considering making an expensive kit

brews-brothers · Nov 21, 2011

I am considering it.....
My fear is I spend Â£50+ and dont like it!

Do the seletion kits have raisins in them to add body?
I am not sure where I read it but am sure I did somewhere.
I am really not a fan of the raisin taste in wines.

The one I was thinking of trying is a chateauneuf du roi Seletion Â£70 ish for 30 bottles.

Or maybe a vintners reserve or something similar.

muddy90 · Nov 21, 2011

Likewise :thumb: My fear is cocking it up!
Got some prices of my lhbs & she can do the vintners kits for @50 quid. Thats only Â£1.66 per bottle.

brews-brothers · Nov 21, 2011

Thats a good price per bottle but a lot to waste over all if you dont like it or mess it up!

I think I will go along and chat to the my loal hbs see what they think. Or maybe not cos they will obviously want the big sale so will talk the talk!

hmm

markp · Nov 21, 2011

When I made wine, I found that the quality increased dramatically the more that was spent on the kit.

At Â£50+ I would expect that kit to have named grape(s) juice and not be bulked out by apple concentrate.

shearclass · Nov 21, 2011

brews-brothers said:
Do the seletion kits have raisins in them to add body?
I am not sure where I read it but am sure I did somewhere.
I am really not a fan of the raisin taste in wines.

I doubt it, the medium to expensive ktis are made from grape juei concentrate, so no raisens would be needed

If you don't like your wine then at least you'll have the next 30 birthday presents you need already sorted! :)

ricardo · Nov 21, 2011

Nope no raisins in the expensive kits just more grape juice.
Instead of maybe 7.5 litres grape juice you get maybe 15 litres.
Just cant bring myself to spend Â£119 on a Selection Estate Series kit though !!!

tonyhibbett · Nov 21, 2011

I'm working my way up the price scale, starting with Cellar 21, then Young's winebuddy, through California connosseur to Kenridge classic.
The first makes rather ordinary wine and is based on apple concentrate, with elderberries added for the reds. The second makes perfectly acceptable wine in 7 days which improves in time but not significantly. The best ones are Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc, made from grape concentrate.
The third (Barolo) produces an excellent wine but only if you mature it for a few months.
The last (Barolo) is as yet unstarted, as resources are taken up with other brews, but it's the same as the previous, with some varietal grape included.
Any fool can mess up, but if the instructions are followed, they don't go wrong. The only exception was a couple of bad batches from Youngs, who, when I complained, admitted that they had some substandard concentrate supplied to them and sent me replacement kits free of charge.
No offence intended, but if someone is unable to appreciate the difference between Tesco Hock and vintage Beerenauslese, price is mere bravado! There are folk, it has been proved, who actually enjoy wine more because of the price tag, irrespective of actual quality.

muddy90 · Nov 21, 2011

ricardo said:
Nope no raisins in the expensive kits just more grape juice.
Instead of maybe 7.5 litres grape juice you get maybe 15 litres.
Just cant bring myself to spend Â£119 on a Selection Estate Series kit though !!!

Even that's only Â£3.96 per bottle & I dare say a whole load better than the antifreeze you'd buy in the supermarket for that price! :drunk:

brews-brothers · Nov 21, 2011

Thank you for the advice you have all given to me.

I really do like good wines just not the price tag. (think I am getting a good 2001 Barolo for christmas

well I have dropped lots of hints any way)
What I would really like is to replicate the Â£15-Â£20 bottle of barolo, chateauneuf du pape or Sauvignon Blanc for a fraction of the price!

Ooh I love drinking good wines.....

tonyhibbett · Nov 21, 2011

To be honest, Chateunuef du papes ain't that brilliant. Just an urban myth inadvertantly perpetrated by Clement Freud in a dog food advert.

brews-brothers · Nov 21, 2011

I suppose its down to taste. I like the chateauneuf du pape. :thumb:

ricardo · Nov 21, 2011

tonyhibbett said:
To be honest, Chateunuef du papes ain't that brilliant. Just an urban myth inadvertantly perpetrated by Clement Freud in a dog food advert.

Yup totally agree with that

brews-brothers · Nov 21, 2011

I also like chateauneuf du roi. I have made the beaverdale kit and loved that. I am now wondering if it can be got in a more expensive kit to make it even better.....

RobWalker · Nov 21, 2011

If you're worried, you could split it into several fermenters, I'd imagine concentrate would even keep in a sterilized airtight container.

brews-brothers · Nov 21, 2011

I suppose more than messing it up I am worried I will not like it and for the price and amount of bottles its a lot to lose if I dont like it,

tonyhibbett · Nov 22, 2011

Concentrate keeps for a long time, being 60-70% sugar, but darkens beyond its best before date.

tonyhibbett · Nov 22, 2011

Chateauneuf du pape is a good wine for sure. Maybe the one I bought for Â£8 wasn't quite as good as the one that costs Â£50!

tonyhibbett · Nov 22, 2011

There is no such wine as Chateauneuf du roi as far as I can see. Only exists as a kit to approximate the real thing, and yes there is a more expensive version: Selection Original series @ $112 (no Uk supplier found).

alanwh · Nov 30, 2011

Just done a Kenridge Showcase Australian Cabernet Shiraz and its absolutely fabulous (though I did slightly mod). The more pure juice you get in a Kit the better the quality. It comes with 16L of single variety grape juice which makes all the difference there's one better called the founders that i think containss 18 litres of juice, but having done the Showcase I cant think that it could get any better than that for the money.
My homebrew shop man said its the quality of at least a 15 quid bottle I would agree and thats only after 2 months bulk aging.
I can't think its going to last long enough to age anywhere long enough to reach its true potential though.
I did gulp at the 73 quid price tag at the time but man is it worth it

Next one on my list is a Showcase Amarone which has won a few awards. I'll be doing that over Christmas :thumb:

alanwh · Nov 30, 2011

PS, I would have to agree that Chateauneuf is well over rated.

considering making an expensive kit

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