Cornucopia Fruit Wine Making Kit, Raspberry Merlot, 17.5 Pound

This is the second Cornucopia wine kit I have made and it came out great with some personal modification to the kit. As many reviews have stated, these kits come in pretty low on the alcohol scale, but that is how they are designed. (Think of Arbor Mist wine coolers at 6%) But of course, when you make your own wine you can do as you please and normally that means more alcohol! I added somewhere around 3 pounds of sugar (dissolved solution) to bring the chianti base up to about 11.5% ABV after fermentation was complete, and then after adding the wildberry juice pack it diluted to what I've figured is about 10%. It would have been 7%ish without the boost. This gave a little more bang for the buck so to speak... I also make sure to wait AT LEAST 10 days after starting the clearing process before bottling, to ensure everything settles out properly. This wine came out crystal clear, a nice deep red color. Taste at bottling was excellent, definitely sweet but not as sweet as their green apple wine that I've also made. Only time will tell at this point how it ages, although I don't suspect there will be any left by the end of the year because it tastes great straight out of the carboy!Pros:-Cheap!-Tastes good!-Easy! No fancy requirements to make this wine, just follow the directions.-Includes corks, labels, and shrink caps which are a nice touch. Labels are simple but look decent with this kit, some kits have some weird looking labels that are made by people who obviously try too hard.Cons:-Low alcohol content (easy fix)-Shrink caps seem to be a random color that gets tossed in with the kit. I put purple caps on these bottles but it actually came with gold caps. The purple came from a merlot kit I had made a couple months ago. It would be nice if they chose a specific color that matched the flavor somewhat like a purple or similar for this kit being "wildberry".-Labels use the water activated adhesive kinda like envelopes use. Maybe I just suck at it but I ended up with a few wrinkles after they dried. Maybe I used too much water on them...it was my first go at the labels that come in kits. (usually make my own)

I don't mind sweeter wines like a Riesling, but I don't usually go so much for fruit flavored wines like this, but this wine has changed my mind. This is a great summer sipper or party wine. Actually more of a gulper. It's so light and smooth, that you'll end up going through a bottle before you know it. So be warned...You might feel something cold on your face and you look up, and it's the floor. I'm just saying.Now for the technical stuff:I reconstituted this one to somewhere between 5 1/2 and 6 gallons. I meant to make a little less, but messed up. At that level it came out to a little less than 9% ABV, which I think is a little light. I would recommend reconstituting it closer to 5 gallons, because I believe it can handle the extra alcohol without affecting its drinkability. Ideally I'd say measure the specific gravity as you're adding the water and shoot for the middle of the suggested range. If you go this route, you'll need to add water, mix thoroughly, then measure. And you'll need to repeat that each time you add more water, until you get to the desired SG. If you don't mix it well, then your readings may not be accurate. After all steps were completed I left it in the carboy for about 2 weeks longer, then bottled and let it age for about 1 month. That was all it took, and it was ready to drink. I chill this one for about 20 minutes before drinking. I know it's a red, but this is more of a wine cocktail in my opinion and it really makes it refreshing.The Rating:The only reason I gave this a 4 instead of a 5 was due to how low the alcohol content would be if you mixed it to the full 6 gallons per the instructions. If you add a little less water though, you'll be in good shape. It also came with labels, corks and plastic heat shrink capsules for the top. Definitely worth the price and I plan to make it again...soon.

I have purchased three wine kits this past year and half. All have been terrible. Amazon should give Winexpert and Spagnols more exposure. I have done at least 75 kits from both companys and never had a complaint. The first kit I purchased from amazon was a 6 gallon pure must Cab/Sauv thinking it was a bargin. It turned out to be so watered down you couldn't beleive it was a Cab/Sauv. The next was a Raspberry Merlot kit that was so sweet that one taste was enough. The other was a Gewurztraminer, however I did put 2 lbs. of white raisins and wine conditioner in this kit that made it more palatable. These are pretty cheap products, but your time and effort are woth more than the product.

While I like a sweet wine, this was over the top. I could not reach the specific gravity as required in the instructions from the outset and further into the process. This is the first in several years of home winemaking. I may have been at fault but in retracing my steps I have not locked into the problem. I have mixed the batch with commercial wine in order to save the whole batch.