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Our products -

Selection Original Series

Selection Original Series, the world’s first premium winemaking kit contains 100% pure varietal grape juice and varietal grape juice concentrate. This superb kit combines simplicity and consistency, to produce wine of great flavor, aroma and complexity. Selection Original series continues to break new ground in quality, reinforcing its status as the leading premium winemaking kit. 15 litres / 4 US Gallons, Yields 23 litres / 6 US Gallons. Ready to bottle in 6 weeks

Selection International Series features grapes harvested from great winemaking regions outside of North America. Like Selection Original, this premium wine kit contains 100% pure varietal grape juice and varietal grape juice concentrate, while offering varietals from the finest the world has to offer. 15 litres / 4 US Gallons, Yields 23 litres / 6 US Gallons. Ready to bottle in 6 weeks

Selection International Series

Limited Edition Series

Selection Limited Edition Series features a strictly limited number of outstanding wine kits released on an annual basis. Announced each Fall, specific wines are offered each month from January through April. These unique and intriguing wines are available only during their month of release so pre-ordering through your Authorized Winexpert retailer is highly recommended to ensure you’ll receive these sought-after winemaking kits. 16 litres / 4.2 US Gallons, Yields 23 litres / 6 US Gallons. Ready to bottle in 6 weeks

Selection Estate Series re-defined the premium wine kit landscape, by offering a very limited number of prestigious varietals and styles, sourced from exclusive vineyards in the world’s greatest winemaking regions. Blended with 100% pure varietal grape juice and varietal grape juice concentrate, with no added sugars, Selection Estate Series yields wines of exceptional flavor, aroma, and complexity. 16 litres / 4.2 US Gallons, Yields 23 litres / 6 US Gallons. Ready to bottle in 8 weeks

Selection Estate Series

Selection Spéciale Series

Selection Spéciale showcases the remarkable specialty wines. With innovations by using F-packs, the Port, Sherry and Icewine styles all offer luscious, long, rich finishes. The unique Millennium Sparkling Wine, made from a blend of 100% pure varietal grape juice and varietal grape juice concentrate, produces a wonderful balance of ripe fruit aromas and crisp flavors. 7.5 litres / 2 US Gallons, Yields 11.5 litres / 3 US Gallons. Ready to bottle in 6 weeks

Vintners Reserve, the industry’s first 28-day winemaking kit, contains 100% pure varietal grape juice and concentrate. This 7.5 litre wine kit continues to set the standard in its category by yielding wines of excellent quality, flavor and aroma. Vintners Reserve offers a wide range of varieties that allow the winemaker to experience numerous styles and tastes. 7.5 litres / 2 US Gallons, Yields 23 litres / 6 US Gallons. Ready to bottle in 4 weeks

Vintners Reserve Series

Vintners Reserve Passport Series

Vintners Reserve Passport Series is the evolution of the original Vintners Reserve, made from grapes harvested from great winemaking regions outside of North America. Like Vintners Reserve, this premium wine kit contains pure varietal grape juice and grape juice concentrate to produce high-quality wines. International content provides winemakers the opportunity to try famous varietals and styles from around the world, at an affordable price. 7.5 litres / 2 US Gallons, Yields 23 litres / 6 US Gallons. Ready to bottle in 4 weeks

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How Winexpert Wine Kits are Made.

From reading the side panels on wine kit boxes most people can figure out that Winexpert kits contain concentrate, juice and other winemaking staples like acid and sulfite. However, just how these things came together to make your kit is fascinating. For the most part, kits are made exactly like wine (75% at least) in the beginning.

To start, Winexpert contracts to purchase grapes from growers by specifying conditions at harvest (acid, pH, brix, and color) and organoleptic qualities (flavor and aroma). These specifications are very rigid, for although the grapes may change radically from harvest to harvest, the kits must maintain very high levels of consistency, so consumers can make repeat purchasing decisions. When the grapes are ripe, they are harvested and taken to a winery, where they are sulfited and crushed. At this point white and red grape processing diverges.

White grapes are pressed, and the juice is pumped into a settling tank. Enzymes are added to break down pectins and gums, which would make clearing difficult after fermentation. Bentonite is added to the juice and re-circulated. After several hours the circulation is shut off, and the tank is crash-chilled below freezing. This helps precipitate grape solids, and prevents spoilage.

Red grapes are crushed, sulfited and pumped through a chiller to a maceration tank, where special enzymes are added. These break down the cellulose membrane of the grape skins, extracting color, aroma and flavor. The tank is chilled to near freezing to prevent the must from fermenting. After two to three days the red must is pumped off, pressed and settled much the same way as the whites.

When the tank is settled, and the juice almost clear, it is roughly filtered, the sulfite is adjusted, and it is either pumped into tanker trucks for shipment to the kit facility, or into a vacuum concentrator. Vacuum concentrators work like the reverse of a pressure cooker. By lowering the pressure inside the tank, water can be made to boil at very low temperatures. By boiling the juice at low temperature, browning and caramelization are prevented. The water comes off as vapor, leaving behind concentrated grape juice. Because some aromatic compounds can be carried away in this vapor, a fractional distillation apparatus on the concentrator recovers these essences, returning them to the concentrate after processing.

The juices and concentrates are then shipped to WineExpert's facility where they are pumped into nitrogen purged tanks, tested for quality and stability, and held at very low temperatures. This both speeds up the formation of wine diamonds (crystals of potassium bitartrate from the tartaric acid naturally occurring in the wine), and preserves them until they are to be used.

After the Quality Control checks are passed, the juices and concentrates are blended into the formulations that make up the different kits in giant blending tanks. When the formulation is finally adjusted and approved the must is pumped through the pasteurizer. The pasteurizer is a type of heat exchanger that rapidly heats and then cools the must, killing yeast and spoilage organisms, but not burning or caramelizing the must. From there it goes into the bag filler which purges the sterile bags with a double flush of nitrogen, and then fills each bag to a very strict tolerance.

The bags are then automatically capped and loaded into the kit boxes that come from the box former, after which the packaged additives are placed on top. The boxes are sealed, shrink-wrapped and packed on a skid for a Quality Assurance microbiological hold.

Depending on the product, this hold can be from three days to more than a week, while the product is examined for signs of bacterial or yeast activity. If it passes, it is then shipped to the warehouse, and from there to dealers, and finally, into the hands of the winemaking customer.

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Winemaking tips - The text below is instruction on making wine from a Vintners Reserve kit. This lesson does vary from the instructions that come with the each wine kit and is meant to be an alternative method for making really great wine.

THE START:

Sanitize the fermenting bucket, lid, #2 stopper and airlock using the One Step Cleanser.

Pour about 1/2 gallon of "warm to touch" water into fermenting bucket. Sprinkle the packet labled #1, Bentonite evenly over the top of the water as not to let it clump. Swish the water and bentonite around in the bucket to mix the two together.

Remove the cap from the Wine Kit with your bag de-capper and add the varietal grape concentrate to the mixture inside the fermenting bucket.

Using "warm to touch" water from the kitchen tap, rinse the foil pouch the juice came in and pour into the bucket to get all the good remaining juice. Add additional warm water to the bucket to reach the five gallon mark on the bucket. If you are making a Selection, Selection International or Estate Series kit, the mark will be at six gallons. Stir the concentrate and the water gently until blended well.

Take the rest of the packets from your Wine Kit labeled 2,3 and 4 and set them aside. Some kits contain a small pouch labeled "F pack". We'll use that later, so set it aside also.

If your wine kit contains an oak pack, use the following procedure. If there is no oak pack, continue with next step.

Using a heat-safe container, boil about 2 cups of water and add the oak pack. Let it steep to make an "oak tea". After about 5 minutes or when the tea looks dark, pour the entire contents into the fermenting bucket and stir in gently.

Next, tear the corner from the Yeast Packet and sprinkle the contents evenly over the top of the mixture. Be sure to avoid the clumping of the yeast. Stir the yeast into the juice gently.

Snap the plastic lid on the fermenting bucket firmly. Fill your Econolock airlock half way with water, insert the airlock through the grommeted opening in the lid. Hint - Lube the grommet with warm water to make the insertion easier. Then, set the bucket someplace warm to get the juice fermenting. The fermentation process like to be about as warm as you do.

After 24 hours or less, your wine should be working, indicated by the bubbling of the gasses in the airlock.

NOTE** Selection and International Selection kits hold 15 liters of grape concentrate and Estate Series hold 16 liters of juice. Because you don't add as much warm water to the solution, it may take a little longer to start fermenting. Before I start mine, I warm the pouch of wine up a little by setting it close to a heat vent or in the sun for a couple of hours.


NEXT STEPS

Between seven and ten days, but usually on the tenth day, siphon (or rack) the wine to a clean and sanitized glass carboy using your Auto Siphon and racking hose. Insert your universal drilled stopper and airlock (filled half way with water) in the neck of the glass carboy. Empty the remaining lees or gunk from the bottom of the bucket into the toilet and flush away. Do not empty this gunk down a kitchen drain - it will plug the drain! Clean and sanitize the bucket and lid, then remove the water from the other airlock and let dry.

On the seventeenth day or when the wine stops working, you will be adding packets #2, #3 and the clearing agent #4 using the following procedure. If your kit contains an "F pack", you will be adding it in this step as well.

Begin by adding 3 or 4 oz of warm water to a drinking glass. Add packet #2 - labeled Potassium Metabisulphite, and stir into the water dissolving it. Add that mixture to the wine in your carboy. Attaching your mix-stir device to a drill. Insert the mix-stir device into the top of the carboy and proceed to stir the mixture for about a minute or so. Repeat this procedure for packet #3 - labeled Potassium Sorbate. Then shake the clearing agent (Packet #4) for a bit to get it mixed and add directly to the wine concoction. Perform the stirring steps seperatly for best results. If your kit contains an "F pack", now is the time to add it also. Shake the foil pack vigorously for a few seconds then pour the contents into the bucket. Stir slowly with your mix-stir device.

The stirring process should make the wine in the carboy foam up a bit. After stirring, insert an airlock filled half way with water into the universal stopper and set it firmly into the top of the glass carboy. Let it sit for about 5-7 days. The wine should start to clear and should ready to "polish off".

Polish the wine by racking from container to container. After three days, give the container a quick spin to knock the sediment away from the sides of the container. Wait a couple more days so it settles. Rack it again to repeat the process. This will remove more sediment and polish your wine so it’s ready to bottle. If the wine doesn't clear - do not bottle it. It will not clear once it is bottled. Contact us at the store or by E-mail for further instructions.

CORKING:

After you have racked your wine a couple times (or filtered your wine) and it is clear, it should be about thirty days. Now it’s time to bottle.

Collect the two cases of empty wine bottles and wash thoroughly. You should expect about 22 bottles from a Vintner's Reserve kit and 30 bottles from a Selection, Selection International or Estate series kit. Use a jet wash system. I use a Jet Carboy Washer that hooks up to the kitchen sink and the hottest water your tap puts out to rinse your empties. Drain the empties well so water isn’t standing in the bottom. I use a Bottle Drain Tree.

Attach your Bottle Filler to your Auto Siphon and hose. Fill the bottles to the top of the neck and lift up your filler. The result will be perfect for corking your bottles of wine!

Count your bottles so you know how many corks you will need. Choose the corks you want to use and follow instructions on the package. I would encourage you to use a larger cork (#9 x 1 3/4) and rent our Floor Corker to keep wine for an extended period of time.

Rinse the bottles off and towel dry. Add capsules to the top and labels to finish your creation.

Let stand up for 24 hours before laying down the wine. This will let the cork harden off and keep the wine from seeping out!

Try your wine after 45 days or so. If you like the flavor, start drinking your creation. If not, wait another 30 days and try it again. Most of the kits produce really great wine within 4-6 months of bottling! All wine tastes better with age. Enjoy!

Please visit our website at www.homebrewwine.com for all of the wines available, more instructions and specials we offer.



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Basic Wine Recipe: -

EQUIPMENT:

• A 7-gallon larger primary fermenting bucket
• 5-gallon carboy
• Measuring cup and spoons
• Large spoon
• Hydrometer
• Thermometer
• Bottlebrush
• Bottling bucket
• Racking cane
• Siphon hose
• Bottle filler
• 22-24 750-ml wine bottles

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