Muntons Mondego Reserve

[mdavies1011]

Hi All,

The other days I picked up a Muntons Mondego Reserve Medium Dry White 30 Bottle kit from my local supermarket, the can itself was dented so managed to get it for a tenner so couldn't complain.

I have a couple WOW's on the go but have never make a wine kit before, I have a few questions and thought would draw from the extensive knowledge of the readers here :grin:

The kit requires 3.5kg of brewing sugar, this seems a little extreme to me but i understand it would need it to raise the alcohol content. My question is could I replace some of the sugar with an alternative, such as grape concentrate? or as this being my first kit should I just leave it as it is and try it?

Reading the instructions it says to bottle after 7-10 days, as soon as the fermentation stage, fining being added and other chemical etc. I have read for making WOW that wine is better aged in bulk. I have a few demijohns spare, would it be worth raking the wine into them for a month or so before bottling?

Hope someone can give me a few pointers.

 

[ScottM]

Personally I would look to bulk it up. Doing so is very simple as long as you know the sugar in the concentrate. If you require 3500g of sugar additions total, simply subtract the sugar contents of the concentrate you add from this figure and then you will be left with the new additional sugar required.

As for bottling straight away, there are a few different recommendations on this and it generally depends on the kit. I recently brewed a ken ridge 30 bottle kit and I'm getting ready to bottle it now. The instructions say to bottle after 30 days and consume within 6 months. I've read a few comments that back this statement up, regarding this kit, but I've also read opinions to the contrary which say to leave it to mature for at least 6 months before consuming (not for the KR kit).

I would definitely bulk up and I would probably go 50/50 with the maturing... just to see the difference. Bottle after the recommended time and check after a month. Leave the rest for 3-6 months before bottling and see if there is a difference. That way you will know in the future :)

 

[mdavies1011]

Cheers for the quick reply there ScottM,

I will pick up some concentrate then and try your 50/50 method.

Thanks :thumb:

 

[tonyhibbett]

I tried the reserve red, using ordinary sugar. I reduced the water by 2 litres. The result was unimpressive so I topped up the finished wine with 2 bottles of reasonably good merlot which significantly improved the flavour. The concentrate is less than 50% grape, the rest being glucose and sugar, hence the low price. Since most of the alcohol is pruduced by sugar, this is a low grade wine and the effect the next day is not pleasant.

 

[mdavies1011]

this is a low grade wine and the effect the next day is not pleasant

TBH I thought as much. As this is going to be my first wine kit I have made, thought I would go for something cheap so if I balls it up for any reason there's no great loss. Plus it will give me benchmark as I progress to more and more expensive kits.

On a side note, I tested the gravity of my first WOW this morning, Its been in the demijohn for over a couple weeks now and ready for the next stage. I had a quick sip and was impressed, didn't expect it to taste as good as it did so soon. Looking forward to cracking that open in a few months

 

[dennisonthomas]

Hi, have done a few kits so far, a couple of cheap wilkinsons ones which had very little body and a muntons premium cellar which I was very impressed with due to the full body. The wilkinsons I got this from has run out, but does have some (very cheap) of the mondego. Is it wise to mix these kits, i.e. use 2 lots of mondego kits for 1 batch, or even 3 for 2 batches (1.5 each) to improve the body? I have read somewhere that doing this will present a problem with acidity, but surely this can just be adjusted?

On a side note, what sort of starting SG should I be aiming for this type of red? Should I combine these kits I can work out how much sugar to add initially.

Thanks in advance

 

[bobsbeer]

Hi Dennis and welcome to the forum. : To be honest I would save your money and get a decent kit. Something like a Beverdale or if you want to go wild a Selection kit. You pay for, and the result is a decent wine. The Mondego kits are not all grape juice, which is why they end up thin. Sadly 2 thin kits don't double up to a full body wine. But by all means give it a try. I've never tried that approach, so your results would be interesting.

 

[Mulled]

I also have this exact same wine kit, purchased at Wilco's for the princely sum of £6.00 At that price, it owes me nothing but just like the original poster, alarm bells rang once i got it home and started reading the instructions.

May i have your opinions on adding white grape juice, perhaps 9 litres or so, to the must to improve the body etc of this kit. In all honesty i am really not that bothered if it turns out on the thin side, it will certainly get used up :party: I would however appreciate some guidance on the best way forward.

Mulled