Just wanted to give a big thanks to everyone in the group. All your tips
and tricks have been very useful on my first batch of wine. Although I have
been a relatively silent user of the NG so far, I hope to soon swap some
stories with the rest of the users.

My first batch, was made from a wine Kit. A Shiraz kit. It smells
heavenly, although the taste at bottling was a still a bit dry for my taste.
I am told that some aging will bring the taste to match more closely to the
smell. Here's hoping.

Overall, it went quite smoothly, and I can't wait for a few months to pass
to try the first bottle. And now, get working on the next batch! Any
suggestions for the next batch? I would love to eventually move away from
the kits and get into more of the actual winemaking. The kits seem to
pre-packaged, and are pretty close to idiot-proof. But I have found it to
be a great way to get my feet wet for now.

Keep up the great posts with all your fabulous advice, and hopefully we can
swap some more wine stories soon!.

Mike.