I'm interested in possibly either getting into wine making or beer
making.

It appears that wine making is easier, but you obviously have to wait
longer. The thing I like about beer is that you have an opportunity
to make something much more flavorful than what you can buy in the
store (at least better than Budweiser, Coors, etc.). With wine, I
don't see how you can really produce something better than what you
would buy in the liquor store, unless you're accustomed to drinking
Mad Dog 20/20. Of course a batch of wine should last much longer than
a batch of beer (unless you're really a sod-head). I figure that you
wouldn't even have to be making that often, to keep a nice stock of
wine.

I've read that wine needs to be stored @ around 70deg. F during
fermentation. This might be difficult. In the summertime, the inside
of our home gets up to 75 - 78 degrees. I might find closets and such
that don't typically get warmer than 73 - 75 degrees, but that's
probably about as good as it will get. Would this be a problem? If
so, is there a relatively inexpensive way to get the temp. down a few
degrees (not for the entire house, just for the fermenting wine)?

Do most folks use the small barrels for fermentation, or do most folks
just use the "bucket" that comes with most kits?

Do most equipment kits come with everything you need, or are there
major components missing that one should be aware of?

Any other thoughts/advice?