A wine kit is a great way to get into home brewing if you’ve never brewed before. If you’re an experienced home brewer, you may consider picking up a kit just for a quick and easy recipe (cause home brewers are home drinkers, amiright?)
I picked up a Wine Kit for a California Pinot Noir from Winexperts. Everything I needed came in the box and the instructions were easy to follow.
I posted a video on my channel about the Day 1 process and will continue to update with the recipe’s progress:
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Ingredients in your Wine Kit
This wine kit came with everything you need to make a California Pinot Noir. There was about a gallon of juice concentrate, wine yeast, oak chips, bentonite, potassium sorbate, and the fining agents chitosan and kieselsol.
On Day 1, you mix the concentrate with water and bentonite. The bentonite helps remove proteins and promotes yeast activity. Then, you sprinkle the oak chips in, take a hydrometer reading, then sprinkle the yeast on top.
After primary fermentation is done, after about fourteen days, then you can rack into a secondary fermenter and add in the potassium sorbate to help prevent oxidation while aging. Then, you add the kieselsol to help clarify the wine.
Finally, after clearing for a day, you mix in the chitosan for additional clarity. The wine ages here for a couple more weeks before you can bottle.
How Long Does Home Brewing a Wine Kit Take?
While each wine is different, this wine kit says that the finished wine may be drinkable in just four weeks.
As with any wine, however, this wine will get better with age. Drink a couple of bottles now, but save back some to drink after a couple of months, six months, or even one to two years. Make sure you store your wine properly, laying down in a cool dark place so that the cork doesn’t dry out. Corks in bottles stored upright may dry out, allowing oxygen into the bottle. Oxygen can turn your wine into vinegar.
Resources
Be sure to check out my post about what you need to get started homebrewing!