Other "Wine Lovers" kit on Amazon
- Thread starter gamble
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Gamble, I went to Amazon and looked up this kit. It is a 5.2 liter kit which one would reconstitute to 23 liters, i.e. add almost 18 liters of water. My experience with kits, which is considerable over the last 5 years, is that the more juice in a kit, generally the better the kit. By this I mean 23 liters of juice is better than 18 liters, which is better than 16 liters, etc. I would be very reluctant to pull the trigger on this one. The price is tempting but there are much better deals out there for better wine.
bkisel
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It would be a gamble even at $40. (pun intended!)
I was about to post that I didn't get the pun.
Fortunately a scroll back saved me the embarrassment. 
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1d10t
stewbum
It would be a miracle? Pun intended.
One of the ladies in our group bought 2 of these - merlot and a cab. She bottled it straight up. I bought in for half of each, and made a meritage mix of the merlot and cab, adding some petit Verdot and Malbec to round it out. 2 years ago. They were very raw at the beginning, but the blend is very presentable, and I have tried her unblended and it is very drinkable. We will pull them out for our end of season dinner and tasting this year.
They are by no means the best we have made, but are very drinkable. And considering the price....
They are by no means the best we have made, but are very drinkable. And considering the price....
Do you know what size kits were purchased? It seems the offer kits from 4.2 liters to 16 liters.
Their 4 and 5 liter kits look to be low ABV.
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The 4 and 5 liter kits are very low ABV, if made completely following the directions, they tend to be closer to wine coolers than to wine. But, you control the ABV, ultimately. Add 4 pounds of sugar to that low ABV and now you are up near 10-12%, when I do that, I also add a bottle of white grape juice (and less water) for extra body to go along with that extra alcohol.
I've made two pf the Fontana Cabs. One I jacked up with sugar, oak and Zante currants. The other I dumped on spent Cab Franc skins and dried blackcurrants. I only added water to 5 gallons for each kit. The first is turning out nice and the second is bulk aging but has real promise. I use the cheap kits as a base for tweaking or boosting.. Trying to decide about ordering the Chard.
joeswine
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I've made several of these kits for Carol, Toms wife and they are what hey are a decent everyday drinking wine when processed correctly, you won't win an award with them but you can use them for everyday drinking that's for sure. Using all the skills you have or developing the skills you want to acquire this is the why to go, remember the Fontana kits when I first brought them to the screen ,? well they'd done well for a lot of makers on this thread and continue to sell out on Amazon.
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND HAVE FUN
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX AND HAVE FUN
