Cellar Craft best cab kit

[chitownwine]

After many kits under my belt looking to finally doing a top shelf cab kit. I am inbetween the cellar craft red mountain, cost around 160 shipped and the rj winery series cab shipped around 125. Any options on what oobvious do,obviously I take cost into consideration so is the red mountain worth the price differential, I usually do two same kits at time to fill 11 g Vadai.

 

[cimbaliw]

I've got a WE Eclipse cab on deck, it's a favorite among a few around here anyway.

see thread

 

[TommBomb]

I have the rj Spagnols California cab sitting in secondary for a couple months now. Very nice with a powerful oak flavor. I like it

 

[tonyt]

I have only done the WE Eclipse but am very happy with it.

 

[bkisel]

Price wise I think the RJS WS @ $125.00 shipped would be an excellent value.

 

[USA_WineMaker]

I don't buy any cellar craft kits anymore as they are priced too high. In fact I don't buy Mosti kits anymore for the same reason - they are wildly over priced. All the merchants charge too much for both products. After seeing what the mark-ups are for some retailers I choose to not support them. Now I only buy Winexpert and Spagnol's products because there is much more competition and they are more fairly priced.

 

[chitownwine]

I agree with you USA, that is why I have been doing more rj kits. Just was thinking of why the cellar craft red mountain has recieved so many awards every year and not so many for the rj winery series cab was wondering if that had to do with it being many steps above the winery series, justifying a higher price, or just lack of rj cab entries.

I guess only way to really find out is make both and side to side compare.
Thank for replies.

 

[don67]

Given the choices I'd say CC Red Mountain. My first batch is currently bulk aging, but a quick taste after clearing was surprisingly complex and mature-tasting compared to any other premium red kits I've tasted at that stage. Counting the days to bottle this one.

The Winery Cab is good, but so far (after 14 months of aging) it seems a bit lacking in body compared to the En Primeur I did a few months earlier. So for now the EP Cab gets my vote. Only downside with the EP is that it's dropping a lot of crystals... 12 months of bulk aging + 6 months in the bottle and every darn one of them has a layer of coarse purple sand in the bottom.

 

[RichardJHurtz]

Hello Everyone:

I am obviously new here but would like to participate. I am from Georgia and love to make wine and have been doing it for about 8 years now. I enjoy the hobby very much and glad to find like-minded people.

I agree with others who say that cellar craft is too high priced. That is because there are few competitors and it is not as widely known as WE and RJ. I enjoy making WE kits and a few RJ from time to time. The We kits are inexpensive for what I believe is better quality than CC. Why pay more when you don't have to.

OK, I hope to be a regular on here and will chime in from time to time. Thank you for letting me have my say and salute to all.

****

 

[Simpsini]

Richard, welcome.... Chitown, I've only been making wine for 4 years but I'll offer my opinion. I've made the WE Lodi Ranch Cab twice. I am bulk aging the second one now. And I have made the CC Red Mt Cab once. Both are very good. The Lodi isn't as heavy as the Red Mt. It goes with a lot of foods and is good by itself. I had a hard time keeping the Lodi wine around, hence I'm making it again. The Red Mt is a full, chewy wine with more oak flavor than the Lodi. I have never made an rj Spagnols kit before so I cannot offer an opinion on it.

I still have 16 bottles of the Red Mt that was made in Apr 2012, so it's still young. I plan on not drinking any more until at least fall 0f 2014. I probably won't make the Red Mt Cab again for a long time. The WE Lodi Eclipse kit is a very good wine & my wife prefers it to the Red Mt. The difference in cost ($35) isn't a big factor for me. I can spend that much on a cheap round of golf.

Bottom Line: I recommend you make the We kit first and then if you're still curious about the CC kit make it

 

[RichardJHurtz]

Thank you for all that but I'm turned off with CC kits as I think prices are too high for what you get. If you look at pricing and what some retailers are making it is safe to say they are gouging because of lack of competition with CC kits. Unlike WE and RJ who have much competition which is good for us consumers.

 

[USA_WineMaker]

Yes WE and RJ are much more competitive where those selling CC seem to have fix pricing more or less. It does not affect me. I will not make CC kits. I do not think they are any better than the others. For those of you who do like CC then that is fine too. They are just not for me.

I feel like the Dunkin Donuts guy today -- gotta bottle the wine. Wish me luck as I'm doing 5 kits - about 25 or so gallons. There goes my Saturday.

 

[RichardJHurtz]

Yes WE and RJ are much more competitive where those selling CC seem to have fix pricing more or less. It does not affect me. I will not make CC kits. I do not think they are any better than the others. For those of you who do like CC then that is fine too. They are just not for me.

I feel like the Dunkin Donuts guy today -- gotta bottle the wine. Wish me luck as I'm doing 5 kits - about 25 or so gallons. There goes my Saturday.

Todd, I know the feeling all too well. Good luck bottling and I agree with you on CC kits; they are way overpriced for me too. Especially when you have kits as good or better from WE and RJ. In fact, there are too many great kits to choose from.

 

[tonyt]

I have the rj Spagnols California cab sitting in secondary for a couple months now. Very nice with a powerful oak flavor. I like it

Isnt that a long time in secondary?

 

[ibglowin]

I have made kits from all three manufacturers for the last four years. Reds, Whites, Limited Releases. IMHO the Cellar Craft kits are easily worth any extra price difference. The end product speaks for itself.

 

[Dino466]

I agree with Mike. Where I am from the CC Showcase , EN Primeur and WE Eclipse are within $10.00 of each other. But if you are comparing CC Showcase to RJS CCWS or WE . Then I don't think it is a fair comparison. I have made CC Showcase - best wine I have made. Also made some EP - great. Really like the RJS CCWS I have too, I think they are a better value for your buck but are not the best. Just if you are comparing the brands top-lines the prices are not off that much.

 

[eblasmn9]

I have made kits from all three manufacturers for the last four years. Reds, Whites, Limited Releases. IMHO the Cellar Craft kits are easily worth any extra price difference. The end product speaks for itself.

I can't argue with this at all. I have made mostly Winexpert and Cellar Craft with several Rj Spagnol kits. When I think about what kits I might make again, the Cellar Craft kits keep dominating the list. A lot of the Showcase kits were at one time Limited Releases. As a lot of my wines are reaching the two year old mark, this is where the Showcase kits really start to distance themselves from the competition.

 

[geek]

Are you guys saying that CC showcase is better than Winexpert?

 

[ibglowin]

I think post #15 speaks for me pretty clearly.

 

[tonyt]

What Mike said.