Meritage Wine Kit, Artisan

Overview

You appreciate wines that sit comfortably at the intersection of tradition and innovation, wines that respect classic structure while embracing a distinctly modern point of view. With the Meritage Wine Kit, Artisan, you step into a chapter of winemaking history that began in California in the 1980s, when winemakers set out to craft Bordeaux inspired blends that reflected their own vineyards rather than imitate another place. This Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend captures that spirit, offering you the opportunity to create a wine that feels deliberate, balanced, and confidently expressive. Crafted from premium California grapes and developed by Finer Wine Kits, this kit invites you to shape a red that feels polished, thoughtful, and unmistakably personal.

Flavor and Style
As fermentation develops, you guide a wine that reveals itself in layers. Cabernet Sauvignon provides structure and definition with dark berry, blackcurrant, and subtle herbal notes that give the wine its backbone. Merlot brings softness and integration, contributing ripe plum, dark cherry, and a smooth mid palate that rounds the edges without diminishing character. Floral aromatics lift the profile, while gentle vanilla and cocoa tones emerge as the wine matures, adding warmth and depth. The finish is dry and cohesive, offering a full bodied red wine that balances fruit, structure, and elegance with ease.

What Makes This Kit Different
This is premium home winemaking built around authenticity rather than shelf stability. You work with raw grape concentrates and real grape skins, not heat processed substitutes designed to endure room temperature storage. Each Artisan kit includes 2 lbs of real grape skins and 2 oz of grape seeds, delivering natural color, texture, and phenolic balance while preserving refinement and fruit clarity. In traditional red winemaking, fermenting with skins and seeds is essential to achieving a complete and natural mouthfeel. This approach is why wines made with Finer Wine Kits move beyond the familiar kit taste associated with shelf stable brands and instead express the depth, realism, and structure expected from wines made with fresh grapes.

A Classic Expression of Balance
Artisan wines are designed to finish at 12.5 to 13 percent alcohol, a range long regarded as the classic sweet spot for fine wine. This level preserves fruit clarity and integration while maintaining structure and length on the palate. The result is a full bodied wine that matures sooner and expresses greater fruit forwardness than higher alcohol wines, allowing balance and complexity to emerge without extended 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 varietal character. This direct to door model is essential to quality and is a defining principle behind every Finer Wine Kits product. By eliminating distributors and wholesalers, you receive top grade ingredients at peak condition without unnecessary markups.

The raw grape concentrate is vacuum evaporated at low temperatures to protect the grape’s intrinsic 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 to preserve quality.

Technical Details
• Finished alcohol: 12.5 to 13 percent ABV
• Yield: 28 to 30 bottles, 6 gallons
• Style: Full bodied red blend
• Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot
• Character: Dry
• Region: Lodi, California
• Fermentation ingredients: Raw grape concentrate, 2 lbs of real grape skins, 2 oz of grape seeds
• 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, Artisan, you create a wine that reflects balance, intention, and modern tradition. It is a composed, expressive red that honors its inspiration while allowing you to define the final result through patience, care, and a refined approach to home winemaking.

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

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