Bordeaux-Style Wine Kit, Forte

Overview

You have reached the point where drinking wine is no longer enough. You want to understand it, shape it, and ultimately put your name behind something that reflects restraint, depth, and quiet confidence. The Bordeaux-Style Wine Kit, Forte invites you into that role. This is a wine for someone who appreciates tradition but is not intimidated by it, someone who values balance, structure, and longevity over flash. Crafted from premium California grapes, this classic blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petite Sirah allows you to create a wine that feels composed and deliberate, the kind of bottle that signals discernment before the first sip is taken. Developed by Finer Wine Kits, this kit brings the discipline and elegance of a Bordeaux inspired red into your home, where you control every decision that defines the final result.

Flavor and Style
As fermentation unfolds, you guide a wine built on structure and layered complexity. Aromas of black currant, dark plum, and ripe blackberry form the backbone, led by Cabernet Sauvignon’s commanding presence. Merlot softens the profile with round texture and subtle red fruit, while Petite Sirah deepens the color and adds weight, tannin, and dark spice. Hints of espresso, cocoa, and vanilla emerge as the wine settles, supported by herbal notes and a quiet earthiness that give the wine its classic character. The palate is full bodied and dry, with firm structure, integrated acidity, and a long, composed finish that rewards patience and confidence.

What Makes This Kit Different
This wine is built differently from the start. You work with raw grape concentrates and real grape skins rather than shelf stable substitutes engineered for storage instead of 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 to developing authentic tannin structure and phenolic balance. Fermenting with both skins and seeds creates depth, grip, and a natural framework that supports a finished alcohol level of 14 percent without harshness. These choices are the reason wines made with Finer Wine Kits move beyond the simplified profiles often associated with wine kits and instead deliver the texture, balance, and credibility of wines made from fresh grapes.

Designed for Confidence and Control
You do not need formal training to succeed, but you will finish the process with a deeper understanding of how serious red wines are made. Designed by home winemakers like you, Finer Wine Kits convert years of hands on experience into a clear and reliable process. The instructions explain not just what to do, but why each step matters, giving you real insight into structure, extraction, and balance. Whether this is your first premium kit or a step up from simpler methods, the experience rewards attention and intention rather than guesswork.

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 character. This direct to door model is the only way a wine kit of this caliber can exist. By eliminating 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 protect the grape’s intrinsic qualities 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. This cold storage preserves purity and ensures the finished wine delivers the structure and balance you set out to achieve.

Technical Details
• Finished alcohol: 14 percent ABV
• Yield: 28 to 30 bottles, 6 gallons
• Style: Full bodied red blend
• Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petite Sirah
• 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 Bordeaux Style Wine Kit, Forte, you are not chasing novelty. You are committing to structure, balance, and the quiet satisfaction of creating a serious, age worthy red that reflects your standards and the confidence to meet them.

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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