My feeling is that if it is a wine "tasting" competition it is about judging end result (i.e. the taste) and not the processes to get to the taste.
you under stand how wines are judged , the mystery of why kits to well in competitions is obvious. check out the score sheets
you get ten points for visual , colour and clarity so if the wine is clear , not hazy and sediment free , you’ll get ten points . now with a kit the clarity is aided by using the strong two part clarifiers that come with every kit and the colour is extracted and enhanced by the manufacturer , no skill or judgement of the winemaker is needed to get ten points. where as in a grape wine , grape quality , extraction, maceration temperature , filtering / fining , racking and time and a fair amount of skill is required to get ten points . these are all variables requiring skill to get right . vs , follow the instructions.
for the nose and flavor categories , again these are set by the manufacturer for the most part . deciding to add more oak or barrel age is about the only area the winemaker has influence over . even the cheapest kit should be able to get 20 out of 30 in each of these categories .
and in balance as these are all set and adjusted by the manufacturer and require no skill to get right and are not subject to fruit variation. so again even the most basic kit should be able to get 20 out of 30. so just following the instructions you should get 70 points with the cheapest Costco 45$ kit. spend a little more to get a bit better quality and flavor and 75 points and a bronze medal should be achievable painting by numbers / following the instructions
. if you can’t get a bronze medal with a 6 week mid range kit by following the instructions and giving it a year to age , you should give up winemaking. where as , it can take a few years to master all the skills it takes to get a grape wine in the zone , every time you make it. a grape winemaker has dozens of critical decisions to make and skills to master , it takes about 4 to make a kit. and that ease of use in making an acceptable , reliable product is a great thing for those who want to make wine very easily at home, its is the best thing about kits.
Not to step on any toes, but taste is only one of many parts that are judged in a competition. And since I can not say it any better than bzac, I will quote him.
Perhaps I don't agree that if you don't win after aging a kit wine for a year you should give up... But overall, I think he gave a very good sypnopsis of why kit wines are at an unfair advantage in competition against grape wines.
Seth, if any of that were true, then why even bother to judge the kit wines at all? I mean (according to the quote you posted) a monkey could make a $1000 bottle of wine by farting near a kit wine.
Thats a load of crap and we all know it. I can make a kit wine that follows the instructions to the letter and if I don't have good technique or good sanitation, I will make alcoholic swill. Hardly a "bronze medal winning" wine.
Its almost like the author thinks that no skill, patience, technique or "art" are required to make kit wines taste as good as possible.
As to judging, I can't see any difference between grape, kit, or concentrate wines that are judged on clarity, nose, color and taste.
What about juice buckets???
I think kits have a clear advantage in contests ( look a the results from this years winemaker amateur results) seems that it was dominated by kits.
Before this gets too heated, let me point out that by saying kits and grapes should not be judged side by side, you are in fact inferring that kit wines are inferior. We winemakers are artists that are very proud of our work, so this could be offensive to some.
There is no harm in having them compete side by side. I know of some kit wines that have won gold in competitions and some wines from grapes that were simply not fit for consumption. If it is true that kits are at a disadvantage, then wouldn't any award won be much more meaningful? Remember, most competitions rate on a point system. Just because one wine wins gold, does not mean that another can't will gold too!
I say let them all compete together and let the judges decide. It is not like we are talking about having Welch's wine compete too!
johnT.
Seth seems to be saying that kits make a superior wine and should not be compared to grape wine. And he says he only make wine from grape. So should we conclude that Seth is only interested in making inferior wine and does not want his inferior wine to be compared to superior kit wine because he feels he does not have a chance to win? Bless his heart.
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Interesting and much discussed topic and I would like to weigh in with my view. First, let me reiterate that I have been involved in various levels of winemaking for many years, going back to the late 1940's when all I did was strip grapes from the stems. I have made wine from grapes with family and alone, I have made wine from fresh juice purchased at a winery, from kits, from commercial juice buckets and from other fresh fruits and processed fruit juices. I have made great wine from grapes and from juice buckets and kits and I have made some really bad wine from grapes, juice buckets and kits. For that matter, I have had really good cakes made from a box and really bad cake "made from scratch."
Here are some random thoughts on the subject:
1. I don't believe the difficulty or the travails suffered by the winemaker is any part of the judging in wine competitions. I believe the competition is and should be based on the end product.
2. I think many people who make wine from grapes enjoy the "tradition" of doing so much like someone that grows or buys tomatoes and make their own sauces, even though just as good or better alternatives are available commercially.
3. Making wine from kits, fresh juice or juice buckets is much easier to do and more predictable than making wine from grapes and requires less equipment, time, space and clean up and could be more economical, all things considered.
4. Making wine from kits, fresh juice or juice buckets, for me, has resulted in wines that are many times better than wine that I have made from grapes and certainly easier to do and more consistent.
5. Making wine from fresh grapes may result in a wine that is marginally better than a kit, juice buckets or fresh juice, but see point 3, above.
6. I note that when people argue the merits of grapes vs. kits, juice buckets or fresh juice produced wine, it almost always is those who make wine from grapes criticizing those who do not and not the other way around. I wonder why this is so. I believe that in some cases it could be:
a. they make wine from grapes only to say that "they make wine from grapes" as in, look at me and what I can do, i.e. they have a psychological need for the attention it brings.
b. they are understandably peeved because they go through so much "trouble" making their wine for a product that may be (arguably) better than the other methods.
c. they understand that kits are improving and continuing to improve and they have railed against them for so long they cannot find a delicate way out.
In any case, people have to decide for themselves what best works for them. At this point in my life, it is kits, juice buckets and fresh juice. The only reason I would make wine from fresh grapes (and I have no plans to do so) would be to satisfy point 2, above. On the other hand, if you find that grapes are the way for you to go, knock yourself out!
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