best advise is to look at the archives and also visit a local Homebrew Shop
for good advice.
it would seem that you can afford to go for a reasonable amount of equipment
but don't go over the top.
A couple of my opinions
1 Do go for a top of the range kit like Brew King Selection.
2. That means inevitably that it will be a kit which makes up to 23 Litres
(5 gals Imp, 6 Gals US ) but that is better than just buying a 1 gallon
kit.And it takes just as much effort to make 1 gallon as it does 5 gallons.
3.Don't go mad on your purchases of equipment until you are happy to be
doing it. Your home brew shop will lend/hire you a floor corker when it
comes to bottling time.
4. Do follow the instructions that come with the kit the first few times
until you glean a lot more info by reading about it ( on here and in books).
5. For a good kit red wine you do need to be in the top of the range of kits
and you do need to "bulk age" for about 6 months --- but with your first kit
start drinking it after a month of aging --- that is a month after the kit
instructions say it is ready to drink. It will have made a lot of difference
even with just a month.White wines kits produces generally "better" results
within any price range. But I bet you will enjoy your first home made
wine -- it will be the best you ever make. So as soon as you can, start your
second kit so that you can bulk age it for longer -- you will be amazed how
different it is after more aging.
6. If you have read my comments on red kit wines before you will see I am a
bit critical but I make twice as much red wine as white and am only critical
cos I strive for the best results. Occasionally, out of the blue I get an
excellent result out of something that I thought would be "run of the mill".
A case in point I bought a £22 kit of SolVino Tempranillo. It came in a can
and I expected to use it for cooking and slurping! I actually forgot about
it during its bulk aging and it sat for a year. I bottled it in November and
when I tried it just before Christmas when I was cooking I was so surprised.
It had all the body, fruit and tannin of a much more expensive wine -- I
immediately withdrew it from my "fit for non wine drinkers" list and put it
on my reserve stock. I now have to try and keep my fingers off it for a
while longer cos I can't buy that kit any more -- it has been
withdrawn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Any way, Welcome and Good luck!


--
Trevor A Panther
In South Yorkshire, England
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"Jack" wrote in message
om...
I think I'm getting close to taking the plunge. I've seen many
equipment kits on the internet. Any recommendations? I guess I'm
just as interested in a quality supplier as I am a quality kit. I
don't mind spending up to $200 to get started. Though from what I've
seen, it doesn't look like it will cost that much. Seems like most
folks like the glass carbouys so I'll probably go that route. I'm
also interested in small, wood barrels. Of course, that can come
later.

Also, what is a good first-timer wine kit (red). I like cabs, merlots
and such-- typically failry dry and not too sweet. I've seen the 28
day kits, but am a little skeptical. It would be nice to get one or
two batches in for practice that didn't take too long to complete. It
would be a huge let down to make, ferment and bottle over the course
of a year, only to discover my wine tastes like dog doo-doo. I would
also like for each of these first batches to be small, ten bottles or
less if that's possible. I don't want a glut of mediocre wine. I
just want enough to wet my whistle (pun intended).