Value for money

[deesloop]

I got an email from an online retailer flogging WinExpert kits.
However they want £80 for a 30 bottle kit (£2.67/bottle) which got me thinking about value.
While I'd not spent £70 on a kit yet easily buy supermarket wine at £7 a bottle.

Anyone got any thought on what the various kits wines equate to price-wise in the shops.
How about the supermarket juice wine at around 80p to £1 a bottle are the kit wines as above 3 times as good?
What would your experience be of a supermarket wine be against supermarket juice (wow) wine?
Would they be 7 times better?

I did an apple wine last year that I'd definitely say was on a par with a £7 white wine from the shops.
However my rhubarb wine I'd say was worth a 70p bottle of Domestos

Of course this is purely subjective.
We all have different tastes and various levels of humility/pride/objectivity, and I appreciate it's not all about the money,
there's the enjoyment in making it - but interested in what you think.

 

[Nottsbeer]

My go to kits are WineExpert classic chile merlot & Chile Sauvignon Blanc. Both £50 at local home brew shop. Get 30 bottles (there abouts) from each. Def better than alot of wine you can buy. They also mature very nicely..I add metabisulphate when suggested. Never tried making wine from supermarket juice but heard it's also worth trying. You can always made a demijohn worth to see if you like it.

 

[Graz]

I intended to continue my experiment moving up the cost ladder on wine kits but kind of stopped for various reasons. I was mainly looking into red wine. I've made quite a few WOWs over the years and the standard red grape juice + apple juice makes quite a nice Rose which is absolutely fine for quaffing chilled and I don't need much more from a white. In general I tend to drink more Red than white and I like something of a decent quality so will spend up to £10 on a bottle sometimes more.

First red kit I made was a Cellar 7 30 bottle kit at around £1.30 a bottle. Not great, it got drank but really not so good.

After that I made a Beaverdale kit at around £1.55 a bottle. Bit of an improvement, would equal it to a cheap supermarket wine (bottom shelf in Lidl).

Was going to start moving into the Wine Expert range after that but never got that far. I've heard good reports with some people says their connoisseur friends couldn't tell it apart from a decent bottle.

The do some kits up to ~£120 for a 30 bottle kit so still only £4 for a bottle of wine + your time an effort. My biggest fear would be the whole lot getting infected / spoiled as it's quite a bit of money to pour away.

 

[ChrisT]

You can make some excellent wine from Supermarket juice, difficult to reproduce the same quality each time though in my experience. I've had some wonderful results but mostly just good quafable wine. Having said that for £1 or less per bottle the wine produced is more drinkable than most £5 supermarket wines and much better than £18 restaurant bottles.

As for the £50ish wine kits, they are consistent in the quality they produce from each kit I think and they mature well for at least a year maybe more I haven't been restrained enough to keep any more than a year.... The kits are definitely more quafable and for quality at least as good as £8-10 in most supermarkets. I've so far tried two £70 kits and while "better" than the £50 I'm not sure if it's worth the extra for quafable wine. I've done one WinExpert Limited Edition kit and very different from the classic, but again I'm not sure if it's worth the extra.

 

[The Baron]

White wine from kits are more comparable to shop bought than full reds which are well quaffable but can be a little thinner in taste and colour but as you say it is subjective

 

[ChrisT]

White wine from kits are more comparable to shop bought than full reds which are well quaffable but can be a little thinner in taste and colour but as you say it is subjective

Very! Our household likes WinExpert Tempranillo, Diablo Rojo and Riesling plus the On The House Viognier. We've been through most of the WinExpert classic range now but there's still to try out there! Well, you don't know until you try right?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

What would your experience be of a supermarket wine be against supermarket juice (wow) wine?
Would they be 7 times better?

Supermarket juice wine is cheap and easy to make its obviously never going to come close to a commercial wine but that was never the intention.

I honestly believe the more expensive the kit the better the wine, if you want to stick to the cheaper end try the Range store Make Your Own wines which are made for them by Muntons you could compare these to a commercial wine.

At £20 to £24:99 they are a bargain.

 

[The Baron]

If you do the cheaper kits you can get some nice and well drinkable Whites and Rose the reds are ok too as long as you do realise they will be a thinner red like a halfway house between a Rose and Red.
All are well drinkable but if you are chasing full reds the more expensive kits are the way to go.
Whites and Rose from mid price range do excellent wines.
As Chippy says the Range seem to hit the mark for good Whites and Rose without busting the bank, give them a try

 

[deesloop]

Cheap kits & supermarket juices are decent enough for whites/roses but good Reds I struggle to get even close to something resembling even a cheap red in the shops> maybe I need to spend a bit more

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Cheap kits & supermarket juices are decent enough for whites/roses but good Reds I struggle to get even close to something resembling even a cheap red in the shops> maybe I need to spend a bit more

We tried the Range store Red we liked it because it wasn't a full-bodied Red we described it as between Rose and Red.

When it comes to Red you have to spend big the cheaper ones (as said) don't cut it.

 

[Nottsbeer]

You can make some excellent wine from Supermarket juice, difficult to reproduce the same quality each time though in my experience. I've had some wonderful results but mostly just good quafable wine. Having said that for £1 or less per bottle the wine produced is more drinkable than most £5 supermarket wines and much better than £18 restaurant bottles.

As for the £50ish wine kits, they are consistent in the quality they produce from each kit I think and they mature well for at least a year maybe more I haven't been restrained enough to keep any more than a year.... The kits are definitely more quafable and for quality at least as good as £8-10 in most supermarkets. I've so far tried two £70 kits and while "better" than the £50 I'm not sure if it's worth the extra for quafable wine. I've done one WinExpert Limited Edition kit and very different from the classic, but again I'm not sure if it's worth the extra.

I made wine in 2009/2010 for my wedding. Kept quite a few bottles which we drank slowly over the last 10 years. Moved house at one point (and country!) and had the wine stored not very well (in outside garage so would have been quite warm for a couple of summers). The wine kept very well over the years. Had a white last year and although still drinkable it was noticeably deteriorating. So, I would definitely say a good kit will last upto 10 years if kept well. Wasn't our intention to keep them that long, just the way things turned out.

 

[ChrisT]

I made wine in 2009/2010 for my wedding. Kept quite a few bottles which we drank slowly over the last 10 years. Moved house at one point (and country!) and had the wine stored not very well (in outside garage so would have been quite warm for a couple of summers). The wine kept very well over the years. Had a white last year and although still drinkable it was noticeably deteriorating. So, I would definitely say a good kit will last upto 10 years if kept well. Wasn't our intention to keep them that long, just the way things turned out.

How on earth did you keep wine for over 10 years?!?! Having said that when I first made wine (over 30 years ago) I did manage to forget 4 demijohns for over 4 years, 3 were drain cleaner but one was bloddy marvelous!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

How on earth did you keep wine for over 10 years?!?!

We have trouble keeping it 10 weeks.

 

[ChrisT]

We have trouble keeping it 10 weeks.

How on earth do you keep wine for 10 weeks!?!?

 

[Nottsbeer]

How on earth did you keep wine for over 10 years?!?! Having said that when I first made wine (over 30 years ago) I did manage to forget 4 demijohns for over 4 years, 3 were drain cleaner but one was bloddy marvelous!

Lol....just happened due to having kids, going abroad and then forgetting about it. I'll be lucky if I can keep any from my current batch for a year - especially as my in-laws are visiting in a few weeks

 

[Chippy_Tea]

How on earth do you keep wine for 10 weeks!?!?

OK 10 days, i didn't want to sound like an alcoholic