2 replies to this topic

[3rd party JKor]

So, the wife doesn't drink beer. She will drink wine, but she only drinks Pinot Grigio. I'm pretty sure she doesn't really care how it tastes. I want to do a decent, but not super crazy high end Pinot Grigio kit for her so we always have something around the house if she wants a glass. It doesn't even have to be Pinot Grigio, I guess, just a light bodied white wine in the same flavor range. I'll just tell her it's Pinot Grigio. :)I've made bunch of wine kits in the past (>10 years ago), so I get the general concept of making the kit. One thing I'm wondering about is fermentation. My fermentation skills for beer have vastly improved since my old wine kit days when I'd just hydrate the packet of dry yeast and pitch it. Should the fermentation process for wine be similar to beer? Specific pitching rates? Starters? Liquid yeast? etc.I want the kit to come out well and last a couple of years. Those are my only requirements.

[strangebrewer]

wine kits are designed to be fool proof. If you follow the instructions in the kit you'll get drinkable wine. They are already balanced for pH, TA, and the nutrient requirements of the yeast they provide with the kit. No need to worry about pitching rates, starters, and unlike beer there is more variety in dry wine yeast than there is in liquid wine yeast.With a white wine kit there isn't a whole lot of tweaking you can do to make them better. If it comes with oak dust you can always use better oak such as cubes but most white's don't come with oak. Beyond that as Guest said you get what you pay for. The more expensive kits will have more pure varietal juice and less concentrate. The large the volume of the initial kit (they all make 6 gallons in the end) the more pure juice and the less concentrate. I haven't made a kit in a while but I was really liking the RJ Spagnols wine kits. I might try sneaking something other than Pinot Grigio into her glass and make sure she likes it before you go buying a kit that produces 24-30 bottles. If she likes Pinot Grigio you might try branching out into some New Zealand Sauv Blanc's. NZ Sauv Blanc tend to be dry and crips with good acidity but they also have a bouquet of tropical flavors and aromas. If you're trying to avoid to dry then Viognier or a LIGHTLY oaked chardonnay would be my next choices. I only suggest it because I've never really found a Pinot Grigio kit I liked and even at the store, finding a good Pinot Grigio is a bit of an oxymoron to me. I just don't find them very interesting.

[George]

From your description she sounds more interested in flavored alcohol than in fine wines. As such I would reccomend Orchard Breezin Kiwi Melon Pinot Grigio. It is a low cost easy to make girly wine that is ready to drink in 4-8 weeks. I would tweak by adding 1/2 the F-Pac(Flavor Pack,(fruity syrup)) in the primary. This will decrease the sweetness and boost the ABV from around 7% to around 10%. It is a simple process of dumping all the ingredients in a primary bucket. Checking SG, temp, sprinkling supplied yeast on top and waiting 3-4 days for SG to drop to around 1.0. You then rack to glass secondary for about 10 days until fermentation is stopped. Then add the rest of the Chemicals, the F-Pac and wait about 2 more weeks for clearing. An additional rack off the sediment and additional 4 weeks of aging in glass is optional.