Vinter's Reserve Cabernet Savignon

I did this kit last year. I started the primary in August of 2003. I did leave the oak dust with the primary. But I added 2 oz of medium oak beans to the secondary for 3 or 4 months. I bulk aged and bottled in January 04. It was really nice right before bottling. Very full bodied, complex with good bouquet. I have started drinking it now and am quite pleased.

I also started the same Cabernet Sauvignon kit but bulk aged till a week ago.....I started the kit in June 2003....I hardly had to add any water to top off the carboys when racking and final racking/aging

Instructions were followed exactly with no variations and all gravity readings were as expected!

It turned out weak and watery so I dumped it down the drain.

What caused it was lack of enough juice to make a full batch. I dont know if it was a bad kit or just the company trying to be cheap??...I only do real grapes now...there's a BIG difference! I may try another kit in the near future but try to either add extra juice or use the kit for a smaller batch of wine.

By the way...Leave the oak...It will finally settle out and will get discarded during racking

Hope yours turns out Alex!

Ernie

Ernie's comments don't actually surprise me. I personally wouldn't ever make Winexpert VR kit because the end result is to "thin" for my tastes. But others do make and enjoy them! HOWEVER It should always be remembered that "you gets what you pays for". In assessing VR kits they should be compared with other kit wines from the same price bracket. In UK they fall in what I would call the "mid-priced range" at about £40 ( just over half the price of a Winexpert Selection kit at about £58 ) and, within that range, there are other kits available which, IMHO, produce a better red than VR. It is several years since I tried 2 VR kits Chianti and Gewurztraminer and after a years bulk ageing I found the Chianti very unlike Chianti at all and distinctly lacking in "mouth" The Gewurztraminer was passable. Kit Whites are always better than kit reds anyway! But after all you can even buy kits at about half the price of the VR kits which sell very well ( I have a friend with his own "Home Brew shop") and I am quite amazed that people consider them drinkable at all. I even saw a "24 hour" wine kit a year or so ago! Can you imagine what it tastes like! In UK, where the range available is not as great as in North America, there is currently no kit wine to better the Winexpert Selection Series ( I have just bottled my first Selection Estate Zin after a year bulk aging and I have ordered a "Crushendo" Syrah which is still on the high seas in a contained on its way to the UK agent!). But I continue to find fault with kit reds of all types and look forward to trying out the new " Crushendo" kit to see whether it is worth the extra cost and effort in making or should I finally give up on red kits and buy commercial red wine which is so much better!

Apologies for an over long post.