Meritage Wine Kit, Forte

Overview

You imagine a cellar where every bottle carries your fingerprint, where patience, restraint, and intention shape something lasting. With the Meritage Wine Kit, Forte, you step into that vision and claim the role of a serious home winemaker, someone drawn to classic structure and quiet confidence rather than fleeting trends. This wine reflects a mindset rooted in tradition and personal standards, inspired by the California winemakers of the 1980s who set out to reinterpret Bordeaux on their own terms. Crafted from premium California grapes and developed by Finer Wine Kits, this kit invites you to create a wine that feels composed, deliberate, and worthy of time in the glass and conversation at the table.

Flavor and Style
As fermentation unfolds, you shape a wine built on balance and authority. Cabernet Sauvignon brings dark cassis, blackberry, and graphite driven depth, while Merlot layers in plush black cherry, subtle floral notes, and a rounded texture that softens the frame without dulling its edge. Hints of vanilla and cocoa emerge naturally through structure and tannin integration, supported by savory undertones and a lingering finish. This is a dry, big bodied red wine with poise and clarity, expressive without excess, and deeply satisfying to pour for those who appreciate classic red blends done right.

What Makes This Kit Different
This is the ultimate home winemaking experience because you work with raw grape concentrates and real grape skins rather than shelf stable components designed for convenience. Your fermentation includes 4 lbs of real grape skins along with exclusive grape seed packs, a defining feature of Finer Wine Kits. In traditional red winemaking, seeds are essential to developing authentic tannin structure and phenolic depth. Fermenting with both skins and seeds builds a wine with greater texture, balance, and natural integration, fully supporting a finished alcohol level of 14 percent. These decisions are why wines made with Finer Wine Kits move beyond the familiar kit taste associated with shelf stable brands and instead deliver the depth and composure expected from wines made from fresh grapes.

Designed for Confidence and Control
You do not need years of experience to achieve a refined result, but you will gain a deeper understanding of winemaking through the process. Designed by home winemakers like you, Finer Wine Kits translate practical knowledge into a clear and purposeful system. The instructions explain not only what to do, but why each step matters, allowing you to make informed decisions and develop confidence with every stage of fermentation and aging.

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 grape integrity. This direct to door approach ensures you receive top grade ingredients at peak condition, without distributor or wholesale markups, making a premium winemaking experience accessible without compromise.

The raw grape concentrate is vacuum evaporated at low temperatures to preserve 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 the freezer, and the raw grape concentrates must be stored at 3 degrees F or colder. These storage requirements protect quality and ensure the finished wine reflects the care you put into making it.

Technical Details
• Finished alcohol: 14 percent ABV
• Yield: 28 to 30 bottles, 6 gallons
• Style: Big bodied red blend
• Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon and 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 Meritage Wine Kit, Forte, you create a wine defined by balance, structure, and intention, a reflection of your taste and the quiet confidence that comes from making something truly 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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