Best Cab Kit for 5 month age

[OldBanjo]

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!

 

[crushday]

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.

 

[Trevor7]

Buy two kits - bottle both according to instructions, but keep one to open at the one year mark. Your wife will be impressed and you both will have learned that winemaking is all about patience.

 

[ceeaton]

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.

 

[ras2018]

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.

 

[tradowsk]

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

 

[OldBanjo]

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.