Sangiovese Merlot Wine Kit, Forte

Overview

You are drawn to wines with history, character, and a sense of place, wines that feel alive rather than manufactured. With the Sangiovese Merlot Wine Kit, Forte, you step into a tradition rooted in central Italy and reinterpret it through your own hands. This is for the winemaker who values authenticity and wants to create something that feels personal, expressive, and worthy of being shared at the table. You are not chasing novelty, you are pursuing depth, balance, and the quiet satisfaction that comes from crafting a wine that reflects your taste and your standards. Crafted from premium California grapes and developed by Finer Wine Kits, this kit invites you to bring an Old World inspired red to life in your own home.

Flavor and Style
As fermentation unfolds under your guidance, this wine reveals a profile that is vibrant yet grounded. Bright cherry and ripe strawberry lead the way, hallmarks of Sangiovese that give the wine its energy and lift. These fruit notes are supported by Merlot’s softer side, adding subtle earth, dried herbs, and a gentle roundness that fills out the palate. As the wine matures, hints of leather, cocoa, and savory spice emerge, creating a layered and engaging finish. The result is a dry, big bodied red wine with freshness, structure, and an unmistakably food friendly character that rewards patience and thoughtful winemaking.

What Makes This Kit Different
This is the ultimate home winemaking experience because you work with raw grape concentrates and real grape skins, not shelf stable substitutes engineered for storage rather than flavor. Your fermentation includes 4 lbs of real grape skins along with exclusive grape seed packs, a feature unique to Finer Wine Kits. In traditional red winemaking, seeds are essential for building authentic tannin structure and phenolic balance. Fermenting with both skins and seeds produces a wine with greater texture, natural grip, and structural integrity, allowing it to carry a finished alcohol level of 14 percent with poise. These choices are exactly why wines made this way move beyond the familiar kit taste found in shelf stable brands and instead resemble wines made from fresh grapes in both balance and depth.

Designed for Confidence and Understanding
You do not need to arrive as an expert, but you will leave this process with a deeper understanding of the craft. Developed by home winemakers like you, this kit reflects years of hands on experience refined into a clear and dependable process. The instructions explain not only what to do, but why each decision matters, helping you build confidence rather than simply follow steps. This approach makes the journey just as rewarding as the finished wine, whether this is your first serious red or a continuation of your winemaking evolution.

Cold Stored, Direct to Your Door
This kit is a true agricultural product and cannot sit on a shelf. Because of its perishable nature, it is stored cold and shipped directly from freezer storage to your door, preserving freshness, aroma, and varietal character. This direct to door model is the only way a wine kit of this quality can exist. By avoiding distributors and wholesalers, you receive top grade ingredients at peak condition without unnecessary markups, ensuring exceptional value for a genuinely premium product.

The raw grape concentrate is vacuum evaporated at low temperatures to preserve the grape’s natural character and avoid the cooked flavors common in shelf stable kits. If you are not ready to begin immediately, the grape skins must be stored in your freezer, and the raw grape concentrates must be stored at 3 degrees F or colder. This strict cold storage protects quality and ensures the finished wine delivers clarity, balance, and authenticity.

Technical Details
• Finished alcohol: 14 percent ABV
• Yield: 28 to 30 bottles, 6 gallons
• Style: Big bodied red blend
• Varietals: Sangiovese dominant Merlot
• Character: Dry
• Region: Lodi, California
• Fermentation ingredients: Raw grape concentrate, 4 lbs of real grape skins, grape seed packs
• Storage requirements: Grape skins must be stored in the freezer, raw grape concentrates must be stored at 3 degrees F or colder
• Important notice: This kit is an agricultural product and must be fermented or cooked before being consumed

With the Sangiovese Merlot Wine Kit, Forte, you are not chasing an imitation of Italian wine. You are creating a thoughtful, expressive red that reflects your respect for tradition, your curiosity as a winemaker, and your desire to make wine that feels honest, balanced, and entirely your own.

 Watch the video tutorials for additional instruction. You can view and download the complete instruction booklet here. Advanced users can now also download an abbreviated version of the instructions here.

*This kit is an agricultural product and must be fermented or cooked before being consumed.

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