RJ Spagnols Balero kits

[laneygirl]

Hi -


Has anyone tried the RJ Spagnol's Balero line of kits? How do they compare to MM All Juice kits? I just read a little about them and no water is added, so they sound comparable, but figured someone out there might have some experience with them.

 

[Wade E]

They sound interesting and i like their products but have not tried 1 of these and have never seen 1 yet. I do the Cru Select and those are very good.

 

[laneygirl]

Hi Wade,


What line of products in Wine Expert does the RJ Spagnol's Cru compare to? I found a place close to me that I can get some RJ kits and stop on my way home after Thanksgiving to help avoid shipping, which would be a bonus.

 

[Dean]

The Bolero line is a 10L kit that has been re-hyrdrated for you. In other words, RJS has added the water for you. The total volume is 23L, but these kits are just above the Grand Cru line. Here is a comparison of RJS to WE. Nothing in RJS compares to MM, as they have a unique product.

RJS to WE:
Cellar Master = Vintners Reserve (usually found in Grocery stores)
Ancient Vines = Vintner Reserve
Orchard Breezin = Island Mist
Vino del Vida = World Vinyard
Grand Cru = World Vinyard
Bolero = Nothing in WE
Cellar Classic = Selection Original
Cru Select = Selection International
Cellar Classic Winery Series = Selection Crushendo (Grape pack kits)
En Primeur = Selection Estate

Important to note though, is that some selection in Cru Select and now all the reds in the En Primeur series come with dried grape skins, which is about 10lbs of pre-dried weight of grapes, so in essence, they are skins packs too.

They've also just released their "Premier Cru" series, which might compare to MM products, but very few people have seen these products yet.

I do a lot of RJS kits as I live about 10 minutes from their head office. Of course I also live about 40 minutes from WE head office too. Cellar Craft is about 45 minutes away, and sadly Mosti Mondiale is on the other side of the country in Quebec.

 

[Wade E]

I like the W.E I.M kits better than the RJ Orchard Breezes, The Vino Del Vida are equal to the are equal to the Vintners Reserve, the Grand Cru are better then the World Vineyard, the Cru Selects are equal to Selection International. I have not tried the En Primeur kit so I dont know personally how it compares to the Selection Estate. I have the RJ Cru Select Valpolicella Ripassa with the Grape pack in aging and can say its awesome already along with last years Limited Malbec which as good as or better then the W.E selection limited kit in my mind. To bad it was only a limited. I have a RJ Limited Argentinean Tannat Merlot kit with grape skin ordered for next year and might get 1 of the Cellar Crafts to try as I hear these are awesome too.
Edited by: wade

 

[laneygirl]

Dean - Thanks for the real story on what the Bolero kits are...and the line up comparison between RJ and WE. That's helpful reference info and am going to copy it into a word document for future easy reference.


That's really great you live so close to those 3 wine kit mfg'ers...can save a bundle on shipping : )


I have a couple CC kits going...one in secondary and one in clarification/stabilization and am excited to see how they taste. I also just got my fist MM kit delivered and will start on it after Thanksgiving vacation. I'm trying to determine the best kit for the $$ and at same time minimize shipping costs.

 

[fiat84]

Hi:

Have made two Bolero kits aged 2.5 years currently and last Sunday brought over a bottle of Shiraz to some friends for dinner. Seems to be hitting its peak about now and impressed the guests, they commented this Shiraz had a nice Shirazy flavor.

The Vieux Chateau du Roi is an ok table wine, I think the Shiraz is better.

They are thin on body and flavor compared to 15L kits so the 10L reconstituted comment is accurate. Still it is a good wine kit value since they were cheaper than the 15L kits. Had originally expected them to be comparable to a 15L kit but did not have advance knowledge like this forum to find out in advance.

 

[geocorn]

I made a Bolero 4 years ago and was very dissapointed. As Dean pointed out, they are just 10 liter kits rehydrated. They are NOT the same as the MM All Juice.