There are regions of America that are well known for their wines, like California and Oregon. However, when most people think of wine, they think of Europe. If you want to try your hand at making a few of your favorite kinds of European wine, how can you go about getting the ingredients that you need? Short of dropping everything to go work in a winery in France, your best option is to try using wine ingredient kits. Whether you’ve grown tired of only using the grapes you grow out back, or you’ve only made more common ingredient kit types, like Merlot or Sauvignon Blanc, uncommon varietals can really help you mix things up.
Grand Cru makes some excellent, unique European varietal winemaking ingredient kits. If you’re in the mood for red, their Malbec kit is just the thing you need. Malbec is a medium-bodied red wine with a somewhat fruity flavor reminiscent of currants, ripe plums, red berries and cherries. Grand Cru’s Malbec is rustic and rich-textured, with fine, silky tannins. The Malbec grape is native to the southwestern region of France, and is one of the six kinds of grapes typically found in Bordeaux wine. This varietal is also highly popular in the South American country of Argentina, which is becoming more and more renowned for producing excellent wines, especially their Malbecs. The kit comes with everything you need to produce six gallons of luscious Malbec, including 10 liters of grape juice and concentrate, all of the necessary additives, premium European and American Oak to help balance and add character to the wine, and detailed, user-friendly instructions. A solo glass of this Malbec will warm you up on a chilly evening, but it also pairs well with many edibles, including sharp cheeses, red meats, and spicy foods.
What if a white wine is more your speed? Grand Cru’s Gewurztraminer wine ingredient kit will be the perfect fit for you. Like the Malbec kit, this is a 10 liter kit that comes with juice, concentrate, oak, additives, and a helpful set of instructions. Unlike the Malbec kit, this kit produces a spicy, fragrant white wine that becomes particularly distinctive with age. Gewurztraminer will really wake up your taste buds and prove that white wine can be as exciting as any red. This variety of grapes grows best along the Rhine in the southern part of the Alsatian region of France, though it can be found in other European countries, New Zealand, southern Chile and even parts of North America. Gewurztraminer is often said to exhibit a rather strong bouquet of lychees, which is due, in part, to the fact that this variety of grape shares the same aroma compounds as lychee fruit. Not surprisingly, it pairs just as well with Asian food as with the Munster cheese of its Alsatian home.
There’s yet one more benefit to using either of these Grand Cru wine ingredient kits—they’re easy to work with! The kits take only four weeks (twenty-eight days) to make, and eliminate a lot of the extra effort involved in making wine from grapes straight off the vine. Plus, even though they’re ready to drink in one month’s time, they can also be left to age with great results. Ultimately, while there’s nothing wrong with enjoying yet another batch of Pinot, taking a chance and branching out into other wine varieties can breathe new life back into your home winemaking.
