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Well, I've never had this experience before but after quite a while of making wines, mostly from kits, but a few times from scratch, it seems as I've gotten older, my body has developed somewhat of an intolerance for the sulfites in almost all wines where the stabilizer additives are used...

I'm curious to see if anyone has any suggestions on how to add a bit of chocolate or coffee hint to a pinot noir kit wine. My thinking is that I could fresh grind some coffee beans and add it to the primary fermentation, maybe about 1/2 cup worth? Similarly, if I wanted to add some hint of...

I've been trying to research how to add a little fizz (carbonation) to some summer breeze blush wine I'm hoping to make from a kit (for the wife and lady visitors who seem to prefer it). I've read on here a number of thoughts and different recommendations. I've seen everything from using...

Was given a couple bags of dried and vac packed elderberries and I was just about to put on some riesling based liebraumilch white wine. What do you all think about that? I'm aware of using elderberries either on their own as a wine or in some red wines as a flavoring additive but haven't seen...

I have made many, many wine kits now, mostly reds with the odd white thrown in (Red preference). One thing I have never accomplished has been the tart, mouth puckering feel of many of the comercially produced Italian (Chianti, Valpolicella) or French (Barolo) reds. I've tried raising the dryness...

I'm interested in finding out if there is a source for wine bottles shaped like the classic German black tower Riesling bottles. Short, stubby neck? More recent black tower bottles (commercial purchased bottles of wine) I've seen in both "clear" and the classic black neck. I would say they seem...

Have an opportunity to pick up a couple of WE chardonnay kits at a very reasonable price. Thing is, I've never had a chardonnay, having stuck to a variety of Riesling whites over the last several years. How does a chardonnay compare to a Riesling? Any comments or recommendations? I am thinking...

Been several months since I did a batch of wine so I'm putting it down to a layover brain-fart. Did a kit for a Niagara Merlot and rinsing out the factory bag of juice, didn't pay close enough attention to the temperature of the water I was using. Was pretty hot. When everything was done mixing...

Haven't been on here in a long while but I knew it would be the right place to come to for assistance and/or recommendations. Recently tried several Rieslings from southern Ontario wineries which were quite good; some typical Riesling taste characteristics but seemingly sweeter and less...

Several weeks back I noticed an almost hidden little link on WMT for a product called the "LabelNATOR". Upon opening the link I was taken to a vendor website that was promoting this label removing gadget that fit in the palm of your hand. It had a stainless steel blade imbedded that was curved...

Well, couldn't wait any longer. I've been holding on to an Italian Amarone kit (Fontana Premium) that I received as a gift. The kit contained a small packet of really dark toasted oak chips and I won't have any issues on using those. This is the first kit I've ever used though which also...

Okay, I'm getting adventurous here. Recently completed a cranberry white merlot but I used a commercially available cranberry f-pak. I have a chardonnay white kit (KRC) and about 16-17 pounds of frozen wild blueberries. I had good luck with the cranberry white merlot but now, if I make the...

I've made what I think are some decent looking labels by finding various pictures (jpeg) for free on the web and I've used both 22809 and 22826 Avery labels/templates. I realized as I was going through my most recent attempt, "boy, this takes an awful long time". Avery uses MS Word as the format...

Okay, a couple weeks ago (+/-) I'd asked a question about recommendations for adding a cranberry flavor pak to a white merlot kit that I'd gotten a hold of. While I did not get responses on that, I now have an entirely new question about this same kit (Vino Italiano) that has me baffled and I...

I'd like to get some opinions or recommendations about the use of oak. Primarily reds but may like to try on the occasional white. When or why choose one type of oak over the other? Examples; why use toasted versus untoasted; why use heavy toast over lighter toast; why American versus...

I am looking to find out if anyone knows of a sources (or sources) where I could get some Chilean juices done up in a blend that I want to experiment with. A concentrate would be good but I suppose a juice pail would do too (just have to be careful of shipping costs if comes from outside Canada...

I recently was at a small house party (thankfully only 2 houses away so no driving was involved) where our good friends had plenty of their own homemade wines as well as a selection of purchased ones. Shamefully, I did not rinse my mouth and spit before sampling the next wine so my opinions may...

I was going to come to WMT when I first started this but got pulled away on something else and then forgot. I went through all the threads I could find in this category and couldn't find anything which quite addressed what I was doing. Anyway, I was able to get in on an order of juice buckets...

Recently my son in Wisconsin came up to Canada for a visit and brought with him a few bottles of a white merlot that didn't even make it to day 3! This was from a kit apparently but no other information. Does anybody know of white merlot kits and which vendor puts them out? I'd like to try my...

I have a small batch (6 gal) of a Chilean cabernet merlot blend which has been fermenting in my primary now for about 6 days. I should finish out around 13% abv according to the SG readings I've done. My question is if I can get a bit more dryness by adding some tannin powder while still in the...