Cantina cabernet sauvignon

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tonyhibbett

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As part of an ongoing review of cabernet sauvignon kits, I took advantage of a special offer on this one.
Once made up as specified, I tested the must. It was grossly deficient in acid, with a pH of 4.9 and the sg was a mere 1075, while the colour looked somewhat artificial. I corrected the deficiencies, at extra cost, by adding a large amount of acid and about 300 ml of grape juice concentrate, plus some tannin and oak chips. The net result was 20 litres of rather rough wine, which took 9 days to produce, rather than the claimed 5 days. I added about 3 litres of Cellar 7 cabernet sauvignon to fill a polypin. After 2 weeks maturing, the wine was still somewhat rough. Apparently the yeast supplied was developed for the production of bio fuel for fast fermentation. My regular supplier, Brew UK, no longer stocks this stuff. I contacted the manufacturer, Hambleton Bard, who said they would check the batch, but as yet have not got back to me.
After my modifications and a further period of maturation, the wine is reasonably drinkable and may well continue to improve, but I will certainly not be buying any more!
 
It's now very smooth, but the colour is still suspect. It tastes similar to the cheap tinto you get in Spain, which more discerning locals treat with suspicion, and call it 'doctored wine.'
 
I reported my misgivings about it to the manufacturers who agreed to test the batch and finally reported that no fault was found. However they are sending me a new batch to try. Watch this space.
 
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I've just finished brewing a Cantina 5 day Cabernet Sauvignon, my first home brew wine. I chose the kit because my girlfriends dad brews a lot of it and has never had any issues. It is best left for a few months to age but is fairly drinkable within a few days.

You obviously have a lot more experience than I in this field but seems a little (actually maybe very) unreasonable to criticize a brew and get the manufacture to check their batch when you have clearly altered it hugely from standard. How did you get on with the replacement batch?
 

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