Cellar Craft Cellar Craft Premium Wine Kits

[roger80465]

I have seen about every kit from about every manufacturer mentioned and reviewed here except the CC Premium kits. These kits seem like a relative bargain when compared to RJS Cru Select, WE Selection or MM Renaissance kits. Yet, nobody talks about them.

Has anyone had any experience with these kits? Any thoughts, good or bad? I am thinking about the Pinot Noir so I am curious.

Roger

 

[Dokki]

I made the CC Late Harvest Reisling, turned out excellent.

 

[Rocky]

Roger, I have made two of the varieties from the Premium line, the Sauvignon Blanc and the Chardonnay/Semillon, twice each. I have found them to be very good wines and I chose only the white varieties for a reason. The kits are 16 liters of juice concentrate and, being white varieties, do not suffer from the lack of maceration or from the lack of a grape pack. Personally, I would not buy a red wine kit without a grape pack or one to which I would add either a grape pack or raisins for more body, flavor and mouth. Having noted that, a Pinot Noir, which is a lighter wine anyway, may still be a good choice. Being the inveterate tweaker that I am, however, I would probably add a can of either black cherry or red raspberry puree in primary.

 

[ibglowin]

I have made two of the MM Pinot Kits. They made drinkable table wines but they did not have much (if any) real discernible Pinot bouquet or flavor. Every one of the CC Premium line are white (except for that one Pinot Noir) 16L kits which should make an excellent 5 star QPR (white) wine. If I was to try another stab at a Pinot Noir I would go for the RJS EP New Zealand Pinot Noir or the new Eclipse Sonoma Vally Pinot Noir. Both are Ultra Premium 18L kits for the same $$$ but not cheap. I just don't think the low end or even mid range Pinot Kits are all that good. I have had a lot of commercial Pinot Noirs and you really do have to spend a pretty good chunk of change to get a good/decent bottle (unlike every other varietal). Very few decent ones are out there for less than $20 IMHO. By all means if you do go for the CC Premium Pinot keep us posted on how it turns out!

 

[Rocky]

The Premium line also includes a Cabernet/Merlot blend which I would bet dollars to doughnuts would be disappointing.

 

[ibglowin]

I missed that one somehow. You would almost be better off with the 12L Sterling line in which some of the reds come with a 1.5L grapepack!

 

[cpfan]

At the Vineco web-site, there are 5 Cellar Craft Premium red kits listed. I don't know if this is up-to-date.
http://www.vinecowine.com/Cellar%20Craft%20Premium.php
(remember to hit the Red Wine button, because it defaults to whites only.)

To answer, Roger's original question... I haven't made any of the CC Premium kits, but I would expect the Cru Select to be better, the Selection Original to be about the same, and the other Selection lines to be better. I'm not a fan of Mosti Mondiale kits, but it looks like the Renaissance kits would be about the same quality, although some include raisins, so that might help.

Steve

 

[ibglowin]

Good luck finding them. If anyone knows where in the lower 48 you can purchase the missing CC Premium reds (that FVW doesn't seem to carry) post it up!

 

[PurpleToes]

Good luck finding them. If anyone knows where in the lower 48 you can purchase the missing CC Premium reds (that FVW doesn't seem to carry) post it up!

Mike,
Although the Cellar Craft Premium reds are not normally stocked in our warehouse, we can easily get these kits for any of our retailers on our next order. Just have them ask us.

Hope that helps.

 

[ibglowin]

Always good to know.

Thanks Brant!

 

[roger80465]

Thanks to everyone for their responses to my question. I am fascinated by some things and the lack of experience with CC Premium brand is one of those things that make me scratch my head.

My reason for asking is my interest in making a lighter red wine. Personally, I prefer the big Italian reds but I have friends who prefer lighter fare. So I considered my options to be CC Sterling, CC Premium and RJS Grand Cru International. In talking to our friends at FVW, their impression was there would be very little difference and they all sell equally well. Interesting, but still not a great deal of help in my decision making process. (Yes, 'analysis paralysis' is one of my many faults).

Soooo, since they are all about the same, the only criterion is the price. So I took a left turn and decided on a Williams Brewing Pinot Noir. I have a Williams Brewing Malbec in clearing and I am quite pleased with it so I decided to try a Pinot Noir. I will start another thread to cover my impressions on this and the overall process. Thanks again for your help.

Roger

CURRENTLY:

Williams Brewing Malbec - bulk aging
RJS Selection Valpollicella Ripassa - clearing
CC Red Mountain Cab - secondary

 

[cpfan]

Thanks to everyone for their responses to my question. I am fascinated by some things and the lack of experience with CC Premium brand is one of those things that make me scratch my head.

My reason for asking is my interest in making a lighter red wine. Personally, I prefer the big Italian reds but I have friends who prefer lighter fare. So I considered my options to be CC Sterling, CC Premium and RJS Grand Cru International. In talking to our friends at FVW, their impression was there would be very little difference and they all sell equally well. Interesting, but still not a great deal of help in my decision making process. (Yes, 'analysis paralysis' is one of my many faults).

Soooo, since they are all about the same, the only criterion is the price. So I took a left turn and decided on a Williams Brewing Pinot Noir. I have a Williams Brewing Malbec in clearing and I am quite pleased with it so I decided to try a Pinot Noir. I will start another thread to cover my impressions on this and the overall process. Thanks again for your help.

Roger

CURRENTLY:

Williams Brewing Malbec - bulk aging
RJS Selection Valpollicella Ripassa - clearing
CC Red Mountain Cab - secondary

Had you told us this in the first place, I'm sure that we all would have had several suggestions for you.

Regardless, good luck with the Williams product.

PS, that's RJS Cru Select not Selection.

Steve