A line of discussion in the FWK thread spurred me to look into the history of wine kits. I was co-owner of a LHBS (The Winery in Rome NY) '89-'91, and we sold a few cans of grape concentrates which were low quality. My partner and I drove to the NY Finger Lakes to purchase grapes and juice, which we re-sold (plus made our own). We had very little customer interest in concentrates -- 99% made wine from grapes, juice, and fruit. [I later moved south, after we closed our store.]
My first kit in the 1996 was Wine-Art, which was started by Stanley Anderson in 1959. These kits were available while we ran the LHBS, but I have no memory of seeing them in the vendor catalogs.
In the early 2000's, the Raleigh LHBS owner said Wine-Art was purchased by Wine-Kitz. Finding history on Wine-Art is tough -- so far, this is all I found:
https://www.midwestsupplies.com/blogs/bottled-knowledge/the-secret-history-of-wine-kits
If I couldn't find Wine-Art, I searched for Stanley Anderson, who wrote The Art of Making Wine with Raymond Hull -- this was the second winemaking book I purchased. There are many references to Anderson's books, but no mentions of Wine-Art other than he started it.
However, I found the Wine Kitz site -- I made 3 of their kits in 2002-2003, and their site states that it was the original Wine-Art store, and the current owner bought it in 2003. I recall the LHBS owner said Wine-Art had been acquired by a larger firm. However, it appears he was given incorrect information -- Anderson (born 1921) was ~80 and he sold the original store, and the new owner renamed it. There were apparently other Wine-Art stores, but I found no information other than brief mentions.
http://www.winekitzilano.com/index.php/about-us
I'm interested if anyone finds additional information on Wine-Art, and I'm also interested in the history of other wine kit vendors.
My first kit in the 1996 was Wine-Art, which was started by Stanley Anderson in 1959. These kits were available while we ran the LHBS, but I have no memory of seeing them in the vendor catalogs.
In the early 2000's, the Raleigh LHBS owner said Wine-Art was purchased by Wine-Kitz. Finding history on Wine-Art is tough -- so far, this is all I found:
https://www.midwestsupplies.com/blogs/bottled-knowledge/the-secret-history-of-wine-kits
If I couldn't find Wine-Art, I searched for Stanley Anderson, who wrote The Art of Making Wine with Raymond Hull -- this was the second winemaking book I purchased. There are many references to Anderson's books, but no mentions of Wine-Art other than he started it.
However, I found the Wine Kitz site -- I made 3 of their kits in 2002-2003, and their site states that it was the original Wine-Art store, and the current owner bought it in 2003. I recall the LHBS owner said Wine-Art had been acquired by a larger firm. However, it appears he was given incorrect information -- Anderson (born 1921) was ~80 and he sold the original store, and the new owner renamed it. There were apparently other Wine-Art stores, but I found no information other than brief mentions.
http://www.winekitzilano.com/index.php/about-us
I'm interested if anyone finds additional information on Wine-Art, and I'm also interested in the history of other wine kit vendors.
