Which Kit to Choose?

[mancer62]

I have decided to spend a bit more on my wine kit to try get a better result...I have been very disappointed with the two Wine Buddy kits I made....
I have narrowed it down to Beaverdal, California Connoisseur & Cellar 7.
I like a red wine and would like to try make a nice dark one acceptable one...any comments on these particular kits woudl be greatly recieved as well as which you would recommend merlot? shiraz? cab sauv? barolo? malbec etc etc...

also what would be the minimum time you would leave before drinking these kits and when its said leave it for say 6 weeks or two months etc does that mean from the date you started making the wine or from the date you bottle it
tyvm

 

[Crabby_patty]

Just made a beaverdale rioja and havent tried it yet as only finished fermenting monday but looks and smells the part . There is a section on here with different kits and peoples opinions.

 

[The Baron]

Beaverdale and CC are probably the better of the 2 mid range kits and you will get a better red than with the Winebuddy which is more like a red/rose in taste. The reds are notoriously difficult for kit manufacturers to get like commercial reds but whites are more like the supermarket wines you buy. It is down to the quality of the grape juce and how much is in the kits I think the wine growers obviously use the better grapes for their own wine and kit manufacturers seem to get whatever is left over hence the quality is down a little especially with the red wines. I find the Beverdale and CC kits acceptable but still lacking that umph and depth of flavour but acceptable the only way to find out is do one, I would opt for the Cab Sav myself. Good Luck and search the forum as this has been discussed several times

 

[stephen1546]

I have decided to spend a bit more on my wine kit to try get a better result...I have been very disappointed with the two Wine Buddy kits I made....
I have narrowed it down to Beaverdal, California Connoisseur & Cellar 7.
I like a red wine and would like to try make a nice dark one acceptable one...any comments on these particular kits woudl be greatly recieved as well as which you would recommend merlot? shiraz? cab sauv? barolo? malbec etc etc...

also what would be the minimum time you would leave before drinking these kits and when its said leave it for say 6 weeks or two months etc does that mean from the date you started making the wine or from the date you bottle it
tyvm

The Beaverdale Merlot is good, improves with age. I started of with Cellar 7 making whites, changed to Solomon Grundy and i find these much better, the roughly cost the same, around £32.

 

[mancer62]

you find solomon grundy better than both cellar 7 and beaverdale? is it the solomon grundy gold or platinum you use?

 

[Sandimas]

I would manage your expectations.

Like you, I've been pursuing a decent red wine kit for years: tried various kits, expensive ones, aged my wines for over a year but still only producing a barely-acceptable table wine. Lots of brewers have found the same. White wines are different and much more acceptable, but I don't know anyone who has really cracked reds.

 

[hichaechoc]

I would agree with darrelim. I've settled on Kenridge Classic as a good compromise between price and quality but whereas the Chardonnay is really good the reds disappoint and are nothing to be proud of.

 

[stephen1546]

you find solomon grundy better than both cellar 7 and beaverdale? is it the solomon grundy gold or platinum you use?

you find solomon grundy better than both cellar 7 and beaverdale? is it the solomon grundy gold or platinum you use?

I use Solomon Grundy platinum, these are better imo that Cellar 7 but no as good as Beaverdale

 

[johncrobinson]

Red wine kits seem to be a bit of a problem,Esp if your taste is for "rich" reds
I have made Soloman Grundy its OK but nothing to "rave" about.

 

[HSD]

Going back a bit now but I remember my Dad fleshing out his red wine kits with extra bottles/tins of red concentrate and/or blackberry or cherry juice to add body, and muslin bags of mashed up grape skins? Just getting back into brewing, wines are next on the list!

 

[johncrobinson]

Yup i too remember watching my dad (happy days)

Funny that i do wines and want to get into beers,The inverse approach to you HSD,

 

[Willshill1]

Have just bought Winexpert Diablo Rojo hoping for slightly better red , have done Kenridge neobbilo , disappointing but feel I didn’t clear it well enough, but it’s 10 months bottled and is better than at 3 months, previously Beaverdale and CC which produced drinkable unspectacular red wines , following other contributors views I have done a Kenridge Sauvignon Blanc which was exceptional and as good as £7/£10 supermarket bottles, so hopefully my new purchase will be successful.

 

[johncrobinson]

I am allways interested in members experience with red kits

In the past I have made really nice WHITE wine from kits,And of course good country red wines,But thats not kits is it.

I do like a drop of good red wine.

Keep us posted Willshill as to how your kit turns out.

 

[johncrobinson]

As regards maturation timings maturation starts when the fermentation is finished,So its a wee bit longer to wait I am afraid.

There is a trick to this.
You need to overproduce wine so you have a surplus of wine that can be aged a few months.

Its not that easy keeping loads of demijohns ect.But it IS the way to ALLWAYS have some nice wine to hand.
Winemaking really is not like cooking a roast dinner.Which is done and dusted then eaten in a few Hrs.

 

[Willshill1]

Start last Tuesday 10th March, in my Fastfermenter , staying fairly close to instructions but put oak in mesh bag and forgot to weight it, so it floated, first mistake , sorted now , I’ve been quite successful keeping temp 19/24 degrees, so far so good

 

[nige]

Banana parsnips and sultanas!! Forget kits. Sorry to intervien your thread but John can you give me your address so I can send a bottle of wine before it's gone. I'm going to make loads of this next.

 

[johncrobinson]

Re:>Nige I should be moving home in the next few weeks,But who knows now with the impending public health situation.
If you can keep hold of the bottle till i know whats happening i will PM you.( Once i work out how to do this.)

 

[nige]

Re:>Nige I should be moving home in the next few weeks,But who knows now with the impending public health situation.
If you can keep hold of the bottle till i know whats happening i will PM you.( Once i work out how to do this.)

Give over John, don't worry, listen I will try my best to stop people and myself drinking this but I would like to send you a bottle of this now however if not I will be doing this recipe at 12%-14% on a much larger scale. You can run but you can't hide. Cheers.you are much appreciated John thank you.

 

[Mr_S_Jerusalem]

Banana parsnips and sultanas!

I was thinking of doing parsnip wine next, I don’t suppose you have a recipe perchance?

 

[nige]

It's on here to follow if you search, first country wine. You can read through to follow, it's great.