"Brad B." > wrote in message
om...
> Welcome, Mike,
>
> You'll find lots of knowledgeable winemakers here so you've come to
> the right place. I'll chime in on a couple things you brought up.
> First, the VR kits are the low end of the spectrum in terms of
> quality. It's a good place to begin--that's where I began--but you
> won't get a stunning wine out of it. You should get a pleasant wine
> out of it however. That said, I think the whites tend to be a
better
> final product from the low end kits than the reds.

Thanks for the welcome and intro. (My newsreader
was a bit out of whack, so I got this post later than
some of the others.) After perusing the Winemaker
awards, I did notice that far more kits showed up in
the white categories than the red ones, and I guessed
that it was because the kits have a way to go in the
reds. I suspect that Cellarcraft is onto the right
track, however, with their crushed grape packs to
essentially give their kits a shot in the arm.

> Your question about yeast is a good one. Yes, yeast can make some
> difference in the final product, but from what I understand, it
makes
> a bigger difference with beer (I'm not a homebrewer though).
Premier
> Cuvee is a solid, strong yeast that almost always ferments to
> completion which is why it is often included in kits. Not much risk
> of a stuck fermentation as long as you follow basic temperature
> guidelines. You can experiment with different yeasts with kits and
> end up with different characteristics. For example, maybe you
prefer
> your Riesling to finish with some slight residual sugar and have
> stronger fruit flavors. In that case you could try Epernay 2 (Cote
> des Blancs). I love Cote des Blancs for fruity whites, but it
> ferments quite slowly, especially at low temperatures. It does
allow
> you to stop a fermentation when the sugar level is where you want it
> by chilling it down in some way (I use a full size refrigerator).

That's a different way of doing it. I'm used to lagering,
where you have yeast that operates best at 45 F chugging
along in a carboy in the basement for a couple of months,
so using temperature to control the residual sugars will
take some getting used to.

> There are many, many strains which can provide slightly different
> results, but you can't expect miracles. You can never convert
> marginal fruit or juice into fantastic wine just by switching yeast.

Heh. I can believe that.

> A great place to read about different wine strains is on Jack
Keller's
> website. Jack contributes here frequently. Here is his yeast page:
> http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp

Found it. Thanks for the tip.

> Give your kit wine some time. It will improve, especially after a
few
> months in the bottle. Good luck...

Thanks again for the info.

--Mike L.