If you are like me, you may have heard of Kamil Juices but never tried their products. Well, I finally did.

Kamil Juices sources vinifera juices from prime vineyards across Italy, France and Germany. The juices are flash pasteurized and lightly sulfited, packaged in 11.4-L (2.5-gal) food-grade plastic canisters, then stored cool/cold, and so, they are available all year round. Italian varietals include Pinot Grigio, Garganega, Trebbiano, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Barbera, Pinot Noir, Corvina and Sangiovese. French varietals include Cabernet Sauvignon, a blend of Syrah and Carignan, and Chardonnay while German varietals include Gewürztraminer and Riesling. The juices can be ordered with all necessary additives (EC-1118 yeast, clarifying agent, stabilizer and oak).

Package labels provide useful information including must analysis data (Brix, TA, free SO2 and pH).

I finally decided to try these out and see how good the wines would be. I set out to ferment four juices in October 2012, but I also wanted to give the wines at least 12 months of aging before I would offer any opinion. For whites, I chose a French Chardonnay and a German Gewürztraminer, and for reds, an Italian Pinot Noir and French Syrah/Carignan blend.

My first reaction when I opened the canisters and started pouring the juices was the aromatic intensity and deeper-than-usual color in all of them. The Pinot Noir was a deep, inky purple; not typical for a Pinot but this was from Northern Italy. I thought this was interesting and exciting, so I was keen to fast-forward a year and taste the wine. Th-e Gewürz was a deep golden color — very attractive, and surely promising. The juices also seemed to have naturally cold stabilized evidenced by the large, heavy tartrate “rocks” formed at the bottom.

I fermented the Pinot with an RC-212 yeast along with some MT+ French Oak Bouquet of my own. I also did a malo using an MBR 31 culture. The wine was fined gently, then bottled without filtering. The same was done for the Syrah/Carignan blend though I used an ICV GRE  yeast. The Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer were fermented with a CY3079 and Fermol Arome+ yeast, respectively, then treated with bentonite and cold stabilized (though I don’t think that was needed). The whites were filtered before bottling.

All the wines turned out superb. The Pinot Noir is lighter but still atypically dark with tons of fruit and just a hint of oak complementing the aromas. The Syrah/Carignan is jammy, fruity and rich. Both wines were excellent as made but I added some gum arabic to give them more mouthfeel, not that they needed it, but it’s a preference of mine. I think these wines will only get better with some more aging and will probably last many, many years — I just need to show restraint and be patient now.

The color in the Gewürz became much lighter as expected and now displays very nicely in the bottle. The nose and bouquet are definitely Gewürz — very aromatic with a hint of spiciness. The Chardonnay was a very nice surprise only because it’s one of the rare times I make a Chard without any oak. The wine exhibits such beautiful, fresh citrusy aromas with refreshing acidity. I typically like to up acidity, especially that this one came in at 5.7 g/L, but I did not want to alter anything in the spirit of making the wine the way it was intended. Any adjustments would come at bottling time, but there was no need for any.

All in all, very impressive wines.

You can find more information from Kamil Juices’ website. Contact one of their retailers to get pricing and availability information.