We’ve spoken about wine kits before, and let’s just say that we have mixed feelings. For us, wine kits remove quite a lot of the romance inherent in a good bottle of wine: The best wines display a real sense of place, what the French call “terroir”. Wine kits do not offer anything of the sort. For us, wines made from kits will never live up to the real thing in terms of quality and authenticity, not to mention convenience (wine kits can be notoriously messy to operate).
However, pushing our prejudices aside, there is another way to look at wine kits: Can they save you money? You’re the wine lover. You spend a certain amount of money per month on wine. Good for you. Is it possible that you could spend less by making your own wine from wine kits?
Saving money with wine kits
You can find wine kits online ranging from €20 to well over €100. The price will be influenced by the quality of the kit, and the amount of wine that you can make. At the lower end in terms of quantity, you may expect to get about ten 75cl bottles’ worth from your kit. Pay more and you might double your capacity. Shop around and you might be surprised what you find.
So in terms of pure cash savings, it looks like wine kits have the possibility to be cheaper than real bottles of wine. If cash is your sole motivator, and you view your wine as a commodity much like salt or sugar, then you should shop around and seek out the best value wine kit you can. If you’re reading this blog, though, the chances are that you don’t quite view wine that way. In fact, you’re probably something of a wine lover.
Can wine kits save money for the wine lover?
There’s actually no right or wrong answer here, as it will be subjective. It will probably come down to your budget and your own underlying sense of value. Wine kits can certainly produce cheap wine. Most wine enthusiasts don’t shop on the basis of price alone, though. The idea of value in wine might be explained as the sweet spot where the quality exceeds the price. It will vary from person to person, but it’s there. Thus wine kits may represent value for some people and not for others.
If you enjoy making wine from a kit, enjoy drinking the result, and feel that you would or could have paid more than you did, then that’s good value for you. If that’s the case, and you’ve paid less per bottle than you would have for bottled wine, then congratulations: Wine kits have just saved you money!
However, if you don’t actually enjoy getting your hands dirty, or you feel that the wine you’ve made isn’t all that great, or simply not worth the price you paid: Then the answer is no, wine kits haven’t saved you money. The world of real, bottled wine awaits you with open arms!
So, where do you fall on this? Do you have any experience using wine kits? Have you ever made your own wine, and if so do you feel that it saved you money?
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