Cellar Craft Starting my first kits soon

[deboard]

Even though I have been making wine since '09, I have not made any kits to date. No good reason for this really other than I didn't think I wanted to. But recently I thought about it and decided it would be a good way to wean myself off of store bought wine, hopefully start drinking a better class of wine, and save a little money in the process (at least in the long run).

Anyways, I bought a couple of kits to start with:

Cru Select Platinum Australian Cabernet Shiraz Merlot
Cellar Craft International Lodi Old Vines Zinfandel

I chose these mainly because these are two of my favorite types.

Has anyone made these kits and have any advice or thoughts about them?

Also, I know the kits are 6 gallons, but do you really get 30 bottles out of one at the end, or do you lose enough to racking and end up with 27, 28 or so?

Either way that many bottles will last me a long time, but I'd like to have a little variety as well, which is why I plan to keep making different kits and stocking up a bit.

I have been buying wine and sticking to the 8-14 dollar range in price, but the kits, from what I read here, will give me a better wine, and with the prices, they will generally run below 7 dollars/bottle. Plus I get to make it!

 

[cpfan]

deboard:

Looks like a couple of good choices. That Zin should be aged at least a year (preferably 2-3). I like Cru Select kits. They are pretty good after 3-4 months, but will continue to get better.

I get about 29.5 bottles from one of these kits, but everybody makes them slightly differently (topping up, carboy size, etc).

Steve

 

[Dugger]

I've made many Cru Select kits but not this one and found them all good; I haven't made any Cellar Craft.
You can get 30 bottles but that generally includes about a bottle of top up wine. I generally get 29 plus a little (a sampler!) When you rack in the beginning don't be afraid to carry over sediment and if you do have some liquid sediment left put it in a smaller bottle and let it resettle to reclaim the wine in it. Most people new to this lose a lot of their wine in the sediment.

 

[deboard]

This is the kind of info I need, thanks. I wondered how much aging I'd need. So to get started, I'd like some relatively early drinkers (no more than 6 months). Anyone got any recommendations for good ones that don't require a lot of aging? I pretty much only drink reds, and the friends that come over weekly prefer reds as well, so I probably won't do any white kits.

I also have been on a petite sirah kick lately, any recommendations for a good kit?

 

[cpfan]

Picking an early drinking red is kinda difficult. The Ken Ridge Classic Merlot had a great reputation for drinking young with my customers when I ran a Ferment on Premises (up till 2007). Many were drinking it right away, but most were commenting a month or so after bottling. Unfortunately, Vineco/Ken Ridge kits are difficult to find in the US. For the record, I would wait a minimum of three months. The batch I'm currently drinking was started in late 2008.

Many red kits produce wine that is fine (in my opinion anyway) after 3-4 months, but it will get better. If you prefer a BIG red, then it will probably require more time.

Spagnols has a Grand Cru Petite Sirah that should be fine at 3-4 months. I sold some (but not many) when I had the store, but I can't really comment.

If you can find one at a retailer (it was the February Limited Edition), try the Winexpert Selection LE California Petite Sirah/Zinfandel.

Steve

 

[rjb222]

If you can find a RJS dealer that sells the Glad Hatter series these are very approachable young and really come to life in a short time after bottling.

 

[deboard]

I'm willing to wait, I started this project assuming it would take me at least a year to get to drinking my own wine almost exclusively. But if there are some early drinkers I can start phasing out the store bought a little earlier. I expect with reds I can't expect anything sooner than 3-4 months after bottling, and waiting longer is better.

So my plan is to do one kit at a time, and then just cellar it for a while, continuing on with my usual store bought stuff until the time is right.

The only petite sirah my shop has is the Grand Cru Petite Syrah, which is just a 10L kit, meaning it's shy of 3 gallons. anyone ever done this one?

 

[cpfan]

If you can find a RJS dealer that sells the Glad Hatter series these are very approachable young and really come to life in a short time after bottling.

Sure glad that somebody mentioned these on the RJS forum (NOT!!!) or even anywhere else. They even had a contest that has an announced winner. I have NEVER seen mention of this brand before. Products don't sell unless potential customers know about them.

OK...down off my soap box.

Here is the product link (at least I tell people...mutter..mutter)
http://www.gladhatterwines.com/index-2.php

The naming seems to be competition for Vineco's Cheeky Monkey. The retailer search shows that the closest retailer is over an hour away from me.

Ummm..rjb...sorry to spout off on your post. Thanks for telling us about this new product.

Steve

 

[deboard]

Those Glad Hatter kits look great, but I can't find them anywhere. Is that a Canadian brand? It defaults the country to Canada on the website. If so, you guys are blessed as far as wine kits go then.

 

[cpfan]

Those Glad Hatter kits look great, but I can't find them anywhere. Is that a Canadian brand? It defaults the country to Canada on the website. If so, you guys are blessed as far as wine kits go then.

They are all Canadian made...Winexpert, RJ Spagnols, Vineco, Cellar Craft, Paklab, .....

But Spagnols is owned by an American outfit called Constellation Brands.

Steve

 

[PurpleToes]

Picking an early drinking red is kinda difficult. The Ken Ridge Classic Merlot had a great reputation for drinking young with my customers when I ran a Ferment on Premises (up till 2007). Many were drinking it right away, but most were commenting a month or so after bottling. Unfortunately, Vineco/Ken Ridge kits are difficult to find in the US....Steve

There's more places to get a Vineco kit in the US than you may think. Have a look at this list of US retailers. As customers of ours, they can get anything Vineco makes.

Hope that helps.

 

[cpfan]

There's more places to get a Vineco kit in the US than you may think. Have a look at this list of US retailers. As customers of ours, they can get anything Vineco makes.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Brant. I'll have to stop saying that. But you need to convince the Americans on the forum, cause so many say that they can't get (or don't know) Vineco products, or that EC Kraus is the only place and they are too expensive.

BTW, I just live 20 min from the factory store. Got a Cellar Craft Red Mountain Trio from them last week. Probably the first CC kit sold from that store as they aren't set up to sell them YET (probably in May).

Steve

 

[PurpleToes]

Steve,
Man, you are so lucky... only 20 minutes from the factory store?? You must be living right! Am a bit jealous. I hope I have a Red Mtn Trio left over so I can have one for myself. It looks like another medal winner to me!

 

[deboard]

I've heard the CC Red Mountain is a great kit, my store was sold out unfortunately.

So, I'm starting one of the kits today. (Cru Select Platinum Australian Cabernet Shiraz Merlot). The instructions for day 1 basically say put juice, water, oak, etc in, and then sprinkle yeast. I'm used to waiting a day to pitch yeast. Is it ok to just sprinkle the yeast right off the bat?

I think I may put only half the oak in primary and use a spiral if I want more later on.

 

[cpfan]

I've heard the CC Red Mountain is a great kit, my store was sold out unfortunately.

So, I'm starting one of the kits today. (Cru Select Platinum Australian Cabernet Shiraz Merlot). The instructions for day 1 basically say put juice, water, oak, etc in, and then sprinkle yeast. I'm used to waiting a day to pitch yeast. Is it ok to just sprinkle the yeast right off the bat?

I think I may put only half the oak in primary and use a spiral if I want more later on.

YES, sprinkle right away. You usually wait a day because you've added K-meta (or campden) to your fresh juice. Not applicable with kits.

Steve

 

[deboard]

Thanks for the reply! Will do