Not a bad little kit. Made it just as the instructions stated. Did not add any sugar to increase the ABV and made the full 6 gallons. For me it came out a bit weak, not much body to it. But for my wife and the wives of my friends, they loved it!!!! This actually fermented out quick and cleared out just as quick. I think the total time spent was 3 weeks from start to bottle. This is a good wine to serve cold!!
I love these wine kit very easy to use and follow the instructions or if your more advanced still a great kit for filling your stock or wine rack or even as gifts a cheap way of giving someone a wine you made. These kits are complete with juice, chemicals and with corks, labels or print your own as I do, and capsules. All you need is the fermenter bucket a carboy and a corker. Get a starter kit it is a great hobby or making your own wine.
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Very good flavor as we have come to expect from the Cornucopia kits. Chianti being on the dry side for our taste wasn't a problem as we just back sweetened a small bit to bring it up to our taste.
We bottled before Christmas and shared with family and friends who kept asking for more. Noticed recently the Wildberry Chianti on the wine rack is in short supply already! Will have to order another kit soon.
Shipping from Amazon on these kits was really quick. As soon as it arrived I started it and another Cornucopia kit and they were ready for bottling within the 4 weeks suggested.
I would comment on if they get better with age but I can't seem to keep any of these Cornucopia brands on my wine rack long enough for them to gain any age.
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I've just finished bottling 6 gallons of wine produced from this kit, and I followed all of the instructions to the letter. When I tasted the finished product I found it to have less alcohol content that a typical wine, and it was very sweet. I immediately called the customer service number on the box to report my results to see if I had done something wrong. The representative informed me that my results were expected. This is a very sweet wine with only 4-5% alcohol content. I did not expect a sweet dessert-style wine when I purchased this kit. I expected a typical Chianti. This kit does not product a typical Chianti, so if you prefer light/sweet wine you will like this kit. If, on the other hand, you prefer a full-bodied, drier wine, then I definitely do not recommend purchasing this kit.
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I have had really good luck with these kits. I've made a couple of the other Cornucopia kits and they have been perfect.
I had a little trouble with this kit, and in case anyone else has a similar problem, I will list how I overcame the issue.
When I pitched the yeast into the must in the primary, after 48 hours I still did not see any signs of fermentation (by this time, you should at the very least see a layer of yeast "scum" on top of the must and should really see vigorous bubbling on the surface). So I pitched a second packet of yeast that I had on hand of a similar strain (Lalvin 1118; these kits come with Lalvin 1114). This still did not work. So I used a method that I had found for starting skeeter pee:
First, I poured a new packet of yeast into a mason jar containing warm water (~70 degrees) and sugar (1 cup of each). I let this sit for 2 hours with the lid loosely placed on top and by then there was a large amount of foaming on the surface of the starter. I then added 8 oz of the juice from the primary fermentation bucket and let this sit for 4 hours. At this time, there was vigorous fermentation and lots of bubbling on the surface. I added 8 oz more of the juice from the primary bucket and waited for 4 hours again. At this point, I dumped half of the starter out into the bucket, stirred up the bucket, and filled the starter mason jar with juice from the bucket. I left this sitting overnight with the lid sitting loosely on the top. The next morning, I dumped the whole starter into the bucket. By that evening, there was vigorous fermentation in my bucket.
I can't comment on the flavor of the wine yet but the juice tastes really good. I think it will turn out to be a really nice sweet red wine. I will try to remember to post an update when I've tasted the wine.
My favorite thing about these Cornucopia fruit wines is that they are ready to drink in < 2 months. Can't beat that!
