Cellar Craft Showcase Amarone - Help me identify the date of this kit

[geek]

A guy selling a CC Showcase Amarone on Craigslist very cheap, was given to him over a year ago and the box doesn't have a label sticker on it, some numbers printed on the box and some lot# on the juice/grape skins pack.

There's a 021242 number.
Somewhere there's a lot# H111118SA
Another lot# I30112SA (I think this is on the grape skins he said)

He says everything is sealed, juice bag, grape skins and all.
I don't care about yeast, sorbate and sulfite as I can replace.

.

 

[geek]

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[geek]

More pics.
This kit would cost me $66 for me to pickup including transportation.

For the kit the guy is asking $30





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[Putterrr]

http://www.cellarcraftwine.com/

Cellar Craft
Cellar Craft has recently returned to stamping the date on the side of the 16 & 18 liter kits. On the 7.5L kits the date code is on a sticker on the front of the kit.

For example a kit that has the following number of D27512SA. The first letter refers to the month, in this case D refers to April (A=Jan, B = Feb, C= March etc). The 27 is the date of the month. The next number is the year. So this kit was made on April 27, 2005. The numbers after the year are internal codes used by the manufacturer.

cheers and good luck

 

[Boatboy24]

The box, and a couple of the packets make me think that there's been some water damage. I don't know how much, or if that would really have any impact - especially if you're replacing the yeast and chems.

 

[geek]

I think this kit is over 3 years old. The bottom line is that I'm thinking if worth the risk investing for a total of close to $70.....

 

[Boatboy24]

Would you be spending $33 on gas to go pick this up, or is he shipping to you?

 

[geek]

He lives in Long Island, NY....and the best way for me would be to take the ferry and he'd meet me on the other side. Round trip on the ferry is ~$36.
Since I work ~11 miles from Bridgeport (where I need to take the ferry) then I am just adding a few bucks to the total.
We never talked about shipping and I think if I wanted to do this it may be better to meet him as mentioned above and if something doesn't look right I could back out of the deal. He sounds like a nice guy on the phone.

I could also just make him an offer of $20 and tell him I am just taking a risk of losing my $$

 

[geek]

So what you guys think...


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[joshs]

If it were me, I wouldn't do it. There is a cost to your time as well and in my mind, it's not worth it. Driving to Bridgeport and then taking the ferry to Port Jeff and back is far more effort then I would want to put forth for this kit. Just my opinion so take it as you will...

-Josh

 

[richmke]

For $30, I'd give it a try. For $70 (total cost), I'm not so thrilled. You can pick up a kit like that for around $110 on sale.

It doesn't look like it was stored well.

 

[bkisel]

I would NOT do it! I wouldn't go much past 1 year shelf life for a high end kit no matter what the savings (unless the kit were a give).

 

[sour_grapes]

I think richmke nailed it. I would jump on it for $30. Not for $70 (unless you have another reason to visit LI).

Hey, what about making it part of a day of winery tours? Some nice Cab Francs on LI.... (Of course, I just quintupled your budget!)

 

[geek]

For $30, I'd give it a try. For $70 (total cost), I'm not so thrilled. You can pick up a kit like that for around $110 on sale.

It doesn't look like it was stored well.

I made a small mistake in my calculations....the ferry cost round trip same day is $27, that would bring the cost to like $60.

This kit goes for about $155 online. You'd never get a CC Showcase for $110.

Oh well, sounds like the masses are calling for a no, no, not a good deal...

 

[richmke]

This kit goes for about $155 online. You'd never get a CC Showcase for $110.

If you have a competitive LHBS, you just have to wait for the right sale.

 

[Putterrr]

I have made Limited Edition kits as old as 3 years with no issues other than changing the chems

On Sat I just bottled a WE Selections Intl Tempranillo i picked up off kijiji. The date code was 307th day of 2011. I bottled it at 8 months in the carboy. I also bottled the same kit 6 weeks ago for a friend (also 8 months old) but his was fresh right from the store. The older one was preferred in a tasting but that one did have some tannin complex added 6 weeks before bottling.

If you are over their anyway, 30 is not bad. Go for it

cheers

 

[Boatboy24]

If it were me, I wouldn't do it. But obviously, I'm not you.

In addition to the $$ involved, you have to ask how long this little boat ride will take and how much your time is worth to you. Factoring that, the monetary cost, and the risk that it may turn out to be a throw away batch will get you your answer.