Wine kits

[Mashman]

I have been all grain brewing beer for 20+ years, now looking to make wine. I am fortunate to live about 30 minutes from Dover and have made regular visits to France to stock up on wine. Spend 250 quid in Calais wine store and get a free crossing on P&O ferry. A group of four of us have been once a month for over four years and never paid for a trip. It is not possible to travel now and with Brexit looming I am looking at wine making. I have made a Beaverdale Shiraz kit and it is OK but not great, I hope it will improve with keeping for a while, it is still young.

I read that beer kit brewers sometimes brew a shorter length to increase quality, does this work with wine? Say to dilute the kit to 4 Gallons instead of 5?

Maybe someone can recommend a better quality wine kit?

I would like to keep the wine in a corny using nitrogen to dispense, does anyone here do that?

TIA

M

[soupdragon]

I regularly make them up to 20 litres, so just under 4.5 gallons. I do it for two reasons, to bump up the body and alcohol a touch but mainly because I pack into 5 litre bag in box things. Works ok for me.
A lot of people say that you'll struggle to get a decent red wine from a kit but it depends on your taste buds. As a general rule, the more juice concentrate in a kit the better it turns out. Just to throw a spanner in the works, the old California Connoisseur kits have been replaced by On The House and the juice is even more concentrated due to their new process so you get less juice than before. Supposed to give better results too. I sure I read somewhere that the Beaverdale kits have also had the juice re-jigged.
I usually do £30-35 kits and find they make a pleasant wine. Now and again I'll splash out on a Beaverdale and they are nicer. I've got a Kenridge classic boxed but not sampled it yet.
Can't comment on wine in a corny as mine are always full of beer
So as a recommendation for a kit, anything in the £50-60 range should give you a noticeable improvement on the Beaverdale

Cheers. Tom

[Mashman]

Thanks Tom, I'll try a more expensive kit and try it at 20 litres. How long does the wine keep in the Bag in a Box and where do you get them from?
Cheers

M

[soupdragon]

So far the longest I've had wine in a box is about 9 months without issue. Just make sure you squeeze all the air out of the bag through the tap before you store them.
Got my bags and boxes from Jars and Things, not sure how much they are now but I paid £23.30 for 10 delivered. Oh and just in case it's not obvious, I reuse them. I leave them once empty till needed then wash and clean with VWP before use

Cheers. Tom

[Dewsfamily]

I do red wine kits regularly and my kit of choice is Cantina Montecino which is a very palatable Italian Red

[Dewsfamily]

Here a bottle of my Montecino

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Lovely Sunday Drop