Full disclosure – this kit was sent to me – It comes from Andrew Peller Ltd. I don’t think I had given much thought to how far being a large company in the wine business can reach. So I was surprised to find out that one branch of the company has created a home winemaking kit. But this isn’t the bulky, expensive, home venture that requires many glass carboys, kits with juice, and ingredients. The “DIY My Wine co.” kit comes with everything that you need to make 4 litres of wine from the comfort of your home. So I thought it would be fun to give this a try.
I have been hesitant to write about home winemaking. I’m not opposed to home winemaking – but as I previously stated – it does take a few dollars to get invested and set up to make wine at home. Second, having spent a lot of time over the past ten years with many winemakers – they have a lot of knowledge and are constantly learning. I would feel like I was faking it without any base knowledge. Third, it takes up a lot of space – I live in a modest two bedroom apartment in midtown Toronto. The existing collection of wine that I have takes up a lot of space already. I don’t have room for carboys and winemaking equipment, Fourth, I don’t think I’ve ever had a great experience with homemade wines. Let me tip my hat to the many Italian, and Portuguese families that follow the fall ritual of making wine at a designated family members home – I have heard from many Italian, and Portuguese co-workers talk about how great their family wine is – but none have given me a bottle to sample – so I remain skeptical.
Now that being said. This kit addresses most of the concerns I raised above. When you unpack the box it comes with two plastic bags to use during the winemaking process. Pre-measured additions to make the wine. The DIY My Wine Co. kit is sold through amazon.ca – you have a choice of either Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Grigio kits. I knew unpacking this kit what I was going to make would not be as fine as the great wines in Niagara. But for just under thirty dollars you end up with 5 bottles of wine. I opted for the Pinot Grigio kit – as I didn’t really want to muck around with oak flavouring – I realize that making wine in a plastic bag in my home, I’m not likely to end up with the finest wine on the planet – but my hope was to make something drinkable.
First, you need to read the instructions carefully! I thought I had read the instructions carefully, but messed up on the first step (and I did end up replacing my kit so that I could write this blog post). But the juice in the kit arrives as a concentrate, and you need to add water. When you add the yeast to the bag, it doesn’t take long for it to start bubbling. The whole process takes about three weeks from start to finish. If I had to make one criticism of the kit – I wish there was an explanation of why you are adding certain things at the stages of winemaking. There could be a bit more education along with the kit instead of just dumping ingredients in a bag.
At the end of three weeks – I loaded my wine in the box. I ended up with some very drinkable Pinot Grigio that lasted for a few weeks in my fridge. As I predicted, this certainly wasn’t the greater Pinot Grigio on the planet – BUT, it was something perfectly drinkable. I did enjoy the process, and there is something satisfying about watching the wine ferment, and then clarify. I enjoyed the process so much that I ordered another kit as a gift for my sister-in-law. She enjoyed sending me photos of the whole process while it was being made (also asking me if it was ready to drink yet).
You can check out the Pinot Grigio kit here
You can check out the Cabernet Sauvignon kit here
