Mosti Mondiale 10 liter kits

[mike48]

Greetings all,


This is my first post and I have just recently finished my first attempt at wine making. I received a Mosti Caberlot for Christmas and it has been bottled for roughly 3 months now. I realize that this wine will continue to develope for a few more months so please pardon my ignorance. My wife and I both seem to think that the wine is super light bodied where we would have expected something more along the lines of a med/full bodied wine. I was wondering if this is what is to be expected from a 10 liter kit as there is quite a bit of water added or could it just be operator error(I would not rule this out). As I said it was my first attempt so it is quite possible that I screwed something up along the way. I was wondering if the all juice kits are typically more full bodied. Mine just seems "watery". My wife is unimpressed but I am already addicted to the winemaking experience and don't want her tothink ofit as a waste of time and money so I was hoping for some input from those who are more in the know than I.


Thanks

 

[Bert]

Mike48...You will find that most of the 10 liter kits will be on the light side especially the reds..[ the whites are better IMO ] most 10 liter kits will mature fairly quickly, making early drinker .....To get into the med to full bodied ones you really need to go the 15 liter kits and up...ones with grape packs will be better...but the draw back is will take some time to mature....I like to make some of each....Good Luck and hope you keep making wine...It is a great hobby

 

[mike48]

Thanks Bert.....That's what I was thinking but being new to this I wasn't 100% sure.

 

[ibglowin]

Hey Mike,

First off, welcome to the forums!

Glad you joined us!

Those 10L kits are indeed pretty thin. First off, never top off with water, only a like wine with any kit. Its too late for this kit but live and learn, buy a bigger kit (15-16L) and again never top off with water, only wine and you will be a happy camper. There are other things you can do even after this to make your wine more of a stand out down the road, it just takes some more practice, patience, and experience.

Again, welcome!

 

[tonyt]

I have never made a 10 ltr kit. All of my kits have been 15 ltr and up, most with raisins or grape packs. I won't at all say my wines are thin but I don't try to compare them to $30, $40 and $50 commercial wines. A 10 Ltr kit costs $2 - $3 per bottle not counting start up supplies and bottles. My wines cost $3.50 to $6 per bottle. I compare the quality of my wine (once it is at least a year from pitching the yeast) to a $17 to $20 commercial wine. Try at least another kit maybe a 15 ltr or more. And read around the forums before you start. Ask for suggestions as to what to make given you and your wife's tastes. There are lots of tricks and tweaks that folks do to improve the end results.

 

[Runningwolf]

Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you here and feel free to ask questions.

 

[Wade E]

Like Tony said above as far as what a bottle of our wine is to compared to commercial I have another twist on this. There will always be great bottles of wine in the 15 dollar range and also some very nasty ones so choosing a price range is basically null and void IMO. Ive made a few 10 liter kits and out of those the only ones I even considered wine where the white wine kits. The reds I gave away to someone who said they liked it but I thought they were way to thin.

 

[lieu]

Hey Mike48
I am also new to this great hobby an started out with a ( I think it was a 9 Lt kit) from RJS. 3 actually

.
I had the same results. The wine is not bad but definitly has a thin mouth feel. I just bought an 18 Lt kit and I expect it will be much better.
If you read through the threads and ask questions you will find all the answers you need. There is alot of very helpful and knowledgeable people here. by the way everyone loves to see pictures so if you made lables for your wine or have any pics of your wine making area ect post them.Bruce

 

[v1rotate]

Welcome to the forum and home winemaking, Mike. As ibglowin suggested, avoid topping up your batches with water. This could make the difference between thin and watery for a 10L kit. Also, don't pass final judgment on your Caberlot until 2012. All wines seem to improve with age, even 10L kit wines. Your wine is barely 6 months old. I started with 3 out of 4 kits being 10L and was pleasantly surprised at the 12 month point how much better the surviving bottles were than at 6 months.

 

[mike48]

Thanks Jim.....It's good to know that I have something to possibly look forward to in a few months. While I didn't top off with water I still believe that the 10L kits may produce wines that are a bit too "thin" for my wife and me, I'll hope that this one ages nicely and move up to a 16L kit or greater for my next attempt. Then I will just have to ask about properracking techniques to reduce cloudiness and the pros and cons of filtering.

 

[robie]

Mike48,

As you try various sizes and qualities of wine kits, you may find that even the premium kits can be a little thinner than a comparable commercial wine. There are a lot a reasons why this can be so. The process for getting the juice of a kit to the fermentation stage is very different than that of a commercial, fresh grape fermentation, especially for red wines.

That aside, I think you will be very happy with the results of kits wine, especially the more premium kits, and even more so with the red kits, which contain a grape pack that will thicken your wine some.

As IBGLOWIN said, there are some things you can do to increase the thickness (mouth-feel). When you get ready to start that bigger kit, you might start a new thread asking how to increase the mouth feel of a kit wine. I am sure you will get lots of helpful responses.

In the mean time, build on your wine making experience; you and your wine will only get better. If you like whites, make a good white kit, as they can be a little closer to a commercial white.

Have fun!

 

[Bartman]

Don't feel too bad that your wife isn't super impressed with your first winemaking product - my wife is regularly underwhelmed by my efforts, but she hasn't kicked me out...yet!