I made a wine expert Borolo kit about 9 months ago. I tasted it at 3 months, again at 6 months and now at 9 months. This was my first kit, I was very careful about the SG readings and following the steps very carefully.. The wine has a fruity taste, but it really doesn't taste like wine. More like grape juice, not sweet but fruity. It doesn't seem to have that alcohol taste or tannins........Any ideas?
WineXpert Borolo (not happy)
- Thread starter rrs26ja
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Thats the problem as its a cheaper kit. When making a wine that is supposed to be big and bold these smaller kits (7.5- 15 liter with no skins) dont cut it in my opinion!!!!! I only make the 15 liter and bigger kits with skins or all juice for these and the difference is bigtime! I pretty much only make the RJS Cellar Classic Winery Series kits as I find them to be the best kit for the dollar but have never tried the Cellar Craft Grape skin kits (Ive been told they are as good or mat=ybe even better on some) NOW, I just drank a bottle of the Mosti Meglioli Barlolo and it was the best damn wine Ive ever tried commercial or kit made but they are expensive to buy but wen you break it down to price per bottle it works out to a little over $7 nd this wine is Phenominal!
Sounds like it was the Vinters Reserve and those smaller kits are light and fruity. The good news is it will be a nice light wine and it really will improve after a couple of years and it will be something to drink while you are waiting for other kits to mature. If you are looking for good value kits take a look at Mosti's Renaissance kits (especially the Amarone) they make a very good wine for the money. Also look at the Cellar Craft 5 week kits with grape skins. But your best bet would to go to the all juice kits, kits with grape skins and any of the limited edition kits.
VC
VC
Thanks Wade, you posting makes a lot of sense. I didn't realize that there some kits that are all juice with skins and some with a samller amount of juice that I added water. I purchased the Wine Expert Vinters Reserve kit which was 1/2 juice and then I had to add water.
Appreciate your help. I have learned from this......
Appreciate your help. I have learned from this......
Thanks Vcasy, you are right on, it was a wine expert Vinters Reserve kit which included no skins and I had to add about 3-3.5 gallons of water to. Reading the reply from Wade and yourself I now understand the difference and when making these bold types of wine, I should make it from an all juice kits that includes the skins.....
I love this forum......
Thanks guys
I love this forum......
Thanks guys
Stick with the bigger kits (~16 liters or above) for the hearty reds and you should be happy. Any kit with a grape pack (for example most of the Cellar Craft Showcase) and you will probably be even happier!
Hi rrs!!!! The first kit I made(only been at this a year) was a WE small kit and Ihad the same out-come!!! I had some friends that loved it, but they are not wine drinkers... It was to sweet(for lack of a better word) for me!!!! Stay with the big kits...
Don't give up on your Barolo, rrs. This was my 3rd kit. I used too much water to top up and didn't degas enough. I rushed the kit through in 45 days. Still, it is excellent now at 16 months! Good nose, great flavor. I like it well enough that I made the same kit last March.
I seem to be in the minority, but I like WE's 15L Original kits. The Merlot is coming around nicely at 13 months, the Luna Rossa was tasty at 8 months and keeps improving. It is at 1 year now. I am making the Cab and the Cab/Merlot right now.
WE's Estate series is really impressing me, too! These are 16L kits without grape packs, just real high quality grapes. I made the CFM and the LOVZ last Feb and the tastes I have had from splits are VERY promising.
I should say that the only skins kit I have made is the CC RM Cab last May. I haven't tasted it yet. If it ends up blowing away all the WE kits, so much the better! I started the CC Rosso Fortissimo yesterday.
So, bottom line, if you don't particularly care for the taste of one of your wines, stop drinking it for 3 to 6 months! No point in being disappointed when you could wait for a batch to be great.
I seem to be in the minority, but I like WE's 15L Original kits. The Merlot is coming around nicely at 13 months, the Luna Rossa was tasty at 8 months and keeps improving. It is at 1 year now. I am making the Cab and the Cab/Merlot right now.
WE's Estate series is really impressing me, too! These are 16L kits without grape packs, just real high quality grapes. I made the CFM and the LOVZ last Feb and the tastes I have had from splits are VERY promising.
I should say that the only skins kit I have made is the CC RM Cab last May. I haven't tasted it yet. If it ends up blowing away all the WE kits, so much the better! I started the CC Rosso Fortissimo yesterday.
So, bottom line, if you don't particularly care for the taste of one of your wines, stop drinking it for 3 to 6 months! No point in being disappointed when you could wait for a batch to be great.
I agree completely. I'd heard that wine could change dramatically with aging but I didn't really "get" it until I witnessed it first hand. I did a Selection Estates merlot once that I thought was terrible so I shelved it after bottling and forgot about it. Almost a year later my roommate "accidentally" opened a bottle. I didn't realize what she was drinking until she started talking about how great it was and I asked where she'd found it. When I tasted it myself I couldn't believe it was the same wine.
So - there's definitely hope here.
So - there's definitely hope here.
The "smaller" kits that promise 6 gallons of tasty wine, well if made that way, per the instructions,they are a thin disappointment. I have a thread going on another forum trying to get people that actually like the results from these kits to confess how it is they are making them. Do you originally start at 6 gallons but only top up with wine or rack down to a 5 gallon plus something smaller and never top up. Some add tweaks that add the body most of these kits lack.
I did a Barolo this summer and the result was ok. For the price I was not disappointed. I topped up with wine and added tweaks at the beginning to compensate for the thin body I expected.
I do have good municipal water coming from my tap. I would never fault a kit for adding sub quality water. The original poster never mentions water so I do not know if he used his tap and is it good water or used spring water or something similar. Just a thought.
I did a Barolo this summer and the result was ok. For the price I was not disappointed. I topped up with wine and added tweaks at the beginning to compensate for the thin body I expected.
I do have good municipal water coming from my tap. I would never fault a kit for adding sub quality water. The original poster never mentions water so I do not know if he used his tap and is it good water or used spring water or something similar. Just a thought.
I made a WE World Vineyard Australian Shiraz in may of 2007 and it was awful and I'm being kind. 2 years later I have to admit its pretty good especially since it averages to $3 a bottle or so. I used regular tap water, I do for all my kits, fruit wines & meads. I agree with uavwmn you need to put it away and let it age. If you want something to drink right away make a white since they are ready a little faster.
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