Young's Winebudy Merlot

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glennbalsam

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Hi brewers. Just bought a Young's wine buddy merlot to make 30 bottles. This is my first wine kit. I have been making cider but now the wife wants to get involved!
I looked at the Californian Connoisseurs kit and it was £46 making it twice the price of the Young's and a little to expensive if it was to taste like crap!
Is there any advice out there for this kit to make it better by adding anything or substituting water for juice? Just thought I would ask.
 
As it's your first kit i would make it as instructed, you need to know what the kit is like then you can tweak it next time if it needs it.
As with most things in life you get what you pay for, me and the wife like WineBuddy sav blanc which is at the cheaper end of the kits, I imagine someone who drinks sav blank regularly would know it was a cheap kit.
 
Chippy is right you should try it as per the instructions first to see if you or the wife like it. If you do like it that's all that really matters.

I will say i didn't (true of all the wine buddy reds not tried the white) and i tried all sorts of modification to the merlot and cab sav.

Whatever you do dont let it put you off. consider a cellar 7 kit as your next project. When you take into account you don't have to buy and add sugar its only a little more expensive than the wine buddy kits and a lot more drinkable.
- Just my view.
 
Absolutely. But there are a few simple things to improve the winebuddy merlot. To bring up the alcohol level to about 12%, make up the quantity to just 21 litres, instead of 22.5. To improve the body, substitute some of the water with cheap supermarket apple juice. To deepen the colour and give it more bite, add dried elderberries and to add a fruity note, a couple of tins of black cherries.
Of course you may be satisfied with it unmodified, but if not, the Cellar 7 version is certainly the best next option to try, which costs a little more, but the quality is far superior. and takes no longer to make.
 
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