Best Cab Kit for 5 month age

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OldBanjo

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I've been using WE Vintner Reserve kits to build up my cellar before going to higher end, longer aging wines. Can anyone give me a recommendation for a Cabernet kit that will be good after 5mo of aging? I know longer is better but 5 months is about when my wife will have emptied all my bottles!
 
Couldn’t a viable argument be made that any premium kit is going to outshine a lower or mid tier kit at any time frame be it five months or five years? I think it comes down to what you want to spend.
 
Good idea by @Trevor7. I think you also need to make one of the higher end kits so it can age while you keep making the lower end kits. In a way the lower end kits will "protect" the hopefully better higher end kit from consumption so it can age a year or three. The higher end kits will definitely reward you if you can keep them aging for 2+ years, in my limited experience so far.
 
I’ve always found the more fruit forward wines with less oak are ready to go much sooner than the fuller bodied “oak bombs”. I know you said Cabernet but you should maybe look into making a pinot noir or similar varietal. I drank a lower end VR Diablo Rojo right from bottling pretty much and thought it was palatable.
 
I have a WE World Vineyard merlot that has been bulk aging since september and is pretty drinkable right now. If you use the clarifiers you could bottle probably 2 months from pitch and then you would have 3 months in the bottle
 
Thanks for all the good input! Really like the idea of doing two higher end kits at the same time so we can have a direct comparison. Once the equipment is freed up again, I'll work on getting ahead so we can start giving the wine the time it deserves to age.
 

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