OK. After a positive experience on my first two kit wines I'm ready to go
again. This time I'd like to get 2-3 different red wines, bottle up 2-3
gallons of each and then experiment with the remainder by blending with some
from the other(s). Some blends seem a natural - Cabernet/syrah, etc.

Here's my question: Any recommendations on which wines to try and ratios to
blend? Any success stories to share?

TIA.

John

Well, I had a Shiraz that was kinda weak, so I put in 18% Cabernet and
it is a nice table wine.
I tried mixing Pinor Noir with Cab and it wasn't good to me.
Syrah is good with Cab. - I think I mixed 20% syrah to the cab.
Zinfandel and Pinot Noir I tried 30% Zin to the Pinot -- washed out the
Pinot - not good.
That's my experiences.
Have fun experimenting. Oh, and I experiment by mixing ounces, not
bottles, keeping track of the proportion. Like I'll have 4 glasses, each
with 2 ounces of one wine, then experiment by adding x ounces of another
wine. This saves wine. smile. DAve
What brand kits do you do? I"m mostly doing WinExpert - they seem a
little better than others. What do you think?
DAve

JB wrote:
> OK. After a positive experience on my first two kit wines I'm ready to go
> again. This time I'd like to get 2-3 different red wines, bottle up 2-3
> gallons of each and then experiment with the remainder by blending with some
> from the other(s). Some blends seem a natural - Cabernet/syrah, etc.
>
> Here's my question: Any recommendations on which wines to try and ratios to
> blend? Any success stories to share?
>
> TIA.
>
> John
>
>
>

Dave,

That's a good tip ---> to experiment in ounces rather than gallons. I should
have thought of that!

My primary source for wine kits stocks Ken Ridge and European Select, Bin
49 and Vinterra on the high end. There are other cheaper juices but I
thought I would stick with these since the advice I'm getting here is you
get what you pay for. Problem is, I'm not seeing cabernet franc or some
other grapes that I typically see used in blending.

Also, I appreciate the information about the Zin/Pinot. I think I'd read
somewhere to try that but I had never seen that done before and was suspect
of just how good it could be.

John


"Dave Allison" > wrote in message
.. .
> Well, I had a Shiraz that was kinda weak, so I put in 18% Cabernet and it
> is a nice table wine.
> I tried mixing Pinor Noir with Cab and it wasn't good to me.
> Syrah is good with Cab. - I think I mixed 20% syrah to the cab.
> Zinfandel and Pinot Noir I tried 30% Zin to the Pinot -- washed out the
> Pinot - not good.
> That's my experiences.
> Have fun experimenting. Oh, and I experiment by mixing ounces, not
> bottles, keeping track of the proportion. Like I'll have 4 glasses, each
> with 2 ounces of one wine, then experiment by adding x ounces of another
> wine. This saves wine. smile. DAve
> What brand kits do you do? I"m mostly doing WinExpert - they seem a little
> better than others. What do you think?
> DAve
>
> JB wrote:
>> OK. After a positive experience on my first two kit wines I'm ready to go
>> again. This time I'd like to get 2-3 different red wines, bottle up 2-3
>> gallons of each and then experiment with the remainder by blending with
>> some from the other(s). Some blends seem a natural - Cabernet/syrah, etc.
>>
>> Here's my question: Any recommendations on which wines to try and ratios
>> to blend? Any success stories to share?
>>
>> TIA.
>>
>> John
>>
>>

As a noob who has been trying a variety of commercial pinot noirs to
try to get a feel for what it is, I wonder does anything mix well with
pinot noir without destroying its character? I think of it as being
quite a tricky wine to pin down and can't imagine it dominating many
blends.

Jim


On Aug 31, 9:54 pm, "JB" > wrote:
> Dave,
>
> That's a good tip ---> to experiment in ounces rather than gallons. I should
> have thought of that!
>
> My primary source for wine kits stocks Ken Ridge and European Select, Bin
> 49 and Vinterra on the high end. There are other cheaper juices but I
> thought I would stick with these since the advice I'm getting here is you
> get what you pay for. Problem is, I'm not seeing cabernet franc or some
> other grapes that I typically see used in blending.
>
> Also, I appreciate the information about the Zin/Pinot. I think I'd read
> somewhere to try that but I had never seen that done before and was suspect
> of just how good it could be.
>
> John
>
> "Dave Allison" > wrote in message
>
> .. .
>
> > Well, I had a Shiraz that was kinda weak, so I put in 18% Cabernet and it
> > is a nice table wine.
> > I tried mixing Pinor Noir with Cab and it wasn't good to me.
> > Syrah is good with Cab. - I think I mixed 20% syrah to the cab.
> > Zinfandel and Pinot Noir I tried 30% Zin to the Pinot -- washed out the
> > Pinot - not good.
> > That's my experiences.
> > Have fun experimenting. Oh, and I experiment by mixing ounces, not
> > bottles, keeping track of the proportion. Like I'll have 4 glasses, each
> > with 2 ounces of one wine, then experiment by adding x ounces of another
> > wine. This saves wine. smile. DAve
> > What brand kits do you do? I"m mostly doing WinExpert - they seem a little
> > better than others. What do you think?
> > DAve
>
> > JB wrote:
> >> OK. After a positive experience on my first two kit wines I'm ready to go
> >> again. This time I'd like to get 2-3 different red wines, bottle up 2-3
> >> gallons of each and then experiment with the remainder by blending with
> >> some from the other(s). Some blends seem a natural - Cabernet/syrah, etc.
>
> >> Here's my question: Any recommendations on which wines to try and ratios
> >> to blend? Any success stories to share?
>
> >> TIA.
>
> >> John

jim wrote:

> As a noob who has been trying a variety of
> commercial pinot noirs to try to get a feel for
> what it is, I wonder does anything mix well with
> pinot noir without destroying its character? I
> think of it as being quite a tricky wine to pin
> down and can't imagine it dominating many
> blends.
>
> Jim
>
>
> On Aug 31, 9:54 pm, "JB" >
> wrote:
>> Dave,
>>
>> That's a good tip ---> to experiment in ounces
>> rather than gallons. I should have thought of
>> that!
>>
>> My primary source for wine kits stocks Ken
>> Ridge and European Select, Bin
>> 49 and Vinterra on the high end. There are
>> other cheaper juices but I thought I would
>> stick with these since the advice I'm getting
>> here is you get what you pay for. Problem is,
>> I'm not seeing cabernet franc or some other
>> grapes that I typically see used in blending.
>>
>> Also, I appreciate the information about the
>> Zin/Pinot. I think I'd read somewhere to try
>> that but I had never seen that done before and
>> was suspect of just how good it could be.
>>
>> John
>>
>> "Dave Allison" > wrote
>> in message
>>
>>
.. .
>>
>> > Well, I had a Shiraz that was kinda weak, so
>> > I put in 18% Cabernet and it is a nice table
>> > wine. I tried mixing Pinor Noir with Cab and
>> > it wasn't good to me. Syrah is good with Cab.
>> > - I think I mixed 20% syrah to the cab.
>> > Zinfandel and Pinot Noir I tried 30% Zin to
>> > the Pinot -- washed out the Pinot - not good.
>> > That's my experiences. Have fun
>> > experimenting. Oh, and I experiment by mixing
>> > ounces, not bottles, keeping track of the
>> > proportion. Like I'll have 4 glasses, each
>> > with 2 ounces of one wine, then experiment by
>> > adding x ounces of another wine. This saves
>> > wine. smile. DAve What brand kits do you do?
>> > I"m mostly doing WinExpert - they seem a
>> > little better than others. What do you think?
>> > DAve
>>
>> > JB wrote:
>> >> OK. After a positive experience on my first
>> >> two kit wines I'm ready to go again. This
>> >> time I'd like to get 2-3 different red
>> >> wines, bottle up 2-3 gallons of each and
>> >> then experiment with the remainder by
>> >> blending with some from the other(s). Some
>> >> blends seem a natural - Cabernet/syrah, etc.
>>
>> >> Here's my question: Any recommendations on
>> >> which wines to try and ratios to blend? Any
>> >> success stories to share?
>>
>> >> TIA.
>>
>> >> John

I am far from an expert on Pinot Noir having drunk
very little but most of the ones I have drunk had
very little or no oak. The ones that did have
noticeable oak, tasted like an oaked Cabernet or
oaked Merlot.

If you blend one of the other traditional barrel
aged red wines with Pinot, you will probably bash
the fruitiness of the Pinot with oak.

I have made a Cabernet Franc / Merlot blend or
just a Merlot with no oak and aged in glass and
it resembled Pinot Noir more than the
traditionally made reds that are for the most
part barrel aged.

If you like Pinot but can't get the grapes you
might try making another red and aging in glass
or stainless. You might be surprised.

All of this is experience from grapes and not kits
so your mileage may vary.