So are wines made from kits? Really no good? Absolutely! Judging by the results of the competition, kit wines are excellent, increasingly indistinguishable from commercial wines, and are winning more awards.
Kit winemaking has come a long way from the canned concentrate wines of yesteryear. Today’s kit wines are produced from high-quality concentrates or a blend of concentrates and juices sourced from world-class vineyards around the world.
Wine kit production technology has advanced significantly over the past decade, which has improved the quality of the concentrates on the market and the resulting wine.
Kit makers source grapes from vineyards around the world in the northern and southern hemispheres for a constant supply year-round. Concentrates are (must) be produced year-round, as opposed to region-specific winemaking, which occurs only once a year. Therefore, kit winemakers can make wine all year round.
But like growers and wineries, kit makers also harvest grapes based not only on sugar level, acidity, and pH, but also on physiological and sensory (organoleptic) characteristics, such as color and flavors, which must be balanced. with the chemistry of grapes. .
Once harvested, the white varietal grapes are crushed and pressed, and the juice is transferred to tanks to allow unwanted solids to settle. The juice is stabilized with sulfite, and then enzymes are added that break down the pectin and bentonite, both of which play a key role in clarifying the juice, and ultimately the wine. The juice is further stabilized at very cold temperatures, where it is then separated from the heavy deposit at the bottom of the tank and filtered. The juice must be kept cold to prevent fermentation from starting on its own.
In the case of red varietals, where color must be extracted during the juice making stage (as opposed to fermentation in winemaking), the grapes are crushed and left to macerate with the juice in a tank at low temperatures to prevent fermentation from starting instead. own. Special enzymes are added to extract color and aromas from the grape skins; this is the most critical step in the production of red juice of high organoleptic quality. When the desired quality is achieved, the grapes are pressed and the juice goes to the next stage of processing. Some grapes can be preserved to ship with kits when additional maceration is desired during winemaking.
The white or red juice is run through a concentrator to remove some of the water content and concentrate the juice. Key aromas and flavors, which may be lost during processing, are recovered and returned to the concentrate; this is the critical step that now ensures minimal loss of aromas and flavors compared to kits of yesteryear. The concentrated juice is then chill-stabilized with tartrate to speed up the precipitation of tartrates (harmless, colorless crystals) to ensure this does not happen during winemaking or while the bottles are chilling in the refrigerator.
At this point, the manufacturer decides the quality and style of the wine that the kit is intended to produce. The concentrate can be blended with other concentrates to replicate, for example, a Bordeaux-style red (typically a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot), or varietal juice added for more varietal character.
As the last step, the concentrate is pasteurized to eradicate any latent pathogens (spoilage microorganisms) and packaged for sale. The rest is in the hands of the house winemaker. It’s fun, it’s cheap and it’s Really well.