Hello all! I am new to this group, but I am not new to winemaking. I originally started making wine in 1990 after making a concord grape wine in my biology class in college. Later, I made fruit wines and melomels. At somepoint I migrated over to brewing and haven't really looked back ... until now.
Recently, I have been greatly enjoying read wines with my wife. We haven't ventured into really fine wines yet, but have enjoyed wines like Rosemount Estates Shiraz and Mark West Pinot Noir. Nothing really special, but OK for evening consumption.
Anyway, I decided to buy a wine kit. I bought the Napa Valley Stag's Leap District Merlot from Northern Brewer in St. Paul. Supposedly this is a good kit, but I have never tasted a kit wine to know what to expect. So, can anybody indicate the quality of wine I might expect from this kit as compared to the above wines mentioned (obviously, neither are Merlot, but I am asking about quality and not similarity). I have experience with brewing and winemaking and followed the directions very well. I used Starsan (surface spray) and Idophor for sanitization. Original gravity is 1.099. I intend to let this wine age for one year before sampling.
Thanks in advance!