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Wine Central is proud to present a series of articles on “DIY Winemaking”, which features tips, ‘how-tos’, and advice on making your own wines. This week is the second installment in our series—”Winemaking Kits: Choosing the Right One”.

Winemaking Kits: Choosing the Right One

It’s probably a good idea to choose a kit that most closely resembles your favourite commercial wine.  If you usually buy a Merlot, then make a Merlot.  Don’t worry about sounding knowledgeable to your U-Vin staff – we’re all wine nerds and nuts, and love the stuff.  If you tell us you like a dry wine – which is what most people say, we have to ask what it is you enjoy drinking most.  Often, a new customer will tell us their version of a dry wine is Piesporter – which is actually a fairly sweet wine.  Give us as much information as possible, and we’ll be much better at matching you with a wine you’ll enjoy.

Kit Differences:

Size does matter in the kit industry!  The smaller the kit, the more concentrated the juice is and the more water we need to add to bring the level up to 23 litres.

A 7.5 L kit is an economical kit that will produce a simple table wine that is as good as it will ever get.

The 10 L kits (Vintners Reserve and World Vineyard Collection) produce nicer wines that will reach their peak at about 3 months of ageing and won’t go into any type of decline for 12-15 months after that.

The premium kits are just that – premium.  They have 15 L of juice and concentrate, so we’re adding less water.  They are really good to drink at 3 months, and will continue to improve – sometimes for as long as 3 years!

The ultra-premium kits have juice and concentrate that come from renowned growing regions or vineyards and are worth every penny, especially if you have the patience to let them age to their full potential.

If you love a great red (and who doesn’t?) and have the patience to cellar, then the Crushendo products are for you.  They are quite surprising – right out of the carboys these wines taste fantastic – they’re rich, ripe, have great tannins, and are pleasing immediately.  Let them sit a year or more, and you’ll have a wine to impress even your wine-snob friends.

View our complete list of wine kits.

Wine Kit Prices

Wine kits vary dramatically in price – and typically the price is a true indication of the quality of the kit.  Buy an inexpensive kit and you will end up with a cheap wine.

Our premium wine kits range in price from $110 to $165 for the kit.  The value priced kits will range from $50 – $85.  You can buy kits at the big box stores for as little as $48, but you will get exactly what you pay for, and may run into problems with clearing.

Contact Wine Central today to order your wine kit.