"Brian Lundeen" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Michael Lawson" > wrote in message
> ...
> That said, the wine does taste a bit thin
> > with little aromatics. Typical at this stage (the 4 week
> > point), I presume??
>
> Yes, but unfortunately, it might not get much better. I'm not a big
fan of
> kit wines, I'm afraid.

That's fine with me. If I go whole hog, I may end up
going the from scratch route as well. I've got too
many other hobbies, tho, so I may end up going with
the premium kits or the sterilized juice simply because
I haven't the space in the basement for a crusher and
whatnot.

> > In a VR kit, will bulk aging allow the wine to age better,
> > or is bulk aging more beneficial to the VR reds and the
> > 15-16 and whole juice kits? My assumption is that it
> > would help some, but what would be a good rule of
> > thumb for a VR 4-week kit?
>
> Give it 3 months.

That I can do. No one's bothering it right now, and as long
as my current stash of store bought bottles holds out, I'll
be in good shape. Besides, I need to clear out the space
for storing the batch in bottles when the time comes.

> > Second, from my homebrewing experience, matching
> > the right yeast to the type of beer being brewed can
> > be rather important. I'm wondering that if I had replaced
> > the Red Star yeast (Premier Cuvee, I believe) with one
> > from Wyeast/White Labs/Lalvin geared toward a
> > riesling style whether it would have had a dramatic
> > improvement in the outcome of the wine.
>
> I have been told by someone in the industry (not at liberty to say
more)
> that at least one of the major Canadian kit producers tests their
products
> with a variety of yeasts to find the ones that produce the most
acceptable
> final product. According to them, some strains known for doing a
good job
> when applied to similar grape-produced wines do not necessarily do a
good
> job with the kits. I guess about all you can take from that is, if
the trade
> sheets say "good for Pinot Noir" or "good for Riesling", that might
not
> apply to the kit you're buying. If you want to go with something
other than
> the supplied yeast, I would stick to an inexpensive dry yeast. The
added
> expense of a smack pack might not translate into an improved wine.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to remember to have
a collection going before I try to experiment a bit.

--Mike L.