How good are wine kits?

[RichC]

Hi, I'm considering making some kit wine. I'm a fussy baxtard when it comes to wine and I'm wondering will it only lead to disappointment? I know I can brew excellent beer vs what's commercially available(when things go to plan) but does the same apply for wine, or is it all like that pi$$ you get in boxes?
thanks
Rich

[Dunkel]

From my limited experience in tasting wine kits, I've found the most expensive kits, costing around €3 per bottle, can produce wine tasting similar to bottles costing €10 in the off-licence. So a good saving, but not earth-shattering quality IMHO.

[auralabuse]

I agree,  im fussy about my wine,  and beer for that matter.  I find the wine kits to be a fine table wine and a match up for bottles in the 7 to 10 euro range

[molc]

Does that include the sadler reserve kits? If they don't at least reach a 20 Euro bottle of wine quality, that'll be my last kit in that case...

[Dunkel]

Why should they make €20 quality wines? You're getting 30 bottles for €70, or €2.33 each. A €10 wine in the shop, once you knock off VAT (best part of €2) and excise duty (€3.19) costs around €5. So you're getting twice your money's worth. A €20 bottle less VAT and excise is a shade over €13. Five times quality for your initial investment seems a bit optimistic to me 

[auralabuse]

Which is why I don't bother anymore.  I like my wine a certain way and so far home kits just don't cut it.  Would gladly fork out more for a kit if it hit that standard though

[Greg2013]

Just my two cents but you are never going to get that from a wine kit,unless you grow and crush your own grapes you really can't. It all depends on what exactly you are looking for out of your wine tbh.

[molc]

Aye that's the thing, I brew beer to make a quality product and want the same out of my wine. If I can't buy a kit that can reach that quality, there's no point. I buy beers that usually cost 5 a bottle, yet it only costs around 50 to make 40 of those, so I'm not out of my mind to expect the same from the wine kits.

Also when the HB stores sell them, they claim these levels of quality, so that's just misadvertising as far as I can see

[Qs]

It costs €50 to make 40 beers for you?

[molc]

It was a ballpark. I couldn't actually say how much I spend, as I get indegrients for a few batches at a time

[RichC]

I was thinking maybe a 12 bottle Sadlers Reserve kit(Merlot/Shiraz). Theyre pure grape juice cost €43. With pure juice I would have expected a reasonable quality. Obviously I don't actually know, that's why I'm asking here:) any of u guys ever tried those pure juice kits?

[RichC]

How did I end up starting 2 threads??? Pretty sure I didn't do anything stupid. Software glitch?

[Qs]

It was a ballpark. I couldn't actually say how much I spend, as I get indegrients for a few batches at a time

Ha, bet its way less. Beersmith is great for calculating how much each batch costs. Even an IPA with plenty of hops comes in at no more than €25

[Will_D]

I was thinking maybe a 12 bottle Sadlers Reserve kit(Merlot/Shiraz). Theyre pure grape juice cost €43. With pure juice I would have expected a reasonable quality. Obviously I don't actually know, that's why I'm asking here:) any of u guys ever tried those pure juice kits?

Err maybe look down a few threads:

http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,5635.0.html

[Nethawkje]

In my opinion the best wine kits are from Winexpert.
You have them in different prices starting from €65 for 30 bottles
They have 4, 5,6 and 8 week wine kits
http://makingyourwine.com/winexpert-vintners-reserve-pricelist
http://makingyourwine.com/winexpert-world-vineyard-pricelist
http://makingyourwine.com/winexpert-selection-pricelist
http://makingyourwine.com/winexpert-eclipse-pricelist
You can taste most wines there before buying