When I saw it came with two packets of yeast (RC 212 and EC 1118), I paused momentarily, but pitched the BM 4x4. The starting SG was 1.092 prior to...

I started the WE LE Mosaic Red on 2/19/16. It is a non-skins 18L kit. The starting SG was 1.094. I thought I might want to substitute out the yeast, just for experimentation more than anything else. It came with a packet of EC-1118 and RC212. I chose RP15 based on the varietals in the blend...

My Vadai 23L barrel is over 2 years old. It has held wine continuously since "birth", with my current kit wines spending 4 months each within it. I recently purchased a product called Oak Restorer-CW. It surprisingly didn't come with any instructions...but I have found some online. Have any of...

I came across this article/study on the Scottlab website and thought it was interesting. The biochemistry of winemaking interests me, but only a fraction of it sinks in! http://scottlab.com/uploads/documents/The%20Fermentation%20of%20Fructose%20in%20Winemaking.pdf

If you could recommend only ONE red wine kit to someone, what would it be? I know that tastes vary, but what has been your favorite red kit wine that you would say that someone just HAS to make at some point in their wine making "career"? I would ask two stipulations. First, the kit must be...

I need help...again. Even with using a straining bag to hold the fruit in my first attempt at fruit winemaking, there is an awful lot of fluffy sediment in my must. I racked out of the primary bucket into a three gallon carboy when the SG reached 1.010. I had around 2.5 gallons at the start...

I'm attempting my first go at a fruit wine, all of my previous winemaking experience having been with kits. I pitted and froze 16# of sweet cherries, planning to shoot for 2 gallons of finished wine. I placed the crushed/defrosted fruit in a straining bag, and the juice is waiting for the yeast...

I'm starting my third WE chocolate raspberry port kit. The first attempt suffered from a stalled fermentation. My second go around, I tried to add the sugar a little sooner than the instructions recommended...while the yeast were still seemingly more actively working, gauged by the hydrometer...

Does anyone know what is in the enzyme blend in the Cellar Craft Red Mountain Cab kit, and why do the instructions have you add it so late in the fermentation (SG 1.000)? Sent from my iPad using Wine Making

I've seen a number if recent posts about cherries and cherry wine. We are heading up to Michigan next week. If cherries are available, I plan on getting some. I've never tried making a fruit wine before, but a cherry wine seems really attractive to me. I've read a number of threads, and I'm a...

I decided to try my first yeast substitution in a kit. Based on not much more than some cursory reading and a desire to try something different, I chose to rehydrate 8g of MT in GoFerm Protect and pitched it yesterday evening. I plan to supplement nutrient with Fermaid K at the beginning of...

I've read that some ferment to dry in primary fermentation, snapping down the lid when the SG gets to around 1.010. For those that have done this, when you rack out of the bucket, do you immediately de-gas and top off the carboy? Sent from my iPad using Wine Making

I currently have my third kit resting in my barrel. It is a WE Eclipse OVZ and has been in the barrel for two weeks. I ran a WE Selection International Shiraz through the barrel as the "break in". It was in for 4weeks. I tasted at 2 and 3 weeks. I debated racking out of the barrel at three...

So my barrel is almost one week old and has been filled with wine since Wednesday evening (@40 hours). It was nicely dry without leaks with water, other than some moisture around the hole. Since racking with the wine, some small leaks have appeared at one if the ends...primarily through the...

I ordered and received my first barrel (Vadai) from Morewine. I've completed the initial barrel prep, and everything seems to be going well. No leaks. But the solid bung I ordered does seem to wick water around the bung hole. Is this normal? It's so hard to see how full the barrel is... How do...

It seems as though there have been a lot of threads discussing differences in yeast choices and yeast nutrients. My understanding, in synthesizing everything that I've read in these threads and in other resources, that some yeast have higher nutritional needs than others. Kit wines generally...

I just used my new pump for bottling for the first time. My back is much appreciative that Father's Day Claus left me this great gift! It worked perfectly! I bottled a portion of an Eclipse Cabernet Sauvignon kit and a Petit Verdot kit. Am enjoying a sip of the Petit Verdot right now. The...