First wine question

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Mr. Awesome

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Hello all. Quick question.

I have my first batch of wine fermenting in my primary fermenting bucket. It is a World Vineyard Vintners Collection Italian Pinot Grigio.

http://www.homebrewit.com/aisle/1028

My OG was 1.082. Right on the money for this kit. The directions say that after 5-7 days the gravity should by 1.010 and I should rack to a secondary. At 5 days the gravity was 1.044 and today (seven days) it is 1.026. It has been fermenting in a dark room at about 70 degrees (also right in the middle of the 65-75 degree range suggested by the kit). That's not just ambient temperature, but the temperature of the bucket. My question is, should I go ahead and rack now or wait until the gravity gets low enough. From what I understand, frequent racking is important with wine to get it off the lees, so I'm tempted to go ahead, but I'm not sure what is more important, time in the bucket or the gravity reading.

Also, about what sort of quality of wine can I expect from this kit? Will it be better than the 7-12 dollar bottles I buy from the store?

Thanks all.
 
I'm more of a beer guy so I can't answer your first question and regarding the quality of wine, I'd check a few threads down.
There seems to be some good comparisons given by a few experienced folks. LINK
 
I've only made Beaverdale kits and both came out much nicer than a $7-$10 bottle of wine... In general wine kits make very decent wine...
 
Mr. Awesome said:
Hello all. Quick question.

I have my first batch of wine fermenting in my primary fermenting bucket. It is a World Vineyard Vintners Collection Italian Pinot Grigio.

http://www.homebrewit.com/aisle/1028

My OG was 1.082. Right on the money for this kit. The directions say that after 5-7 days the gravity should by 1.010 and I should rack to a secondary. At 5 days the gravity was 1.044 and today (seven days) it is 1.026. It has been fermenting in a dark room at about 70 degrees (also right in the middle of the 65-75 degree range suggested by the kit). That's not just ambient temperature, but the temperature of the bucket. My question is, should I go ahead and rack now or wait until the gravity gets low enough. From what I understand, frequent racking is important with wine to get it off the lees, so I'm tempted to go ahead, but I'm not sure what is more important, time in the bucket or the gravity reading.

Also, about what sort of quality of wine can I expect from this kit? Will it be better than the 7-12 dollar bottles I buy from the store?

Thanks all.
Click to expand...

I'd say give it about 10 days at least before you rack it off the cake. (thats what most recipes I've read say) But let your hydrometer be your guide not the calender. Its not going to hurt it at all to leave it on the yeast a lil longer.
Then I believe you will usually rack again in a month. Or maybe 3 depending on the recipe
 
Give it a couple of days. It should be fine by then and you don't really want to rack any higher than 1.010. I frequently allow mine to wait until they drop below 1.000. After you rack I believe you'll see that the instructions will indicate that the wine has fermented completely by .998 and that should take no more than a couple of weeks at most. You'll then rack again and degass and stabilize. With a white don't be surprised to see the wine clarify in less than a week. I like to allow mine to bulk age for a minimum of 3 months (for a white) to 6 months or more (for a red).
 

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