It's funny how tastes change, I would say that until I reached 40 I only ever drank commercial white wines, mostly German (good stuff, not the cheap muck) and could never drink commercial reds. About 10 years ago, in-laws were coming to us for Christmas, Father-in-law is a red wine drinker, Mrs. Mole joined one of the Laithwaite's clubs and bought some decent reds. Having paid for them, I was damned well going to try them, even if I knew I wouldn't like them. To my surprise, I did like them, and embarked upon a fairly expensive voyage of discovery. Thankfully, over time I started to develop a taste for cheaper, rougher reds, and now almost never drink commercial whites.
For home winemaking I'm perfectly happy with Wurzels and assorted juice wines at around 45p a bottle, together with many fruit and vegetable wines for even less (many ingredients being free), but I don't seem to manage any big reds.
Now come on, I've seen a lot of postings about wine kits but I have absolutely never brewed one. I mean, those Beaverdale's and similar, you're looking at forty quid for a 30 bottle kit, that's a lot of dosh to front up. I know that works out around £1.30 a bottle for Riojas, Cabernets or Merlots but I've never tasted any kit wines. How good are they? Are they worth it?
For home winemaking I'm perfectly happy with Wurzels and assorted juice wines at around 45p a bottle, together with many fruit and vegetable wines for even less (many ingredients being free), but I don't seem to manage any big reds.
Now come on, I've seen a lot of postings about wine kits but I have absolutely never brewed one. I mean, those Beaverdale's and similar, you're looking at forty quid for a 30 bottle kit, that's a lot of dosh to front up. I know that works out around £1.30 a bottle for Riojas, Cabernets or Merlots but I've never tasted any kit wines. How good are they? Are they worth it?