"pp" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Interesting. I haven't done these - actually I haven't done a
> Winexpert kit yet, but I've had a strange colour experience with
> pretty much all Spagnol's white kits that I've made (3-4). These
> weren't out of date or oxidized, just came out much darker than
> expected - medium to deep gold, even for a Riesling/Gewurz blend.
>
> The WE NZ SB kit did very well in the Winemaker mag competition,
> better than the Spagnol's En Primeur so that would also suggest your
> kit was an anomaly and you should ask them for a replacement.
>

No anomaly, and not oxidized. Winexpert acknowledged that there was a colour
issue with this product. I think they explained it vaguely as an enzymatic
problem. I could have lived with the colour if it had displayed good NZSB
character, but it didn't. Not in my effort, and not in a bottle made by a WE
retailer. I don't put a lot of stock in any competition results. There are
so many factors that can influence how well an entry does that have nothing
to do with the absolute quality of the entry. The WE kit obviously has its
fans, but I'm not one of them.

Brian