Cheaper Wine Kits

[Willshill1]

Hi has anyone added supermarket grape juice instead of water to wine kits with lower amount of concentrates

 

[The Baron]

Yes I have but and this is the but if you are doing a red the red supermarket grape juice will only still make the cheaper kits come out more like a deeper rose than a full red. They will obviously be a big improvement than adding loads of sugar and give little more depth and body. I usually add 3 litres to a 30 bottle kit and reduce the sugar. It is well known that the cheaper white wines from kits are better than red kits unless you start spending £40 plus on the reds. The cheaper reds can be well drinkable but do not expect a full blooded deep flavoured red but more likely between a rose and a red

 

[Willshill1]

Have a Beaverdale coming near bottling at the minute and was planning a cheaper kit , The Range have a red kit around £20 , lower concentrate , probably only 2 litres, was thinking about maybe 5 litres of grape juice, have Tesco Lidl and Sainsbury’s within a mile from me, and that lucky supermarket with the cheapest price will get my £5-6, will I have to reduce sugar and get a gravity reading, or as you said will it be a wishy washy bodiless red . Do I stick with the middle of the road £40 kits

 

[The Baron]

It will not be wishy washy as quite a few forum members have made this wine but as I have said it will be a cross between a rose and red the reason is the supermarket red wine juice is not made from wine making grapes so will not give the same results as a proper red wine grape. If you are after a truer red stay with the beaverdales and upward kits but if you like a lighter red style go with the Range kit and add 3 litres of supermarket juice and a little reduction on the sugar Ps it does tell you how many grams of sugar is in the red grape juice so you can roughly adjust the sugar amount

 

[Willshill1]

Thanks, The Range kit £24.99 + £6 -10 for juice and sugar, heading close to better quality kits with recognised red styles , think I answered my own questions , but it help as a newbie to ask ,