Need more wine!

Ah, the good old days, where you might see a rare wine kit now and then that was little more than a vaguely alcoholized grape drink. It's probably an exaggeration to say you only had two or three to choose from, but there wasn't a wide selection! Now, though, you've got an embarrassment of wine kit riches, and the quality of the finished product is so great you might think you've just drunk something from a large winery. But of course, with such a wealth of choice all around you, you've got a brand new dilemma: how to choose from them all!

Don't let the abundance of choices discourage you from your new winemaking enthusiasm and send you slinking back to the liquor store in resignation. Two primary criteria can help you decide among all those options. Take this one step at a time, and soon you'll have a couple of carboys fermenting happily away in your back closet.

What Do You Like?

“What do you mean, 'What do I like?' What's that got to do with anything?” That might be your first reaction, but this factor is so simple and obvious, it's easy to overlook. Your first guide to choosing a wine kit should be what kind of wine you like to drink, rather than what someone says you “ought” to make. If you already know you prefer white zinfandel or some sort of dry Italian red wine, find a wine kit manufacturer that makes such a kit. If you can't find the sort of wine you like in a manufacturer's product list, cross them off this time.

See? That list is shorter already. Of course, you can get help with this by visiting your nearest winemaking retailer. These folks have their ear to the ground, and are very good at sussing out someone's preferences and showing them the options. They can give you lots of great advice.

What Can You Afford?

Not surprisingly, this is as important a factor as the first. You might not want to commit to anything too expensive for your first try or two, until you know that wine kit making is something you really want to do. And just getting sufficient equipment to do the job properly can add to the cost as well. So price will be a consideration.

One of the main price differences in wine kits involves whether they contain concentrate, or if they have a lot of juice as well. A mostly-concentrate kit is smaller and lighter, and since it costs less to ship, it will sell for less. Kits with a lot of juice are bigger and heavier, so shipping and production costs increase the price. And there's no denying that the kits with more juice than concentrate produce a better quality wine.

But make no mistake: compared to those early attempts at home winemaking, every kit these days will produce tasty, palatable wine for you, if you follow the directions carefully. So you can decide: do you want to go with a lower price on your first try or two, or do you want to start with the very top quality kit? Either way, you will almost certainly enjoy the end result, so that takes some of the pressure off.

Have a chat with your local winemaking establishment or join a winemakers forum and ask for advice. But remember the two most important criteria when trying to decide among all the kits that are out there: make what you like, and find something in your price range. That will help narrow down the options so you can finally get busy on that kit, and enjoying the fruits – or beverages – of your efforts.