I gave this wine a chance for the first time a few months ago, and I was definitely impressed. It's semi-dry and very smooth. I believe it of a higher quality than the vino italiano brands on amazon. It's worth the extra 10 bucks or so for sure.
This kit is probably the best of the Reserve series. It's easy to produce an excellent red, with the softness of Merlot and the slight acidity of the Cabernet.
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I used this kit to make 4 gallons of port. It came out very well. It certainly took longer than the 4 weeks claimed by the kit, but then I made my own directions. I will recount my method in case anyone wants to try their hand at it. Here's what i did:
I chose this kit because it had made five gallons of decent wine for me in the past. The blend had a good balance, but even at 5 gallons was a bit thin.
I reserved one and one-half cups of concentrate and froze it. I used the remaining to make 4 gallons of must and fermented it with the yeast provided.
About a month in, I added 1/4 gallon of simple syrup and some yeast nutrient.
Two months in, I racked to a three gallon glass carboy and a one gallon jug, topped with simple syrup and air-locked them for another 2 months.
I racked them back into a 5 gallon carboy and added the correct amount of cognac, using Pearson's square. I let it sit until I was certain fermentation was done.
I stabilized the wine and degassed it and added in the thawed, room temp concentrate that I kept from the first and added medium toast french oak chips and rested the wine for another two months.
At bottling I racked the wine from the sediment, but did not filter it as I usually do with regular wine. I wanted any oak residue to remain in the bottle and settle out over time.
I was rewarded with a very good port that I expect to age very well. I will do this again in about 3 years.
I saved money over using a port kit and got four gallons instead of three which port kits usually yield. It did take a very long time to make compared to a port kit, but with port, there is no need to hurry. I won't even open the first bottle for at least a year.What would I do different? I would splurge and buy a higher end cognac. I could afford it for what I saved. I would probably also use a higher quality cork, only because I plan to still be drinking this 6 or 7 years out. The included corks would have been just fine if i used the kit for basic table wine, as I doubt it would remain in the cellar more than a year. I will also like use a port yeast since I know this experiment worked out very well. I'm still money ahead.
I make about 75 gallons of wine a year. Some from kits, some from fresh grapes and some from stuff you wouldn't think would make a good wine (cucumbers, beets, rhubarb, all make good wine, but take about 12 months from must to bottle. Most of my wine is given to friends and those people who have been kind enough to supply me with fresh grapes, cucumbers, rhubarb and beets.
Ports, ice wines and sherries stay with me and cellar.
Have fun. This is a great hobby. The price of these kits makes them attractive to do odd things with, for instance I blended a Moscato kit with some of the cucumber wine and it was really tasty. I don't think I would have played around like that with a hundred dollar kit.
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Product came in 2 days. Instructions a little vague but in 4 weeks it was ready to bottle. No filtering needed at bottling time. I have purchased 5 wine kits and the wine has always been great after it has rested for several months.
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I have made a Shiraz from another brand kit and it was decent after a year of cellering. This wine is far better after just the 2nd racking. Much more flavor and already smooth but with a nice acidity. I am thinking after maturing for 6 12 months this will be a wine to be proud of. We will see if I can make it that long without drinking them all. The labels, wrapper caps and corks are a bonus. I have paid more for kits with far less that were not even in the same ballpark. I made this into a 5 gallon kit.
This soup is terrific on its own, but it is an essential ingredient in various dishes I make, including pot roast.
