For the price and items included these are great kits. I went by several other reviews and made 5 gallons rather than 6, definitely makes a difference. Instead of using the yeast supplied I get quality yeast that vitners use. For this wine and the Cab I used BM4X4, it does wonders to the wine. Great body and mouth feel. After the secondary fermentation I added Hungarian med+ toasted oak cubes and allowed it to bulk age for three months prior to bottling. Bulk aging brings out more complexity in the wine and because of the size of the carboy the wine is less effected by temperature variations.After three months in the bottle in a wine fridge at 58 deg the wine is just as good as a $50 Barolo purchased at a wine store. Yeast is everything to the wine, get advice from a winery that produces the types of wine you really enjoy, most will be glad to tell you. BM4X4 only comes in 500 gram packaging so I have enough to last quite a while (I use about 1tsp per batch follow the manufactures instructions to prep the yeast before adding to the must) . Sealed and stored in the fridge you will get your money's worth for the quality of wine it produces. When adding oak, get cubes instead of chips, the chips will be spent in a week, 2.5 to 3oz of cubes in a 5 gallon batch for three months is almost the same as 1 year in a barrel, so taste after the first two weeks for flavor up to the taste of oak you desire. It's better to add more later to taste than add too much and over power your wine.
I've made several batches of wine and the Barolo is by far the best one to date. The Italian Red came out very pleasant, but again, the yeast makes all the difference. To date I've made six of these kits and will continue to do so. I've made kits from other companies, but the price didn't show in quality when a great yeast and the type of oak for the flavor desired is used. Morewine website has some great reading on oak varieties and effect on wine. Do a little research and anyone can produce very nice wines.
I have made a number of them and make 5 gallon instead of 6. It gives a very good robust flavor. I will buy them as long as they are sold here.
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I ordered this kit just to try it since the price was so good. I have been making wine for a few years and thought it was worth a try. The instructions are good and easy to follow. When making the kit I did find the SG at 1.080 and the target was around 1.090. It came out a little thin. I opened a bottle las night after letting it age for since 10/10/2009. I was suprised with how it turned out. It was very drinkable. You have to remember it isn't going to taste like a $20 bottle of wine. I would buy it again in fact I have a white wine kit going now and just ordered a more expensive malbec kit to try.Read Best Reviews of Vino Italiano 4 Week Wine Kit, Barolo, 15.5-Pound Box Here
I have been bulk aging this kit, and like others, am having a hard time resisting drinking glasses of it out of the carboy. It has turned out quite well, with a leathery, tobacco-y, dry and full-bodied flavor that is quite delicious. I made it as a little over a 5 gallon batch, as others have suggested. The point of this review is to show you the math/science of you why you too should reconstitute to around 5 gallons rather than 6 as instructed, in order to avoid a watery, light colored wine and instead enjoy rich, bold flavors.Barolo generally has an alcohol content of 13% http://www.templeofwine.com/content/barolo.
Using a Brix conversion calculator such as: http://www.brewersfriend.com/brix-converter/, you'll see that in order to get a final product wine with about 13% alcohol, you'll need to have a starting gravity of just over 22 Brix or 1.092 SG.
So, if you want to achieve a wine that has the proper alcohol content of Barolo, when you add water to the concentrate in this kit, you should add water a little at a time, stirring and taking measurements with your Hydrometer (Triplescale) as you go along until you reach approx 22 brix or 1.092 SG. When I made it that came out to just over 5 gallons.
One other note about fermenting the juice in these kits is heavily sulfited and adjusted. As a result, fermentation *always* takes longer than the instructions suggest and longer than if you were using fresh grapes or juice. Again, make sure to use your Hydrometer (Triplescale) to measure the SG to determine that fermentation is completely over before transferring to the secondary. In my experience this can be as much as 10 -14 days after pitching yeast.
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I love this kit, and can tell you this is going to be good with a little aging. Just bottled it today, but always steal a glass of the young wine, and it it already tasty enough to drink and enjoy. I can't imagine the negative reviews for this kit. Either the winemaker screwed something up, or you are too advanced, and thinking you are going to get $200 kit quality out of a $40 kit. I will say without equivocation that this is the best kit I have purchased at any price (my most expensive kit being somewhere in the $120 range.Like many, I did 5 gal. instead of 6, and I bulk aged an extra 3 weeks, because I think it helps with the degassing. Other than that, I followed instructions to the letter and am chomping at the bit to try this in 3-6 months. It'll be hard to wait.
My only regret, if it can be called that, is that I didn't oak it, but that's not the kit's fault. I will try doing so next time.
If you are a beginner or intermediate kit winemaker, this kits will provide a terrific product at an unbeatable price point.
One more thing: I am very annoyed by the few who didn't do their research, and thought they were getting the wine ingredients plus the equipment for $40. Did you do no research beforehand? Either way, how is your ignorance the mfr. fault?
This kit comes not only with quality wine must, but also with labels, corks, and shrink caps. These ancillaries alone would run you an additional $15-$20.
I can't say enough about these kits. I only hope I don't kill the goose that laid the golden egg by hyping them so much that the mfr. raises the price.
