Cheap versus expensive wine kits

yariso · Oct 7, 2014

Hi everyone, I did my first wine kit a few weeks back, a Vinclasse Italian Red and i have to say i have been very impressed and so have friends and family who have tried it.

The kit cost Â£20 and was fine, not a classic vintage, but very drinkable even after 11 days. After 3 weeks it has got even better.

My question is are the Â£70+ kits that much better? I mean for the price of 1 of the expensive kits i could make 120 bottles of the Vinclasse and let it to mature for quite while!

Thank you!

Chippy_Tea · Oct 7, 2014

I have never made an expensive kit but there are a lot of posts in the forum that say you get what you pay for, i will stick to cheap wine we both enjoy it and as i do not intend to make an expensive kit i will never have compare my stuff with anything else.

simon12 · Oct 7, 2014

I think you get what you pay for but some kits regardless of price need more ageing than others ie I have done beaverdale merlot and rojo tinto and the merlot was not very good for months while the rojo tinto was good as soon as bottled. I also did a wilko cabernet savingon (excuse spelling) that was totally undrinkable for 3 months then was very good (not compared to the beaverdale). It all depends what you can afford and do you want to impress wine connoisseurs or just make what you like or experiment.

the_kitchen_brewer · Oct 8, 2014

The more expensive kits tend to contain more juice (e.g. a Beaverdale ~ Â£40 has about 7 or 8 litres of juice, Vinters Reserve ~ Â£50 has 10 and Selection ~ Â£70 has about 15).

We like full bodied reds - so although we enjoyed the Â£40 Beaverdale I made last year which was very tasty, for us it couldn't compare with the Â£70 selection kits which are truly impressive. (I've just bottled a Â£125 (eek!) Cellar Craft, I'm hoping it's going to be worth the money - initial impressions are good and that came with 18L juice and 2 KG of grape skinss).

I don't drink much white these days (tend to find it too acidic on my stomach as I've gotten older) but my mother/sister's in law who respectively like Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Chenin Blanc all love the medium dry Solomon Grundy (about Â£28 inc sugar for a 30 bottle kit). I made them ~Â£40 kits of the specific types they drink, and although they enjoyed them, didn't think they were worth the extra money compared with the Solomon Grundy and asked me to make more of that!

So my take on it is, if you enjoy the cheaper kits and aren't thinking "hmm it's nice but it's not got as much body as the commercial wine I usually buy" then there's no reason to go for a more expensive kit, other than curiosity.

Plus cheaper kits tend to be ready quicker, and if you do something wrong and lose a batch then it's not quite as much money down the drain!

Chippy_Tea · Oct 8, 2014

The more expensive kits tend to contain more juice (e.g. a Beaverdale ~ Â£40 has about 7 or 8 litres of juice, Vinters Reserve ~ Â£50 has 10 and Selection ~ Â£70 has about 15).

The WineBuddy 30 bottle kit i have just made only had 1 litre of juice, :shock: having said that it tasted fine.

the_kitchen_brewer · Oct 8, 2014

Chippy_Tea said:
The WineBuddy 30 bottle kit i have just made only had 1 litre of juice, :shock: having said that it tasted fine.

I wonder if that's concentrate rather than juice? The Solomon Grundy has a little bottle from memory about half a litre, but everyone seems to like it so must be fine!

Chippy_Tea · Oct 8, 2014

You might be right, i will take more notice next time of how viscous the juice is.

bazhtg · Oct 10, 2014

have you tried the youngs 7 day kit?

have brewed sauvignon cabernet and have had good results.
theres a rangeof youngs 7day kits.

regards.

BlackEcho · Oct 11, 2014

To the OP, I imagine that it also depends on whether when buying wine you buy the bottle that's Â£3, or the one that's Â£15.

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