Cabernet Sauvignon 30 bottle kits

[tonyhibbett]

Having been impressed with the Cellar 7 kit, compared withe Winebuddy version, I bought the California Connosseur kit for comparison, as it was on special offer, and have yet to start.
I found that Brew Uk do a fair range, as follows:
1 Solomon Grundy Gold £24.95 + £3 sugar
2 Cellar 7 £30.62 sugar inc. 6.0l. (7kg) 7 day
3 Cantina £33.49 " " 5 day
4 Solomon Grundy Platinum £33.49 " "
5 California Connosseur £41.99 " " 7.5l. 28 day
6 Beaverdale £42.98 All Juice? 7.5l.
7 Kenridge Classic £46.94 sugar inc. 10.0l. 28 day
Delivery £4.70 extra, in all cases.
Worth noting that they don't stock the Winebuddy version. Nothing wrong with it. A cheap, quick and pleasant light red wine, but has no resemblance to cabernet sauvignon.
The obvious next choice, would be 1. I have read 1 rave review of their merlot version, but rather negative opinion of Solomon Grundy kits in general, so somewhat hesitant., especially as it's in the same price range as Winebuddy.
Cellar 7 is good, ready to bottle in 7 days and ready to drink just a few days later.
Cantina is new to me. It uses Italian concentrate, which is considered very good, from what I have read. The only reviews are for the pinot grigio, all very positive.
4 had 1 good review for the merlot.
5 I have, and the reviews are very positive, apart from 1 comment about it going sour after 6 months. The barolo I made was great after 9 months, so I'll ignore that comment!
The Beaverdale looks interesting, being the only pure juice kit, but I have read that the yeast included doesn't do it justice.
6 is the most expensive, but my experience with the barolo version gives me complete confidence and, unlike the Cal. Con. version, needed no maturing.
Looks like Cantina would be the one to try next.

 

[graysalchemy]

I am wanting a cab sauv kit. Red wine and malt whisky is the only thing that i still buy so a good red kit would be good. I plan on doing 60 bottles and leaving them for 12 months or so ready for next year. I was looking at the Beaverdale as I have heard good things about them and being 100% juice is a bonus.

:thumb: :thumb:

 

[tonyhibbett]

I cannot vouch for the pure juice claim, nor for the quality of the grape concentrate, since I have not scrutinised these kits. For example, a 900 g. can of Young's Definitive Medium Red grape juice compound contains about 20% added glucose. Measure the contents and you get 750 ml. Subtract the glucose and you get 600 ml. of pure grape concentrate per can. Reconstitute this and you get 2.4 l. pure grape juice. Without the added glucose, this would produce a wine of under 10% alcohol. Then look at the source - Spain. Nothing wrong with Spanish wine these days, unless you go there, buy the cheap stuff in the local shops and offer it to the locals they will mostly politely decline your offer! It tastes ok, but may contain anti-freeze from more than one EC country, or industrial alcohol.
Wine grape concentrate is made from the unwanted grapes after the best have been selected for making wine, according to regulated quotas, which do not vary from year to year, irrespective of seasonal annual variations in yield. Concentrating the juice inevitably drives off much of any inheritant subtle elements in it. Cheap wine kits, eg Young's Winebuddy, compensate for this with flavourings, both natural and synthetic, which works quite well with white wines but not so well with reds.
By all means try the Beaverdale kit, but the Cellar 7 is cheaper and, in my opinion, quite acceptable.
As for the whiskey, you can't beat a decent Scottish single malt, although there are ways to improve upon so-called brandy, which I am not allowed to discuss on this forum.

 

[bobber]

cellar 7 all the way for me. tried magnum and cantina but cellar 7 is good value, quick (it has to be in our household) and 100% reliable.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Many thanks. The Cellar 7 is certainly good enough, although I did add 30 g Young's french oak chips, which adds £2.09 to the cost.

 

[Nunfa1]

I've tried most of the red wine kits available and if you want a good red wine then you have to go for the kits with the most grape juice. My red of choice is the Selection Luna Rossa at around £70. I know it sounds a lot but it still only works out at around £2.40 per bottle. You get 16 litres of grape juice for your money and it really will improve on ageing. We had an 8 month old bottle at Christmas and it easily held it's own against a Wolf Blass Yellow Label that my Brother bought along.
If your average spend in a supermarket is £5 and under, like mine, then this wine will beat anything you can buy for that price. Leave it a year and you'd have to pay over a tenner to beat it.
If you're going to stick the ones on your list then it has to the Kenridge Classic, only a fiver dearer than Beaverdale or CC but you're getting an extra 2.5l of juice.

 

[abeyptfc]

I brewed the california con white wine- either pinot grigio or chardonnay and cab sauv and my mum loved them. ive also brewed the belvino white wine kit and hambleton bard white wine kit, I'm not a wine drinker at all but I will quite happily sit with a glass and i find it quite nice.

 

[bobsbeer]

An alternative not on your list is the Harris own brand Cab Sav. About the same price as the Cellar 7. The kit contains:
5.5 lt of concentrated grape juice in a sturdy plastic container rather than the often seen plastic bag. It also has a packet of yeast and nutrient combined. A packet of stabiliser and a two part Finning sachet.
The kit states that it makes 22.5 lts of wine. I made this up to the required volume and tested the SG which was 1.070, which seemed fairly consistent with most kits.

This finished fermenting at .992 and was racked and stopped on 4/12/11 and left to clear. I racked it again on 7/1/12 and it is now bulk maturing. The colour was a nice deep red and it tasted nice. This should be a nice fruity dry red once it has matured for a couple of months. Well worth a try.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Not seen the Harris kit. Where can I get it?
I was seduced by the Brew UK offer on Kenridge Classic range so ordered a cabernet sauvignon.
Interesting point, the K C Barolo that wowed me so much initially is actually less impressive a few weeks later. Still good, but I have heard reports that it can go really bad after a few months.

 

[tonyhibbett]

The cal Con cab sauv is a cut above the Cellar 7, no 2 ways about it, but spookily similar to my modified winebuddy and similarly not particularly cab sauv!

 

[bobsbeer]

Sorry for the delay in reading your post. Just click on the link in my post (Harris) above and it will take you there.

 

[Brewedout]

An alternative not on your list is the Harris own brand Cab Sav. About the same price as the Cellar 7. The kit contains:
5.5 lt of concentrated grape juice in a sturdy plastic container rather than the often seen plastic bag. It also has a packet of yeast and nutrient combined. A packet of stabiliser and a two part Finning sachet.
The kit states that it makes 22.5 lts of wine. I made this up to the required volume and tested the SG which was 1.070, which seemed fairly consistent with most kits.

This finished fermenting at .992 and was racked and stopped on 4/12/11 and left to clear. I racked it again on 7/1/12 and it is now bulk maturing. The colour was a nice deep red and it tasted nice. This should be a nice fruity dry red once it has matured for a couple of months. Well worth a try.

I agree, this wine ages well and holds its own against many shop bought wines. Improves best when stored in bulk, like a 23l wine box.

 

[Mr.Everready]

Has anyone tried this kit on Amazon £15.66 delivered to your door !

During Amazons Black Friday deals I got a couple of white kits but I havnt made them up yet. It comes with labels, corks and shrink capsules ! There's also a Merlot @ £20.

 

[bobsbeer]

Looks like a good price. It says retail should be £62!!!! Noticed it doesn't mention if sugar should be added, but I did notice it contained invert sugar.

Edit: Ordered one. I will post back on how it turns out. Looks like the are a regular feature on Amazon so maybe not such a bargain. But from what I can see on Google it may turn out to be a middle of the road to ok wine. But for the price that should be ok.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Thanks for the tip. Amazing deal! I've ordered one also. Have to be careful, or you end up paying for delivery. Go to delivery options and select free delivery because the default is 1st class @ £5.

 

[alanwh]

Ive ordered 2, cant go wrong at that price, Ive magaged to find a few reviews and its a sort of 8 out of 10 average. :

 

[tonyhibbett]

The Amazon kit (reserve du chateau) has finally arrived, 6 days after ordering, but free delivery.
The Amazon reviews say it's somewhat lightweight. Also mention oak chips, but these are not included in the kit I got. Maybe that's why it's reduced.
You get 6 litres of 'varietal and regular' grape concentrate with invert sugar, which puts it somewhere between Cellar 7 and California Connosseur, but neither of these mention varietal grapes. You also get 30 corks, capsules and gummed labels, Lalvin champagne yeast, bentonite, stabiliser and an interesting fining combination of kieselsol and chitosan (rather than gelatin). Hopefully more effective than chitosan alone.
I signed up for the Amazon credit card and got £5 off, so the whole deal was £11.66! 37p per bottle. The normal retail price is £62, even higher than the Kenridge Classic at £47, although that weighs in at 10 litres, so I can't imagine why anyone would pay the full price. I will start it today.
I have also ordered the 'raspberry merlot' kit, which is even cheaper. Interestingly doesn't appear to contain raspberries

 

[Shayler]

I also ordered one from Amazon, contacted them today and seems yodel have lost my parcel

 

[tonyhibbett]

On the one occasion I had a delivery problem with Amazon, I found them really helpful and even got a discount as a result. Fear not!

 

[alanwh]

Got 2 delivered Sat from Amazon,

One already on the go :thumb:

They are made by Paklabs a well known Canadian company, so already exceeding expectations.

As you say Tony, Oak Chipping arent included, like I expected, as they were included in the reviews of this Cabernet kit I had read. Amazon weren't able to shed any light on this though but said they would investigate.

I have noted that the made up juice is slightly on the thin side compared to other more expensive kits I have used, so I have added about 6 oz of dried Elderberries in a mash bag. I have also bought a pouch of French Oak to go in the secondary ferment.
If it ferments right out, then it should be about 12.5 % I am contemplating feeding a little syrup later on, to up the % a point if the elderberries have done their body building bit, but I havent made my mind up on this yet.
Just a word of caution, this went volcanic on the second day even though its a good 9" from the airlock, next one I'll be turning the temp down a bit till it calms down.

I can't see them lasting long at this price so get cracking folks !