I have made quite a few reds and all of them have come out well, except the kits that I received from my friend.

Compromised kits? A friend of mine gave me quite a few wine kits. All of the white wines have come out very good, but the reds are a different story. The reds have a brownish color and no taste to them. Could they have been damaged, if stored in a hot garage or maybe just old? Is there anything I can do to the last Merlot kit to make it come out correctly? I have made quite a few reds and all of them have come out well, except the kits that I received from my friend. Jim VanSyckle Lansing, Michigan It sure does sound like your friend gave you some old wine kits. With time, especially when exacerbated by heat or light, the red pigments in red wine can change to brown. This means not only does the color look cooked, the taste and aroma components can as well or, as you found out, have nothing to them at all. I’m sure many of us have experienced the same thing when we’ve opened up an older bottle of wine