The truth on homemade wine kits

My little experience tells me that it is not the first or second batch that will satisfy your need for a $10 15 wine. It will probably take several as you get used to the routines and proper treatment of the young wine.(And that will probably also be when you are buying your grapes from a reputable source rather than buying someone's prepackaged grape juice.)

Personally I was never able to make anything even approaching what I could buy for $10-$15.

The most popular kits seem to come from Winexpert. It comes with juice, yeast, and all of the other chemicals needed to produce the wine. Getting a shipment of grapes and destemming, crushing, and removing the skins seems like it's a lot more work with a lot of opportunity to make an expensive mess.

Yes indeed, but if you want to get a good product you need to use good ingredients. It isn't easy that is why we pay the big bucks for well crafted juice.

If you are really interested in making wine, I suggest you post to

alt.crafts.winemaking

There are people there who will be more than happy to help you get started.

Hi: I've been hanging out on the list for awhile, and I have made many, many wine from the kits produced by several companies--there are maybe a dozen or so manufacturers. (I worked in a winemakers' shop in Alberta for several years.) I think that the best of them make very good wine if you have the patience to wait for it. The least of them make very bad wine. If you are considering making wine from kits, I suggest you find a reputable dealer and buy the best you can afford, then follow the instructions carefully, at least for the first two or three. Starter equipment shouldn't cost more than $40 or $50. Bottles from the wine you are drinking now can be recycled. Just clean them out as they are emptied. Corks will be extra. Filtering (and the equipment necessary) is optional. Patience will clear most wines. If I can help, feel free to email me directly. Les

That would be rec.crafts.winemaking, actually.

I've been making wine for ten years and the best batches were easily as good as bottles in the 15-20 dollar range. A few have been godawful, but those resulted from mistakes (too much sulfite; pH too high to prevent spoilage) or inferior fruit. A kit would introduce you to the process, but for real quality you'll need to track down some fresh or frozen grapes.

- Ernie in Berkeley

Well, if you had bought Italian juice it would have worked out better!