Hi all, this is my first post here. I got a winemaking equipment kit for
Christmas, but the White Zin. ingredient kit I got came without the
instructions, yeast, and all of the clarifiers. So, a few days after Xmas,
I went to the store and bought myself a WineArt Sauvignon Blanc kit.

The box was dusty, but I didn't pay much attention to it, it was cheap and I
wanted to make my first wine. I open it up, and pour the juice into my
bucket, and notice that it's a little dark, and smells a bit sour, but I
figure it must be normal. When I go to pitch the yeast, it has an
expiration date of March 2004. I found this a little odd, and went and
scoured the box. It was then that I noticed that the box had an expiration
date of May 2003.

After racking to the a glass carboy a week later, I noticed that the color
is a dark brown. I proceeded as normal to see if it would clear out, but
nothing has happened. I racked again last week and added all the
clarifiers, and I still have a dark brown wine. It smells a bit funky, and
tastes like wine, but not SB. It's clearing, but it's very very dark.

So, am I screwed? Is this batch bad? I know what SB looks like, and this
isn't it. I'm just trying to figure out if I should bottle and try it later
on, or if I should just save the time and dump it. In contrast, I started a
Vino del Vida Riesling about a week later, and the color was very light
right from the start.

Any help I could get would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Keith

Hi there

I had this happen to me only I had bought the kits and didn't make then up
for 3 years. I checked with my local wine store and they suggested adding
new yeast but other that it should be ok. Oh yes, he also told me that the
white kit would be darker than is usual.

Red was Australian Shiraz and the White was Australian Chardonnay Semillon.
They were the cheap 4 week type kits bought at Safeway. I made them up as I
thought 'what have I got to lose?' other that a pkg of yeast and a little
time. They both turned out excellent and seemed to be ready to drink sooner
that I expected. Maybe that was my imagination or wishful thinking. We are
usually anxious to taste our wine asap! Hope yours come out as good!

Bye for now

Frances

Keith wrote:
> Hi all, this is my first post here. I got a winemaking equipment kit for
> Christmas, but the White Zin. ingredient kit I got came without the
> instructions, yeast, and all of the clarifiers. So, a few days after Xmas,
> I went to the store and bought myself a WineArt Sauvignon Blanc kit.
>
> The box was dusty, but I didn't pay much attention to it, it was cheap and I
> wanted to make my first wine. I open it up, and pour the juice into my
> bucket, and notice that it's a little dark, and smells a bit sour, but I
> figure it must be normal. When I go to pitch the yeast, it has an
> expiration date of March 2004. I found this a little odd, and went and
> scoured the box. It was then that I noticed that the box had an expiration
> date of May 2003.
>
> After racking to the a glass carboy a week later, I noticed that the color
> is a dark brown. I proceeded as normal to see if it would clear out, but
> nothing has happened. I racked again last week and added all the
> clarifiers, and I still have a dark brown wine. It smells a bit funky, and
> tastes like wine, but not SB. It's clearing, but it's very very dark.
>
> So, am I screwed? Is this batch bad? I know what SB looks like, and this
> isn't it. I'm just trying to figure out if I should bottle and try it later
> on, or if I should just save the time and dump it. In contrast, I started a
> Vino del Vida Riesling about a week later, and the color was very light
> right from the start.
>
> Any help I could get would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
>
> Keith

Kits have expiry dates because the concentrate will slowly oxidize over
time. Yours is way past the date, so basically, you've got an oxidized
kit that's past salvaging, based on your description. The normal
procedure is to return the kit to where you bought it and they should
replace it with a good one - they shouldn't have sold it to you in the
first place. if they give you waves, then just contact the kit
manufacturer and they'll send you a new one. And switch your provider.

I had white kits in the past that with darker colour than I'm normally
used to with fresh juice. But this was still in the yellow range, the
date was still before expiry, and the kits turned okay. Brown colour is
bad, period.

Pp

Thank you for yoru help. I have officially dumped it down the sink.
Luckily, Winexpert mailed me the missing ingredients from my White Zin kit,
and I recieved them today. I got that wine up and running tonight, and
everything seemed very good.

Keith

"pp" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Keith wrote:
>> Hi all, this is my first post here. I got a winemaking equipment kit for
>> Christmas, but the White Zin. ingredient kit I got came without the
>> instructions, yeast, and all of the clarifiers. So, a few days after
>> Xmas,
>> I went to the store and bought myself a WineArt Sauvignon Blanc kit.
>>
>> The box was dusty, but I didn't pay much attention to it, it was cheap
>> and I
>> wanted to make my first wine. I open it up, and pour the juice into my
>> bucket, and notice that it's a little dark, and smells a bit sour, but I
>> figure it must be normal. When I go to pitch the yeast, it has an
>> expiration date of March 2004. I found this a little odd, and went and
>> scoured the box. It was then that I noticed that the box had an
>> expiration
>> date of May 2003.
>>
>> After racking to the a glass carboy a week later, I noticed that the
>> color
>> is a dark brown. I proceeded as normal to see if it would clear out, but
>> nothing has happened. I racked again last week and added all the
>> clarifiers, and I still have a dark brown wine. It smells a bit funky,
>> and
>> tastes like wine, but not SB. It's clearing, but it's very very dark.
>>
>> So, am I screwed? Is this batch bad? I know what SB looks like, and
>> this
>> isn't it. I'm just trying to figure out if I should bottle and try it
>> later
>> on, or if I should just save the time and dump it. In contrast, I
>> started a
>> Vino del Vida Riesling about a week later, and the color was very light
>> right from the start.
>>
>> Any help I could get would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
>>
>> Keith
>
> Kits have expiry dates because the concentrate will slowly oxidize over
> time. Yours is way past the date, so basically, you've got an oxidized
> kit that's past salvaging, based on your description. The normal
> procedure is to return the kit to where you bought it and they should
> replace it with a good one - they shouldn't have sold it to you in the
> first place. if they give you waves, then just contact the kit
> manufacturer and they'll send you a new one. And switch your provider.
>
> I had white kits in the past that with darker colour than I'm normally
> used to with fresh juice. But this was still in the yellow range, the
> date was still before expiry, and the kits turned okay. Brown colour is
> bad, period.
>
> Pp
>