Can a 8 wk wine kit be made in 4 wks?

[Newbie]

Hi

I'm a first time wine maker... since I know NOTHING, I decided to go to a local wine making store. They've been in business for yrs, so I assume they know what they're doing.

I did a little reading and picked an Selection Estate Crushendo Australian Shiraz (with grape pack), I'm hoping for a good quality wine that I can let age for several yrs.

The wine making store is telling me that the wine will be ready for bottling in 4 wks. The instructions say it's an 8 wk kit. When I questioned this, I was told that they have special filters to speed it up.
Does this sound like it's true? Or is the store rushing an 8 wk kit so that they have room for another customer's wine sooner? and therefore make more $$$?

Thanks for any info.

 

[jbullard1]

I know nothing of kit wines but "Time and Patience" are the essence of the wine
I make

 

[arcticsid]

New, first of all go back to your profile settings and enter your location. t Secondly, follow the instructions that came with the kit unless, or until, one of the more seniors members in here tell you or advise different. Most of the kit making members in here have probably been making wine longer than the person that sold you the kit. It's too bad they told you in can be done in 4 wks when the manufacturer said it was an 8 wk kit. For them, if they did, misrepresent the manufacturer, is a shame.

Time and patience are indeed one of the most important ingredients and you can't buy either one.

I hope someone more familiar with kits can get you steered right.
Troy
Hang in there, we'll find you an answer.

 

[cpfan]

As a former FoP owner, I am regularly surprised (better word might be annoyed) by the attitudes of some FoP owners. Yes you can make an 8-week kit in 4-weeks. I don't think it's a good idea, but it can be done. Heck you can make one in 7-10 days with the accelerator packs now available, and yes some FoPs like that. That's something else that I don't like.

Many customers of FoPs have finished their drinking their wine within 30 days of bottling. Another not-so-good idea.

So get the wine made in 4 weeks, get it drunk in 4 weeks, and the customer makes another batch sooner. What the **blip** happened to good customer service and (in this case) wanting their customers to have great wine???

Crushendo wines should be 8+ weeks to bottling and 12-24 months to drinking.

Steve

 

[smurfe]

I made a Crushendo Super Tuscan 3 years ago. It is just now worth drinking. I won't touch a Wine Expert red wine short of two years to allow the "Kit Taste" which I can detect prominently in every WE Red I have done to dissipate. When they reach a certain level, it is gone and a fantastic wine. Many can't detect this taste but unfortunately, I can. It is a grape candy type of aroma/taste. For me it makes every red varietal kit wine taste exactly the same until a certain point that normally hits around 2 years with my storage conditions.

 

[Malkore]

My two cents: sounds like the owner wanted to sell you a filtering system to make more $$ off you.

 

[Wade E]

You probably could like others have said but that would not be good. I dont bottle these fro at least 6 months and dont drink them for a year. This is too good of a kit to drink early.

 

[Skyhawk]

Hmmm... to many FoPs, the cost of space and carboy availability must be worth more than possible customer satisfaction. BTW, in my area I know of a FoP who will keep your wine in the carboy for up to 4 months. I guess that's a rarity.

 

[cpfan]

Hmmm... to many FoPs, the cost of space and carboy availability must be worth more than possible customer satisfaction. BTW, in my area I know of a FoP who will keep your wine in the carboy for up to 4 months. I guess that's a rarity.

Yeah, when I had a 'full house' it was a nuisance. But I just juggled stuff and made room.

I had one regular that we always did his 4 week kit as an 8 week kit. I would regularly have kits sitting 4 months for the snow birds (ie folks who went south for the winter). They started before they left, and bottled when they got back. Most of them wanted to pay me extra for tying up my space and equipment. Good folks!!

Thats what I miss, the people. Don't miss doing 100 kits at a time.

Steve

 

[Newbie]

Thanks, I got some very helpful responses.

Skyhawk, can you recommend a FoP in the Ottawa area? I live in Barrhaven, although I don't mind driving a little to end up with a better quality wine.

 

[Skyhawk]

Thanks, I got some very helpful responses.

Skyhawk, can you recommend a FoP in the Ottawa area? I live in Barrhaven, although I don't mind driving a little to end up with a better quality wine.

The guy I was talking about who will keep your carboys for months is Vinbella, located on Slack Road and Merivale (actully kinda close to you). He does fresh juices only - reds for $45 and whites for $40. His juices are working very well for me thus far.

For a big selection of kits in the west end (Moodie), I would recommend Defalco's. They have a huge, modern facility. This is also where I buy most of my additives and equipment.

 

[Newbie]

Just an update on the Crushendo shiraz kit, for anyone who's looking for info on it:
I insisted that the FOP take the full 8 wks to make the kit. We bottled it last night and I'm very impressed with the sample that I tried. It had a nice dark color, and seemed to have full body, it's not "flat" at all, like some of the cheaper wines that I've had. I can't taste any of the "kit taste" (whew!). Unfortunately, my wine tasting skills don't allow a better description, but I can definitely say that I'm happy with it. One of my favorite wines is the Wolf Blass shiraz (yellow label) and I believe that with aging, the crushendo will be as good or better.

 

[Skyhawk]

I'm glad to hear the kit worked well for you. If you like it now, you'll find that aging will still make a huge difference.

I don't make kits often, but I just started 2 kits that I'll be blending later in a 46L barrel to replace some Shiraz that must come out in a few weeks. One kit is the CC Winery Series "Rosso Grande Excellente" and the other a CC Winery Series Cab from Defalco's. They both came with a skin kit and should make for a heavy bodied big red that should stand a few years aging when put together.

The high-end kits cost a pretty penny, but I look at it like an investment of sorts that will pay off a couple years down the road