Hello from Georgia

[First250]

I am making my first wine with the kits and equipment that I purchased fromthis sitelast month. Thank you George for the excellent service and advice thatyou gave me on the phone. I should bottle my first batch of merlot in two weeks and chardonnay about a week later, and remain excited about my new hobby.
The detailed Tutorial and all the other helpful information on your site -plus the complimentary statements aboutothers personalexperiences sold me on finally getting started,as well as dealing with Fine Vine Wines.


For my first effort Iwent withthe Selection Original and -as always-am optimistic about the outcome. I dowonder if the 7-1/2 liter kits will alsomake decent wine.My wife lovesa peach chardonnaythat is bottledlocally and I'd love to surprise her with something of my own that iseven somewhatsimilar. Any recommendations from anyone?


Thanks again, George. And thanks to all the contributorsto this great website.


Jim

 

[smurfe]

Welcome aboard. Good choice on going with better kits to start. I can only say try the smaller kits as you may like them but IMHO the wine isn't as full bodied as the bigger kits. Many love them though. I have been satisfied with the whites like the Italian Pinot Grigio. The reds are on the thin side.


I will say though that the Island Mist kits which are the fruit flavored wines and smaller kitsare pretty tasty. You can "enhance" them to gain a bit higher alcohol content. They are a great, refreshing, summer type wine that comes in various flavors.

 

[Wade E]

If your wife likes the Peach Chardonnay then she will like the Island Mist kits. like Smurf said though you might want to bump up the alc. by adding more sugar at starting time. They come prepped to make about 6 1/2-7% abv but if you add about 4 lbs. of sugar at starting time it will bring to around 10% which makes it really nice. If you are going to make 1 of these kits for her and want to do this make a new post as there are actually a few ways to do this according to how sweet she wants it.
As far as the smaller 7.5 liter kits, I will day that if you are making a whie wine these are actually pretty good but for a red wine they will be not as robust but have heard from many that the smaller Mosti Mondial kits arent too far from the bigger 1's and that they are drinkable much earlier if thats why your looking into them. Welcome to this forum and hope you stay awhile.

 

[whino-wino]

Welcome aboard!
I've done a few of the 7.5L kits and have found that they will actually age quite well. I haven't managed to keep any longer than 3 years, but the 2 and 3 year old kits that I've tried have been excellent. They do have a little less body than the larger kits, but depending on the type, you can add a can or two of Welch's concentrate (concord or niagra, depending on what you're making) and it will add some body to the wine. I don't recommend this for every wine, especially varietals, but I've had good luck adding the concord to blended concentrates like the red burgundy (bourgeron rouge). I've had no issues with clearing and two cans won't raise the s.g. very much in a 6 gallon batch. It definitely adds a little body to the finished product. Just add it when you mix it up and proceed with the kit instructions as usual.