Cabernet, Rioja etc... is it worth it?

Bongofury · Jun 21, 2015

Hello!

I've been brewing beer for years and found it very worthwhile and fun. I have even made a few country wines from kits and from fruit (apricot was the best) and had some good and not so good results.

But what I want to know is how worth it is making 'normal' wine such as cabernet or Rioja from kits? Can you get something better than say a Â£10 bottle from the supermarket?

Thanks

Grand gris · Jun 21, 2015

For reds, they are worth doing but you need to do a mid to high range one - Beaverdale are always good. This is my experience.

I find the lower end red kits are always light and only worth drinking as a second or third bottle :lol: or for cooking with

Hope this helps, as I say, if you want a good quality deep red this is the way to go, and they really need maturing for at least 6 months

I'd be interested to see what others think?

tonyhibbett · Jun 22, 2015

Making red wine purely from grape juice concentrate and sugar can never produce a top quality wine, but medium quality is possible.

Roddy · Jun 22, 2015

I'd echo some of comments above...

I've made a few Cellar 7 kits (Â£30), which have been OK, but pretty light and not even close to a Â£5 bottle from the supermarket. Drinkable enough mind you

I did experiment by buying a more expensive kit (Kenridge Vinocello), which was about Â£45 and apart from having loads more grape concentrate, had dried elderberries and oak chips etc.. in the kit. That tasted much better but you could still tell it was a kit. I'm yet to shell out for anything much more expensive than that, as for me the higher end kits would be too pricey compared with just buying it in the shops !

tonyhibbett · Jun 24, 2015

The best red wine I ever made was in response to an item in eBay. A guy had a very large cabernet sauvignon vine in his garden. I picked 30 kilos, for which he charged me Â£15.

Cabernet, Rioja etc... is it worth it?

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Cabernet, Rioja etc... is it worth it?

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