Those that consider themselves “serious” winemakers shun kit wines — they are not “real” wines. Personally, I’ve made many kit wines in the past but truly find my joy in handling grapes. But now, many kits come with grape skins and oak chips or spirals that make kit winemaking really fun and easy without all the hassles of handling grapes. And judging from the quality of kit wines, these can be considered serious — very serious. I recall one of my favorite wines I judged at a competition several years ago. The wine was simply amazing! It had great depth and extraction. Everything was so well balanced. Aromas and flavors just exploded. It was one of those “wow” wines that we so often talk about but seldom encounter. I must admit that I couldn’t believe that it was a kit wine.

And so, while waiting for the Fall season to arrive to make some wine from grapes, I wanted to give it a try again to make wine from kits and share my day-to-day progress with you.

I have selected 3 kits from RJ Spagnols to get a sense of working with some top-quality concentrate sourced from vineyards around the world and working with grape skins, both wet and dry. I picked the following kits — all produce 23 liters (6 gallons) or 30 bottles.

• Cellar Classic Winery Series Australian Meritage
• En Primeur GenuWine Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon
• Cru Select Gewürztraminer

Cellar Classic Winery Series 6-week kits contain 16 L of concentrate plus 2 L of crushed winery grape skins. Although the concentrates contain all the desired color, tannins, aromas and flavors, grape skins will add a little more, however, their real action is in stabilizing color to give the wine better aging potential. Aside from all the necessary additives and processing aids, the kits also include oak chips and spiral to give wine more (softer) tannins and more aroma and flavor complexity.

En Primeur GenuWine 8-week kits contain 18 L of concentrate but with 250 g of winery dried grape skins, which become rehydrated once placed in the reconstituted juice, and oak powder and chips.

 

 

Cru Select 6-week kits contain 16 L of concentrate along with various additives depending on the style. My Gewürztraminer kit contains elderflowers and a Süss Reserve for back-sweetening.

 

So let’s get started now!

DAY 1

Sanitation is VERY important. All equipment must be cleaned and sanitized to minimize any risk of microbial infection and spoilage. I use a 10% sulfite solution and let my equipment (primary fermenter, hydrometer and cylinder, thermometers, stirring spoon)  soak in it for approximately 10 minutes. We need a pail with a capacity of at least 27 L (6 3/4 gal) to allow for foaming during fermentation.

Not sure how to clean and wash equipment? Read this.

My Cellar Classic Winery Series Australian Meritage kit contains a bladder with 18 L of concentrate, 2 L of Cabernet Sauvignon grape skins and a straining bag, two packs of oak chips, an oak spiral, bentonite to help with clarification, EC-1118 yeast, chitosan and kieselsol for fining post fermentation, sulfite and potassium sorbate for stabilizing the wine, bottle labels and instructions.

First step is to dissolve the bentonite in approximately 4 L of warm water, and stir very well until fully dissolved.

 

 

Now we pour the concentrate into the pail, and we’ll add a little bit of warm water to the bladder to drain out any residual concentrate, and then we top to the 23-L mark on the pail with fresh, clean, cool water.

 

We then stir the must thoroughly. We’ll insert a floating thermometer to keep an eye on must temperature to make sure it is in the 20-25°C/70-80°F range, otherwise, it may not ferment properly or may give rise to unpleasant off-aromas and flavors.

We’ll add oak chips and the oak spiral. These chips are definitely toasted — they have a nice, sweet aroma. I’m really excited now.

 

 

Time to add the grape skins. The contents are emptied into a SANITIZED straining bag, which is then knotted and dropped into the must. I’m getting more excited, every minute.

 

 

 

Ok. It’s now time to retrieve a sample to measure the Specific Gravity (SG). Both the Meritage and Cab Sauv musts measure in at 1.094, so we’ll end up with about 12.5% alcohol (PA). The Gewürz measures in at 1.086 or about 12.0% PA.

We’ve just sprinkled the yeast pellets on the must surface and placed a lid with a fermentation lock. We’re all set to go now.

N.B.: I usually recommend rehydrating the yeast pellets as per the yeast manufacturer’s instructions, but I’m following the kit instructions to the letter here.

DAY 2

The Gewürz has started fermenting quite actively within 12 hours. That’s the elderflower “in a tea bag” floating on the surface. The reds are starting to crackle, and the active fermentation should soon be visible.

 

It’s almost the end of Day 2 and things are looking good. I was concerned that the Cab Sauv fermentation would not start, but it finally did and all is progressing as planned now. The Meritage SG measured 1.082, the Cab Sauv 1.092 and the Gewürz 1.068. And I love the smell in the house with that hint of sweet oak aromas percolating in the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DAY 3

The Gewürztraminer is on fire; it’s at 1.024. It’ll probably need to be racked within the next 2 days.

The Cab Sauv is inching along at 1.082. I’ll leave it alone since a nice foam developed and it seems to be fermenting ok though a tad too slow for my liking.

The Meritage leaped to 1.044 and will probably need to be racked tomorrow (rack into secondary at 1.020 according to instructions).

DAY 4

Things are looking mighty good as Day 4 comes to a close.

The Gewürztraminer is at 1.000 and smelling just awesome. I snapped the lid tight on the pail and placed a fermentation lock to let fermentation complete in the primary fermenter — as per instructions.

The Cab Sauv is dropping about 10 points a day and is at 1.074. Temperature is a steady 24ºC (75ºF).

The Meritage dropped to 1.022 and so I racked it into a secondary fermenter as per instructions after I sanitized all racking equipment (of course). This Meritage is smelling mighty nice.

 

 

 

 

 

DAY 5

All is looking good. The Gewürztraminer has slowed down and is probably nearing 0.995. I’ll give it a couple of more days before I rack it to a carboy. The Meritage is still fermenting nicely in the carboy, and my guess is that it is around 1.000 by now. And the late-blooming Cab Sauv shows a lot of vigor and now measures 1.030; it will need to be racked to a carboy tomorrow when it hits around 1.020.

DAY 6

The Cab Sauv hit 1.020 and was immediately transferred to a glass carboy. Look at it going now!

The wine is right at the 23-L mark in the carboy but there is some headspace. This is needed as wine would otherwise burst out of the fermentation lock. And since it is still producing CO2 gas, the wine is well protected. I will just need to top it up with some other wine when fermentation is over and I rack the wine into another carboy when ready to stabilize.

DAY 7

Today is a relatively quiet day of simply watching fermentation. All is well. The Meritage and Cab Sauv are fermenting well. The Gewürztraminer is very quiet and probably nearing 0.995. I’ll give it a week now to let it complete 100% and settle down before I start stabilization and clearing procedures.

DAY 12

The Gewürztraminer seems to be very stable and will probably be ready to rack to a carboy in a couple of days. The Cab Sauv surprisingly overtook the Meritage. Yep, the Cab Sauv seems to have completed fermentation while the Meritage is still bubbling, albeit, very slowly. Good thing I’ve got a a big glass of the finest Bordeaux in my hands to help me through this update. It’s hard making wine knowing that you can’t drink it for a while yet.

DAY 14

The Gewürztraminer is ready for stabilization and clearing, now sitting at a nice 0.995. It is smelling beautifully and tasting even better. This should make for a great wine once aged for a few months.

First step is to siphon the wine into a sanitized carboy making sure not to disturb the sediment. Actually, the sediment formed as a nice, compact, thin layer that makes racking super easy.

 

 

 

Next step is to dissolve the sulfite powder in a small amount of lukewarm water, add to the wine in the carboy, and stir well.

 

 

Now we’ll do the same with the potassium sorbate. This kit comes with 2 packets of potassium sorbate, so we’ll add both.

 

 

 

Time to add the Süss Reserve and stir. This kit winemaking is great for developing muscles with all the stirring.

 

 

 

I measured the residual CO2 content before I started stirring to get a sense of how much stirring I would need to do. I measured approx 1000 mg/L, which is pretty good and well within my recommended range to maintain freshness and to allow aromas to fully express themselves. So I’ve decided to simply go with the instructions and degas with a stirring rod and paddles driven by an electric drill for 5 minutes and then again for another 5 minutes after adding the clarifying agents.

Degassing in action. Notice the foaming as CO2 is being expelled. If the wine is not properly degassed, it may not clarify properly.

 

 

 

 

Now time to add the clarifying agents; first the Kieselsol AND THEN the Chitosan, with a thorough stir in between and after. Note that the order of addition is very important here.

 

 

All is good. Just need to top up the carboy — I used a similar wine (you can use water, if you want) — place an airlock and bung, and place the carboy in a cool area until Day 42 when it will be ready to bottle.

 

 

 

DAY 28

It’s time to stabilize and start fining the Australian Meritage, now sitting at 0.993, and the Californian Cabernet Sauvignon, now sitting at 0.995. Both wines are smelling and tasting REALLY good. Sure, they’re young, but I will age them until I feel they are ready to drink and to excite me. They taste very promising.

I’ve added the sulfite and potassium sorbate to each batch, degassed with a stirrer-paddle thingamajig. After 5 minutes of degassing, I added the Kieselsol to each batch, degassed for 1 minute, THEN added the chitosan and degassed for another 5 minutes. Again, it’s important to add the fining agents in the proper order and to degas to clarify the wine properly.

Finally, I’ve topped up both carboys with similar wine and then moved them to my cool cellar for some aging. My only deviation from the kit instructions is that I will age the wines for a while before I bottle, and so, I won’t bottle at Day 42.

The Gewürztraminer is clarifying slowly but surely.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 42

The Gewürztraminer is still not 100% clear to my satisfaction, so I’ll give it a few more days until it is completely clear. Although I will filter it, I’d still like it to be 100% clear so I have no problems filtering; in any case, there is no rush.

 

 

 

FINAL DAY

I gave the wines an extra 2 months to fully clarify and settle down as I would filter them all — white and reds — prior to bottling.

First, I collected all bottles (30 per kit) and washed them thoroughly under hot water.

I used the 2-in-1 Bottle Washer as I can process 12 bottles (one case) at a time very quickly and very efficiently. I use a second 12-bottle tray on this device to load another case of bottles while the first case is being washed.

Then I sanitized each bottle by blasting a 10% dilute sulfite solution using a rinser/sanitizer device, and then I let the sulfite work its power by setting the bottles on a bottle tree. Then, I rinsed the bottles again under cool water, and set them on the bottle tree to dry out while I go and process the wine in preparation for bottling.

 

First, I filtered the white (whites before reds, always!) using a Buon Vino Super Jet with three #3 (fine) pads. The wine was very clear and I felt it could go through fine pads no problem.

There was almost no loss of wine as I ended up bottling 30 bottles.

The Cabernet Sauvignon also cleared nicely but it would definitely need a #2 (medium) filtration before the #3. This worked out just fine.

The Meritage was clear, but being so rich, deep and concentrated, this would require a #1 (coarse) filtration followed by #2 and finally #3.

All went according to plan. There was about 1-bottle worth of loss on each wine — this is normal for reds.

I bottled the Gewürztraminer first followed by the two reds. I used a Buon Vino Automatic Bottle Filler, which worked like a charm. I corked each bottle as another bottle was being filled.

I did the approx 90 bottles in under one hour – by myself!

Well! It’s all done now! I’ll definitely be drinking the Gewürztraminer starting now – it’s delish!!

I’ll probably try one bottle of each red every so often (every 3-6 months) to see how they are progressing and then drink them when they are at their best. I like them a little older than most folks. The Meritage should be awesome, I expect, in maybe 2 years. It’s rich, deep, unctuous, mmm, mmm! I’m not sure if I’ll have that kind of patience for waiting.

Cheers.

Daniel