These are just my comments and others will report different experiences.

I have made several red wine kits from high priced kits (not the one you
named) and have consistently been disappointed in them. Now white wine kits
are a different mater. I am consistently impressed by what I get.

Ray

"Thomas T. Veldhouse" > wrote in message
t...
> Hello all! I am new to this group, but I am not new to winemaking. I
> originally started making wine in 1990 after making a concord grape wine
> in my biology class in college. Later, I made fruit wines and melomels.
> At somepoint I migrated over to brewing and haven't really looked back
> ... until now.
>
> Recently, I have been greatly enjoying read wines with my wife. We
> haven't ventured into really fine wines yet, but have enjoyed wines like
> Rosemount Estates Shiraz and Mark West Pinot Noir. Nothing really
> special, but OK for evening consumption.
>
> Anyway, I decided to buy a wine kit. I bought the Napa Valley Stag's
> Leap District Merlot from Northern Brewer in St. Paul. Supposedly this
> is a good kit, but I have never tasted a kit wine to know what to
> expect. So, can anybody indicate the quality of wine I might expect
> from this kit as compared to the above wines mentioned (obviously,
> neither are Merlot, but I am asking about quality and not similarity).
> I have experience with brewing and winemaking and followed the
> directions very well. I used Starsan (surface spray) and Idophor for
> sanitization. Original gravity is 1.099. I intend to let this wine
> age for one year before sampling.
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> --
> Thomas T. Veldhouse
> Key Fingerprint: 2DB9 813F F510 82C2 E1AE 34D0 D69D 1EDC D5EC AED1
> --
>
> Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value.