Kenridge Classic Barolo

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tonyhibbett

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Having tried the Cal. Con. barolo and been intially disappointed by it's initial taste but delighted with it it 9 months later, when I saw the Kenridge Classic version in the window of my lhbs at £50 I thought I'd give it a go. This time I used mineral water instead of my tap water, since it was only £1 per 5 litres and I only needed 13 litres for the kit, but I bought 20 litres because I wanted the PET bottles to mature the wine in relative bulk. This may well have influenced the outcome. Once the wine had cleared, (not filtered) I siphoned it into the 4 PET 5 litre bottles, with 2 and a half bottles left over. Naturally I drank the half bottleful. Superb! At £2 per bottle, not the cheapest wine kit around, but I can assure you, if you got wine of this quality for less than £6, you'd got a very good bargain!
 
Tony - where is your local HSB? Would you recommend them? I've not seen any near here (Slough) so I've always had to use Wilkinsons (equipment) and mail order (BrewUK and The Malt Miller). It would be nice to have a shop to pop into when you need something small or fancy just a look around.
 
It's a chemist in the western end of Mattock lane, Ealing, Mattock Lane pharmacy, to be precise. They have lots more stuff than Wilkos, and can order most stuff from Young's. But this is no dedicated homebrew store, so don't get too excited, but probably worth a visit. You even have a good chance of free parking too!
 
After a mere 2 weeks in bottle, I have to say that this is already the best kit red wine I have ever tasted. Deeply coloured, full bodied, smooth, lingering very long on the palate, the best aspects of elderberry in the nose and on the tongue, combined with deep black wild cherry and sloe, not to mention the oak effects.
Not cheap, almost £2 a bottle, but if you got something on special offer at half price for £6, I doubt you could match it. There is scope for further maturation, to do it real justice, so I am knocking out a batch of Young's Cellar 7 cabernet sauvignon, 'ready to drink in 7 days' to distract me from drinking more barolo, and rest assured, I will be ordering more of that.
 
This is good to know!
I started about a year ago and was initially dissappointed with kits like Beaverdale.
I think degassing is critical.
Earlier kits have actually matured well but still have that slight fiz taste.
This isnt down to fermentation - so Im thinking its CO2.
Im hoping that using Sainsburys bottled water (the scottish stuff) and really making an effort to degass will make a difference.

My local shop recommended the Kenridge kits as the best and Ive got a large batch just finishing.
Even without aging it is clearly in a different league.
 
I rack the wine onto the stabilizing powder into a second bin. Then, having cleaned out the first bin, I pour the wine back into it with great vigour, onto the finings, creating loads of fizzing foam., thus degassing and thoroughly mixing the finings at the same time. Never fails!
 
Tried this barolo after 2 weeks. I thought it was great. Tried it out on my partner, who only drinks mid price full bodied cabernet sauvignon and merlot, was impressed. Said it tasted like real wine!. Also tried it on some wine buff friends whose idea of a holiday is touring French vineyards and tasting their wares, who said you could get a better one for £25 a bottle in Italy, but also said that some people have more money than sense!
 
This is really making me want to try this kit. Tried a few but have yet to be properly impressed!
 
I drink wine most of the time. It's my primary source of water in fact. But some wines go beyond being a mere sop to prevent one from being inundated by the absolute **** that seeps in through every crack in one's defenses, but sometimes a really good wine takes to you to another level, and this is one of them! Highly recommended.
 
Having made Beaverdale Barola and liking it, I picked up this on the recommendation of LHBS in the absence of beaverdale. It's about halve way through at the minute. I'm looking forward to trying the finished thing.
 

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