I bought a Merlot at Cosco. 2 Kits for 60 bucks. I thought at that
price it was worth the chance. Any suggestions to make sure it turns
out good. Or anything I can add.

It is a 23L kit but I am doing it at 19L right now.

Thanks.

Wonder if we bought the same. I bough 2 kits of Merlo for $50 Canadian at Sams
Club--is yours Sommelier Brand out of Missisauga Ont>?

I have one batch going in my primary right now. I figure for less than a buck a
bottle, even if it is plonk, it is still worth a buck/bottle, and that even
included corks, labels and capsules


>I bought a Merlot at Cosco. 2 Kits for 60 bucks. I thought at that
>price it was worth the chance. Any suggestions to make sure it turns
>out good. Or anything I can add.
>
>It is a 23L kit but I am doing it at 19L right now.
>

> Wonder if we bought the same. I bough 2 kits of Merlo for $50 Canadian at Sams
> Club--is yours Sommelier Brand out of Missisauga Ont>?

> >I bought a Merlot at Cosco. 2 Kits for 60 bucks. I thought at that
> >price it was worth the chance.

Keep us in the loop on these - post some thoughts after a few
weeks/months. I've been tempted to try one of these as well
but because of the general experience on red kits was going
to try their white. If it came out as half decent table wine
then why not... my relations grab half my output anyway.

Don

(Don S) wrote:

>> Wonder if we bought the same. I bough 2 kits of Merlo for $50 Canadian at Sams
>> Club--is yours Sommelier Brand out of Missisauga Ont>?
>
>> >I bought a Merlot at Cosco. 2 Kits for 60 bucks. I thought at that
>> >price it was worth the chance.
>
>Keep us in the loop on these - post some thoughts after a few
>weeks/months. I've been tempted to try one of these as well
>but because of the general experience on red kits was going
>to try their white. If it came out as half decent table wine
>then why not... my relations grab half my output anyway.
>
>Don

We've had pretty good luck with both the Opus V and the Chateau des
Terrasses kits from Costco. Can't say the same for the 2 for $60 Vino
Europa kits. Tried one white, don't remember which one, my wife uses
it for "coolers" which she says are OK when mixed with some fizzy pop
and/or fruit juice.

Ross

Will post intial thoughts in a couple of months. Everyone seems to agree the
top quality kits are "worth the extra money" and I agree with that. However,
sometimes you just want table wine as well.

I can get "free" wine kits at a grocery chain here-a points promotion related
to banking, so I like to use the points for "free" wine kits. Problem is, the
kits sold at the grocery store where I can use the points (Loblaws) are at the
low end of the scale.

So far I have 3 "free kits" on the go-- a cab sav, chardonnay and a blackberry
merlot cooler type wine. Alll are still not bottled, but considering they
cost nothing, how can I complain? I do some top end kits as well for better
quality quaffing.


>
>Keep us in the loop on these - post some thoughts after a few
>weeks/months. I've been tempted to try one of these as well
>but because of the general experience on red kits was going
>to try their white. If it came out as half decent table wine
>then why not... my relations grab half my output anyway.
>
>Don

I started my wine making with one of these Vino Europa Merlot kits. It was
my first attempt and a friend walked me through making it. The directions
are easy to follow, as long as you read them at least twice. I followed all
of the instructions and made it as 23 litres.

I gave half of it to friends and all of them thought that it was a good
wine. It turned out a little sweet, but after a month of sitting in the
bottles, it seems to be loosing some of the sweetness. There was one person
that I gave some to that does not drink reds without adding some ginger ale
to it, but thought this one was great with out adding any thing.

The second half of the kit will be ready to be bottled in about a week.

Stephen

"Don S" > wrote in message
om...
> > Wonder if we bought the same. I bough 2 kits of Merlo for $50 Canadian
at Sams
> > Club--is yours Sommelier Brand out of Missisauga Ont>?
>
> > >I bought a Merlot at Cosco. 2 Kits for 60 bucks. I thought at that
> > >price it was worth the chance.
>
> Keep us in the loop on these - post some thoughts after a few
> weeks/months. I've been tempted to try one of these as well
> but because of the general experience on red kits was going
> to try their white. If it came out as half decent table wine
> then why not... my relations grab half my output anyway.
>
> Don

I don't mind so-so 'table' red wines...At least summer is coming...sangria
season ;-)

John

>We've had pretty good luck with both the Opus V and the Chateau des
>Terrasses kits from Costco. Can't say the same for the 2 for $60 Vino
>Europa kits. Tried one white, don't remember which one, my wife uses
>it for "coolers" which she says are OK when mixed with some fizzy pop
>and/or fruit juice.
>
>Ross

> Will post intial thoughts in a couple of months. Everyone seems to agree the
> top quality kits are "worth the extra money" and I agree with that. However,
> sometimes you just want table wine as well.

I'm 50/50 on this. Half the time I think why not make a good
table wine and save $20 or $30 on the kit, the other half of
the time I think that alot of labour goes into this so why not
spend a bit extra and make each one to a higher quality.

Don

>> Will post intial thoughts in a couple of months. Everyone seems to agree
>the
>> top quality kits are "worth the extra money" and I agree with that.
>However,
>> sometimes you just want table wine as well.
>
>I'm 50/50 on this. Half the time I think why not make a good
>table wine and save $20 or $30 on the kit, the other half of
>the time I think that alot of labour goes into this so why not
>spend a bit extra and make each one to a higher quality.
>


If it was only 20 or $30 difference, I wouldn't care that much, but here are
some of the prices I have paid in the past year, all are $Canadian, all for 23
litre kits:

Sam's Club $25
Loblaws $43
Vin Bon $45 (Juice-terrible results)
Local Wine Store $50/$70/90 depending on quality
Cellarcraft $80
Limited Editions $109


so with prices ranging from 25 to 109, there's quite a range. I like the
premium ones, but for a low price, some cheap table wine is always on hand.

"Rob M" > wrote in message
om...
> I bought a Merlot at Cosco. 2 Kits for 60 bucks. I thought at that
> price it was worth the chance. Any suggestions to make sure it turns
> out good. Or anything I can add.
>
> It is a 23L kit but I am doing it at 19L right now.
>
> Thanks.

All,

I've heard of these kits from the large warehouse stores before, and have
been curious to see how they compare to country wines, meads, and kit wines
from the major brands (Brew King, RJS, etc).

Would someone be willing to post the manufacturers and names of a few of
these kits, please?
My local Costco does not carry any wine kits, nor do any of the other three
closest to my home, and I was told by an employee at their customer service
desk that they could be ordered if only I could help them identify what to
order, as searches for 'wine kit' and other likely searches didn't reveal
any products.

I've captured some information from this thread, but would like some
confirmation on whether these are brand names, product names, or product
lines:

Sam's Club:
Sommelier Brand

Costco:
Opus V
Chateau des Terrasses
Vino Europa

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

--
Cheers,
Ken

I am the person who bought the Sommelier Select.. The price is just under $50
Canadian (about US$37.50 for 2 kits of Merlot, and obviously at that price I am
not expecting much. I mean for under 19 bucks (for each kit) US I got 7kg of
concentrate (ie 23 litres of wine as the result) , 30 corks, 30 decent labels,
30 capsules, the usual yeast, sorbate and clearing agents (in this case Silaca
Gel (that's a new one on me) and Gelatin. Standard instructions in French and
English, and while it calls it a 28 day kit, the instructions go to day 42, so
must be a strange way of counting 28 days! The instructions are different that
any other kit I have purchased, as I know some "Store Brands" I bought in the
past were really Spagnol products rebranded (ie same instruction sheets were
attached.)

Now I have never heard of Sommelier Select, but it is packed for Sommelier
Select Ltd/Ltee of 2479 Haines Rd, Mississauga, Ont L4Y 1Y7. I can find no web
site (or even phone #) for them. Mississauga is part of the greater Toronto
area, and the Sams Club I bought it at is also part of the Greater Toronto area
(GTA). Sam's are pretty new up here, and they said they would buy products for
the local stores of interest to whatever ethnic groups live nearby. I happen to
live in an area with a large Italian population. There are at least 4 wineries
and numberous home wine making stores, juice/must distribution places etc all
within 10km of my house, so they are correct--a lot of people here like to make
their own wine whether from grapes, juice, kits or whatever.

The writeup on the side of the kit is pure hyperbole, but I will quote a little
of it he
---
Sommelier Select is a family operated business since 1966. The direct
ownership of wineries enable us to harvest premium grapes, process the must
under meticulous care and produce optimum concentrates....juices and
concetrates have been carefully selected, stabilized and filtered etc and they
even go as far to say they have searched world's greates vineyareds to bring
this product to you etc. The corks even have their name emblazoned on them.
_____

Right now my first kit is in secondary fermentation, so.....time will tell, but
I don't see much difference so far in paying 25 bucks Canadian for this kit, vs
the usual 50 bucks for kits of similar quality, and they don't usually throw in
labels, corks etc. I make top end kits too, but I thought what the heck, why
not try this just to see how good or bad it could be.



>Would someone be willing to post the manufacturers and names of a few of
>these kits, please?
>My local Costco does not carry any wine kits, nor do any of the other three
>closest to my home, and I was told by an employee at their customer service
>desk that they could be ordered if only I could help them identify what to
>order, as searches for 'wine kit' and other likely searches didn't reveal
>any products.
>
>I've captured some information from this thread, but would like some
>confirmation on whether these are brand names, product names, or product
>lines:

It's those damn US-Canada(metric) conversions I mentioned in an earlier
thread. I think 28-days US is 42-days for us Canadians...... LOL! Just
kidding!


"Insprucegrove" > wrote in message
...
> Standard instructions in French and
> English, and while it calls it a 28 day kit, the instructions go to day
42, so
> must be a strange way of counting 28 days!

You said you had captured information from the thread but keep Ross'
posting in mind:

"We've had pretty good luck with both the Opus V and the Chateau des
Terrasses kits from Costco. Can't say the same for the 2 for $60 Vino
Europa kits. Tried one white, don't remember which one, my wife uses
it for "coolers" which she says are OK when mixed with some fizzy pop
and/or fruit juice."

Don


>
> I've heard of these kits from the large warehouse stores before, and have
> been curious to see how they compare to country wines, meads, and kit wines
> from the major brands (Brew King, RJS, etc).
>
> Would someone be willing to post the manufacturers and names of a few of
> these kits, please?
> My local Costco does not carry any wine kits, nor do any of the other three
> closest to my home, and I was told by an employee at their customer service
> desk that they could be ordered if only I could help them identify what to
> order, as searches for 'wine kit' and other likely searches didn't reveal
> any products.
>
> I've captured some information from this thread, but would like some
> confirmation on whether these are brand names, product names, or product
> lines:
>
> Sam's Club:
> Sommelier Brand
>
> Costco:
> Opus V
> Chateau des Terrasses
> Vino Europa
>
> Thanks in advance for any assistance!

In article >,
Daniel_B > wrote:
>It's those damn US-Canada(metric) conversions I mentioned in an earlier
>thread. I think 28-days US is 42-days for us Canadians...... LOL! Just
>kidding!

Time is money, and that *is* about what the currency conversion does

hawk
--
Richard E. Hawkins, Asst. Prof. of Economics /"\ ASCII ribbon campaign
111 Hiller (814) 375-4846 \ / against HTML mail
These opinions will not be those of X and postings.
Penn State until it pays my retainer. / \

Hi,
the address 2479 haines road belongs to Piazza Grape Juice company in
Mississauga, On..

"Insprucegrove" > wrote in message
...
> I am the person who bought the Sommelier Select.. The price is just under
$50
> Canadian (about US$37.50 for 2 kits of Merlot, and obviously at that price
I am
> not expecting much. I mean for under 19 bucks (for each kit) US I got
7kg of
> concentrate (ie 23 litres of wine as the result) , 30 corks, 30 decent
labels,
> 30 capsules, the usual yeast, sorbate and clearing agents (in this case
Silaca
> Gel (that's a new one on me) and Gelatin. Standard instructions in French
and
> English, and while it calls it a 28 day kit, the instructions go to day
42, so
> must be a strange way of counting 28 days! The instructions are different
that
> any other kit I have purchased, as I know some "Store Brands" I bought in
the
> past were really Spagnol products rebranded (ie same instruction sheets
were
> attached.)
>
> Now I have never heard of Sommelier Select, but it is packed for Sommelier
> Select Ltd/Ltee of 2479 Haines Rd, Mississauga, Ont L4Y 1Y7. I can find no
web
> site (or even phone #) for them. Mississauga is part of the greater
Toronto
> area, and the Sams Club I bought it at is also part of the Greater Toronto
area
> (GTA). Sam's are pretty new up here, and they said they would buy
products for
> the local stores of interest to whatever ethnic groups live nearby. I
happen to
> live in an area with a large Italian population. There are at least 4
wineries
> and numberous home wine making stores, juice/must distribution places etc
all
> within 10km of my house, so they are correct--a lot of people here like to
make
> their own wine whether from grapes, juice, kits or whatever.
>
> The writeup on the side of the kit is pure hyperbole, but I will quote a
little
> of it he
> ---
> Sommelier Select is a family operated business since 1966. The direct
> ownership of wineries enable us to harvest premium grapes, process the
must
> under meticulous care and produce optimum concentrates....juices and
> concetrates have been carefully selected, stabilized and filtered etc and
they
> even go as far to say they have searched world's greates vineyareds to
bring
> this product to you etc. The corks even have their name emblazoned on
them.
> _____
>
> Right now my first kit is in secondary fermentation, so.....time will
tell, but
> I don't see much difference so far in paying 25 bucks Canadian for this
kit, vs
> the usual 50 bucks for kits of similar quality, and they don't usually
throw in
> labels, corks etc. I make top end kits too, but I thought what the heck,
why
> not try this just to see how good or bad it could be.
>
>
>
> >Would someone be willing to post the manufacturers and names of a few of
> >these kits, please?
> >My local Costco does not carry any wine kits, nor do any of the other
three
> >closest to my home, and I was told by an employee at their customer
service
> >desk that they could be ordered if only I could help them identify what
to
> >order, as searches for 'wine kit' and other likely searches didn't reveal
> >any products.
> >
> >I've captured some information from this thread, but would like some
> >confirmation on whether these are brand names, product names, or product
> >lines:
>
>

My thanks to Insprucegrove and the other respondents to my query.

[snip]
> I make top end kits too, but I thought what the heck, why
> not try this just to see how good or bad it could be.

I've also only made kits from some of the more expensive product lines. To
date I've been reasonably happy with them, but having heard about Costco
carrying wine kits my curiosity was piqued and I thought I'd like to give
them a try if I could find them on the shelves or have them ordered.


--
Cheers,
Ken



"Insprucegrove" > wrote in message
...
> I am the person who bought the Sommelier Select.. The price is just under
$50
> Canadian (about US$37.50 for 2 kits of Merlot, and obviously at that price
I am
> not expecting much. I mean for under 19 bucks (for each kit) US I got
7kg of
> concentrate (ie 23 litres of wine as the result) , 30 corks, 30 decent
labels,
> 30 capsules, the usual yeast, sorbate and clearing agents (in this case
Silaca
> Gel (that's a new one on me) and Gelatin. Standard instructions in French
and
> English, and while it calls it a 28 day kit, the instructions go to day
42, so
> must be a strange way of counting 28 days! The instructions are different
that
> any other kit I have purchased, as I know some "Store Brands" I bought in
the
> past were really Spagnol products rebranded (ie same instruction sheets
were
> attached.)
>
> Now I have never heard of Sommelier Select, but it is packed for Sommelier
> Select Ltd/Ltee of 2479 Haines Rd, Mississauga, Ont L4Y 1Y7. I can find no
web
> site (or even phone #) for them. Mississauga is part of the greater
Toronto
> area, and the Sams Club I bought it at is also part of the Greater Toronto
area
> (GTA). Sam's are pretty new up here, and they said they would buy
products for
> the local stores of interest to whatever ethnic groups live nearby. I
happen to
> live in an area with a large Italian population. There are at least 4
wineries
> and numberous home wine making stores, juice/must distribution places etc
all
> within 10km of my house, so they are correct--a lot of people here like to
make
> their own wine whether from grapes, juice, kits or whatever.
>
> The writeup on the side of the kit is pure hyperbole, but I will quote a
little
> of it he
> ---
> Sommelier Select is a family operated business since 1966. The direct
> ownership of wineries enable us to harvest premium grapes, process the
must
> under meticulous care and produce optimum concentrates....juices and
> concetrates have been carefully selected, stabilized and filtered etc and
they
> even go as far to say they have searched world's greates vineyareds to
bring
> this product to you etc. The corks even have their name emblazoned on
them.
> _____
>
> Right now my first kit is in secondary fermentation, so.....time will
tell, but
> I don't see much difference so far in paying 25 bucks Canadian for this
kit, vs
> the usual 50 bucks for kits of similar quality, and they don't usually
throw in
> labels, corks etc. I make top end kits too, but I thought what the heck,
why
> not try this just to see how good or bad it could be.
>
>
>
> >Would someone be willing to post the manufacturers and names of a few of
> >these kits, please?
> >My local Costco does not carry any wine kits, nor do any of the other
three
> >closest to my home, and I was told by an employee at their customer
service
> >desk that they could be ordered if only I could help them identify what
to
> >order, as searches for 'wine kit' and other likely searches didn't reveal
> >any products.
> >
> >I've captured some information from this thread, but would like some
> >confirmation on whether these are brand names, product names, or product
> >lines:
>
>

Well, I bottled the two Cosco Merlot's yesterday.

First thoughts are this(And you can take with a grain of salt as I am
not usually a wine drinker but a beer swiller): I cannot imagaine
having this wine done with 23 liters (As Monty Python would say it
would be like making love in a canoe).

It was OK and has not aged at all. Not significantly different than
the similar kits from WineKitz or Spagnols at 50 to 60 Canadian. It
certainly tastes like a reasonable Red table wine. I would assume
with some proper aging it will turn out good, if it lasts that long.

Even at 19Litres the SG was 1092 so I am sure with more water it would
have been a fairly week wine. For 30 bucks CND and you get Oak,
labels, shrink wrap and corks, it seems worth while.

I also bottled a Cellar Craft yesterday that I fermented on the skins.
Will post a question re that on a different post.

i've made the costco white wine before, it is now been aging close to 6
months... the first couple of months it was good but had a bit of an
aftertaste, but it smoothed out considerably with aging and i actually quite
a nice wine, especially for a general table wine to have with meals. the
one thing i might add is that the instructions have some mistakes (or
questionable methods) such as taking the wine from the secondary and putting
it back into the primary and degassing it over a number of days, which is
far too long to have the wine exposed to oxygen... best bet is to add the
suphite and other additives that come with it and rack it to a clean carboy
and let it sit and degas on its own... if any other questions in regards to
the white, feel free to ask I have the red batch on the go now and will
let everyone know how it turns out in another couple months

"Don S" > wrote in message
om...
> > Wonder if we bought the same. I bough 2 kits of Merlo for $50 Canadian
at Sams
> > Club--is yours Sommelier Brand out of Missisauga Ont>?
>
> > >I bought a Merlot at Cosco. 2 Kits for 60 bucks. I thought at that
> > >price it was worth the chance.
>
> Keep us in the loop on these - post some thoughts after a few
> weeks/months. I've been tempted to try one of these as well
> but because of the general experience on red kits was going
> to try their white. If it came out as half decent table wine
> then why not... my relations grab half my output anyway.
>
> Don