Youngs Definitive Range

[davekermito]

I've done one of the YDR Cab Sauv as my first ever attempt at wine, but drank it that early I'm not sure if they ever mature to anything any good.

Anyway... In my local Wilkos they were selling dented cans on the very same kit for the credit crunch busting price of £3 a kit. So naturally I bought the whole stock (4 cans)!

Has anyone actually left one of these to age and if so, were they any good? If not, I've got a cheap 'topping up wine' or concentrate to use in other recipes.

[Richard S]

At £3 a kit they are worth buying just for using as concentrate for other recipies. They don't make very good wine and after a month or 2, the wine is as good as it is going to get. Great buy for £3 each, well done!

[darrel]

At 1 week maturity it tastes like mouthwash (Wifes terminology not mine), but after leaving it for 1 month it became drinkable. 2 months improved to as good as it was going to get. Not great, but for the price was certainly drinkable.

[ms67]

At £3 a kit they are worth buying just for using as concentrate for other recipies. They don't make very good wine and after a month or 2, the wine is as good as it is going to get. Great buy for £3 each, well done!

does this apply to the fruit wines (eg blackcherry) as well Richard? if so perhaps i should be bottling and drinking mine now?

[NorthernWiner]

We have a similar product over here in the states called Alexanders. As Richard mentioned, they make a great base for fruit wines. In the spring I sometimes make "summer wines" by adding crushed fruit to the reconstituted concentrate, fermenting, and then back sweetening. These wines mature quickly, and decline quickly, too. They're not much good after about a year.

[ms67]

brilliant, cheers, it will soon be time to bottle and drink my blackcherry kit.

Perhaps we could have a thread that informs which kits decline quickly, or get no better with aging, and which improve with time. surely its not as simple as manufacturers/ranges as ingredients come into it too? For example is a definitive elderberry going to decline quickly and be at its best before its a year old? (no idea if youngs do a definitive elderberry kit, just a hopefully illustrative example)