Making your own wine is satisfying and easy. As long as you ferment great juice, keep everything sanitary, and give it enough time to age (3 months or more for whites, 6 months or more for reds), you will get great wine.
Here at William’s, we have developed our William’s California Wine Kits with this philosophy in mind. Our Kits include 192 ounces of pure California varietal grape concentrate, condensed at temperatures that never exceed 180 degrees F. from Central Valley wine grapes picked at their ripe peak in the late Summer and early Fall. To complement the varietal juice, specially selected dry wine yeast, oak chips, and nutrient are also included as needed. Unlike many wine kits featuring added sugar, this 192 ounces of pure concentrate is all that is needed (except for the yeast and addtives) to produce 5 gallons (24 bottles) of varietal wine. Sulphites are around 20 to 25 ppm before dilution, and after dilution, the juice right before fermentation has about 10 ppm sulfites.
This Chardonnay Kit features grapes grown in Woodbridge, California. Chardonnay, a grape that produces a full-bodied white wine with a hint of buttery softness and full fruit character. This one can taste fully mature at 1 year after bottling, and be very drinkable after 6 months.
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to download the instructions in pdf format.IMMEDIATE REFRIGERATION IS REQUIRED ONCE THIS KIT IS RECEIVED
Apr 10, 2024 by Mike T
Q: Is it possible to age the wine in bottles instead of the carboy? If so, do you recommend purchasing a fining agent, for example, Chitosan to clear the wine before bottling?
A: You could but we don't recommend it. You run the risk of fizzy, exploding wine. Potassium Sorbate in the primary would settle fermentation then after 3 months it could be moved to a secondary. Bentonite would be a settling agent for clarity.
Mar 01, 2021 by Renee
Q: What is the alcohol content in these wine kits?
A: Typically, 13.5 to 14.5%
California Chardonnay
Follow the directions and one year later you will have gold. Absolutely great. Dry but sweet and light. Excellent
Cloudy
I have made several successful wine kits but this Chardonnay never clarified. Sorbate too early possibly but gravity was .996 and appeared to be finished. Disappointing but Im turning into Brandy. When you have lemons……. William's Brewing Responds: Always wait 3 months in the secondary before bottling. It should clear by gravity if left in the secondary for 3 months.
Hydrate yeast
I've made wine with this kit several times without hydrating the yeast first. My friend commented that the wine didn't have much "mouth". My last batch I decided to hydrate the yeast and the outcome was a much improved in the mouth presence. Very fruity.
Chardonnay kit
I've made this wine twice. The first batch I poured down the drain. The second is headed the same direction. I've been a very successful home brewer for nearly 20 years but have had almost no luck with the wine kits from Williams. I've tried 6 or 7. I wanted to enhance the oak in the first 3 kits and that did not end well, so that's my fault. The next 3 or 4 however, did not even come close to 2 buck Chuck in drinkability. I like Williams and buy nearly all my brewing supplies from them, but their wine kits don't work for me. I'm sure Williams means well by offering a low priced kit, but if you know anything about winemaking you need to know what you're starting out with. With these kits you're totally clueless, and that won't produce good wine.
Even the French Like It
We served this to our parish priest who is French, and he really liked it. He took a few bottles home and spread to word to other wine-loving members of our congregation, who also got some bottles. The only downside to gaining fans is that I'm losing wine! This wine is best if you can keep yourself from drinking it all right away. A year on, it has really matured well.