My thanks to Insprucegrove and the other respondents to my query.

[snip]
> I make top end kits too, but I thought what the heck, why
> not try this just to see how good or bad it could be.

I've also only made kits from some of the more expensive product lines. To
date I've been reasonably happy with them, but having heard about Costco
carrying wine kits my curiosity was piqued and I thought I'd like to give
them a try if I could find them on the shelves or have them ordered.


--
Cheers,
Ken



"Insprucegrove" > wrote in message
...
> I am the person who bought the Sommelier Select.. The price is just under
$50
> Canadian (about US$37.50 for 2 kits of Merlot, and obviously at that price
I am
> not expecting much. I mean for under 19 bucks (for each kit) US I got
7kg of
> concentrate (ie 23 litres of wine as the result) , 30 corks, 30 decent
labels,
> 30 capsules, the usual yeast, sorbate and clearing agents (in this case
Silaca
> Gel (that's a new one on me) and Gelatin. Standard instructions in French
and
> English, and while it calls it a 28 day kit, the instructions go to day
42, so
> must be a strange way of counting 28 days! The instructions are different
that
> any other kit I have purchased, as I know some "Store Brands" I bought in
the
> past were really Spagnol products rebranded (ie same instruction sheets
were
> attached.)
>
> Now I have never heard of Sommelier Select, but it is packed for Sommelier
> Select Ltd/Ltee of 2479 Haines Rd, Mississauga, Ont L4Y 1Y7. I can find no
web
> site (or even phone #) for them. Mississauga is part of the greater
Toronto
> area, and the Sams Club I bought it at is also part of the Greater Toronto
area
> (GTA). Sam's are pretty new up here, and they said they would buy
products for
> the local stores of interest to whatever ethnic groups live nearby. I
happen to
> live in an area with a large Italian population. There are at least 4
wineries
> and numberous home wine making stores, juice/must distribution places etc
all
> within 10km of my house, so they are correct--a lot of people here like to
make
> their own wine whether from grapes, juice, kits or whatever.
>
> The writeup on the side of the kit is pure hyperbole, but I will quote a
little
> of it he
> ---
> Sommelier Select is a family operated business since 1966. The direct
> ownership of wineries enable us to harvest premium grapes, process the
must
> under meticulous care and produce optimum concentrates....juices and
> concetrates have been carefully selected, stabilized and filtered etc and
they
> even go as far to say they have searched world's greates vineyareds to
bring
> this product to you etc. The corks even have their name emblazoned on
them.
> _____
>
> Right now my first kit is in secondary fermentation, so.....time will
tell, but
> I don't see much difference so far in paying 25 bucks Canadian for this
kit, vs
> the usual 50 bucks for kits of similar quality, and they don't usually
throw in
> labels, corks etc. I make top end kits too, but I thought what the heck,
why
> not try this just to see how good or bad it could be.
>
>
>
> >Would someone be willing to post the manufacturers and names of a few of
> >these kits, please?
> >My local Costco does not carry any wine kits, nor do any of the other
three
> >closest to my home, and I was told by an employee at their customer
service
> >desk that they could be ordered if only I could help them identify what
to
> >order, as searches for 'wine kit' and other likely searches didn't reveal
> >any products.
> >
> >I've captured some information from this thread, but would like some
> >confirmation on whether these are brand names, product names, or product
> >lines:
>
>