wine kit recommendations

[baphomite51]

looking to get me da a wine kit for christmas, he keeps asking me about them but i know feck all i hate the stuff so can anyone recommend a kit to try? which brand is the best/advice and what not? probably wont need a starter kit as id say i have most of the kit thats needed

cheers

[Ciderhead]

Australian blend Pinot Grigio 7 day kit, 
Wine really needs at least 30 days to settle down even the 7 days kits which are optimum between 60 and 180 days
Go as expensive as you can afford.
Follow instructions to the letter.

[baphomite51]

grand and i take it ya just dump the ingredients in and add water? any special bit of kit needed for wine, i take it its just regular kit, fermentor airlock bung hydrometer. and then the wine bottles and a corker?

[Ciderhead]

You need a dedicated wine bucket as you will impart flavours in both directions otherwise, I learnt that the hard way.
They were being given away a few years ago, I bought loads and had 14 buckets at one stage using only 3 for wine!
There are more ingredients and treatments than beer kits but it's pretty easy, just remember as always to keep everything sanitised as usual

[Shane Phelan]

Have a look at some of the videos on youtube, Craig does a 4 part series on making it.

I made a red myself before and its extremely straightforward, just add different chemicals at the intervals specified in the instructions. I was quite happy with the results although I found it a little thin, I found that someone recommended brewing with a few less litres (30 bottle kit) of water than recommended to give it a little more body. Might do that the next time.  I would probably get the wine shrink capsules for aesthetic purposes.

[Ciderhead]

I always forget about Craig and he was the very guy that started me off Pre NHC. I even skyped him a few times on JTV before he came mega famous and he has a no bs style of brewing a bit like L. Eoin.
That California connoisseur is good middle of the road range and their cab sav is good
I just checked Australian blend and prices have shot up they used to be sub 30
Don't bother with any of the six bottle kits and Shiny is right make them thick to have more body

[LordEoin]

Handy thing about a bottle kit is that all you need is a couple of demijohns, bung, airlock, hydrometer, corker and you're pretty much set.
But if you're going for a 30 bottle kit, do as CH recommended and pick the more expensive ones.
You don't want to have 30 bottles of crap wine!

Oh.. and get the synthetic corks, they seem to keep the wine better, and you can condition them standing up.

[itsclinto]

I recently made the Solomon Grundy Platinum Pinot Grigio as my first wine kit.  I started it on a Saturday and I was able to bottle it the following wednesday, but i left it a day or two longer to ensure there was no sediment lingering.  It was very simple with the instructions and it included everything that was needed for the kit (grape concentrate, yeast, stabiliser and two packets of finnings).  It has turned out very clear with no sediment and i was able to get 31 bottles from the kit.  It tastes ok at the moment but i'll leave it another while (probably christmas) before i really sample the wine.

Last year, i got my dad the Australian Blend Pinot Grigio which turned out nice but had sediment in it.  He also tried a red, can't remember the one, but that also had sediment in it.  They say the longer you leave the wine the more the sediment clumps at the bottom of the bottles so patience is key.

Best of luck with your kit purchase