I've made some kits from both series, but I haven't made any of the similar ones. So, for example, I can't say the Lodi Old Vines Zinfandel is better than the generic Zinfandel. I don't think you'll go wrong with either series. You do get a little more juice with the Estate series, but that's not really worth $30 in my book. I haven't had any problems with any of the Winexpert kits, and I've been using them for 4-5 years. The reason I went with the Estate series was to get the blends, or for the specific regions. Some of my friends either prefer certain regional wines, or are from those areas, so it's a nice gesture on my part to pop for the extra $30, which breaks down to about $1/bottle extra.