How much to spend on wine kit?

[tribble222]

I'm perfectly happy with the flavor of $20 boxes (3L, 4 bottles equivalent) of Bota Box wines.

This is equal in price to spending $150 for a 6 gallon wine kit.

Do I need to spend that much to get the same quality, or can I buy something cheaper and it'll taste just as good?

I'd ask what is the best value in wine kits but you guys might have me make wine of higher quality than I can appreciate...

Thanks!

 

[ChelisHubby]

I am a beginner at the wine. I made a fairly cheap merlot that came with a package of skins and it turned out very nice. I have then bought a 30 dollar cheaper kit without the Skins and I am pretty sure it will not be nearly as good. Both kits were temperature controlled during the first 8 days or so. The first kit was bottled at 5 months and I might or might not bottle the 2nd kit at 5 months. If you spend 150 or so on a wine kit you will get a nice wine, if you don't rush it and control the temperature the first week or so. Some of the instrutions say you can have wine in 6 to 8 weeks but for my taste it is rushing product that doesn't respond well to rushing. The cheap kit that I would recommend is cellar craft Sterling series kit is close to 100dls. I don't think I would recommend going cheaper.

 

[tribble222]

Do you think the skins made the difference, or the juice too?

 

[Yooper]

With wine kits, you get what you pay for.

I buy a mix of kits, from the cheap-ish $75 to the ultra premium $199 ones.

The cheaper kits are similar in quality to a "Two Buck Chuck", or a $4-5 bottle of wine. Not bad for what they are, and ok if you're not a wine snob and just want a table wine for routine dinners. These are non-complex wines, not deep in flavor, but can be very drinkable. They are ready pretty fast- about 6 weeks in total. They don't improve much with age, but the don't deteriorate all that fast either.

The really expensive kits make a wine similar to a $20/bottle or maybe even more depending on the kit. They have complex flavors and aromas, and take longer to come together. I think they boxes say they are ready in 8 weeks, but really they tend to be better with some age. I have one bottle left that I made from a kit in 2007, a tannat/merlot blend and it's been fantastic.

The expensive kits come with more juice, and little to no "concentrate". The cheaper kits come with maybe a few liters of concentrate which you dilute with water. It has a distinct "kit taste" to many, but it's not unpleasant necessarily, just more "condensed" grape flavor, if that makes sense.

The medium priced kits have a combination of the two extremes- more juice, less condensed juice, maybe some skins to ferment on, maybe some oak sawdust, but not the quality of the ultra-premium kits.

Like I said, I do a mix of them so I can have cheap everyday bottles (if you get a cheap-ish kit on sale, you can have wine at $2/bottle!), medium quality wines for dinners, and the ultra premium that is great to serve to friends who enjoy decent wine. Few of the ultra premium kits will please the ultimate wine snob, but for most who enjoy decent to good wine, those are a winner.

 

[ChelisHubby]

Do you think the skins made the difference, or the juice too?

I agree. with Yooper for the quality. The fact that I am a rank beginner leaves me unsure how to advise. I would not recommend the cheaper kits, I guess because I found the other to have a much better flavor in general. I would think that both the skins and the extra juice made a nice difference.

 

[jgmillr1]

You will generally make the best quality wine if you can make it with quality, fresh, and ripe grapes. Unfortunately that limits you to making wine once a year and you (or your homebrew shop) would need to make arrangements with a local vineyard. Skin contact is an essential part of making quality dry red wines, IMHO.

Most of the juice suppliers use a process that heats the crushed red grape slurry to extract color on the way to the press. When done this way, you end up with fruity red juice that will make wine similar to what is found in inexpensive wines.

However, because white wine grapes are immediately crushed & pressed, that means you can obtain quality white wine juice from suppliers in the off-season. The juice is held under deep refrigeration until being shipped out to you. You can buy many varieties of juice from Walker's (http://walkersfruitbasket.com/). These are not kits though, if that is what you are looking for.

As Yooper mentioned, kit wines concentrate the juice. I believe they go through a pasteurization process as well so they can be stored at room temp. All this leads to lower quality juice.

The kits are good for getting basic winemaking under your belt, but once you begin wanting to make quality wine, then you need to move on to non-kit wines. This is akin to going from malt-extracts to all-grain brewing. You'll never go back to wine kits.

 

[Rocksville]

Generally, the difference between the cheaper red wines and expensive red wine kits is more evident than it is in the whites. Grape skins will add tannin that comes from the skin, which gives the wine more structure, complexity, and a fuller palate.

For table wines, as was mentioned, the $60-100 wine kits work great...particularly for the white wines. I casually drink more white wine and use red wines for gifts, special occasions, etc so I make lots of the mid grade whites and stick to the higher end red wines (that I will sit on for a year or more typically before breaking into them).

 

[tribble222]

Ah gotcha. I guess I don't need a kit, I have everything I would need. Just need the juice and to pick out a yeast. I will take a look for some local juice sources or mail order then!

 

[Yooper]

Ah gotcha. I guess I don't need a kit, I have everything I would need. Just need the juice and to pick out a yeast. I will take a look for some local juice sources or mail order then!

I don't want to dissuade you- and you can buy frozen grapes or juice as well as fresh.

However, a bucket of juice requires more than just some yeast. You'll have to consider acid balancing, pH, etc. Making wine out of grapes has a very strong learning curve, and even with great quality grapes, it can be tough if you don't know alot about making those acid adjustments if needed.

 

[tribble222]

I don't want to dissuade you- and you can buy frozen grapes or juice as well as fresh.

However, a bucket of juice requires more than just some yeast. You'll have to consider acid balancing, pH, etc. Making wine out of grapes has a very strong learning curve, and even with great quality grapes, it can be tough if you don't know alot about making those acid adjustments if needed.

Oh right, I forgot about that. I made wine several years back and forgot I did that pH stuff. It turned out OK at first, was amazing for about a year, then after 3+ years in the bottle isn't that great anymore.

So yeah, I do have everything I need I think, including a wine whip. Plus I have a digital pH meter I use for beer now so that should help.

 

[szap]

I also have made kits from cheap to expensive and agree with Yooper, as the price goes up, the quality of the wine goes up. If you figure $150 to $180 a kit, the is still only $5 to $6 a bottle for wine that IMHO is comparable to $20 bottles. Whether a cheap kit or an expensive kit, the steps for making are pretty much the same and are fairly easy to do. I have recommended to friends to start with an inexpensive kit for their first try. You will come out with a very drinkable wine and learn the process without risking the $150 or more.

 

[skyfire322]

General consensus is the higher the cost, the higher the quality. You may find some diamonds in the rough, and as szap said, the steps are essentially the same.

My personal recommendation is to get kits online, as they usually have monthly deals. B&M brew stores will typically mark up a decent amount for the same product. That extra $20-$30 savings could be used for extra things!