My other dilema, besides the yeast, is whether or not to buy a wine kit for my first batch. People have said that it's not hard to make wine without a kit so I'm sort of leaning toward striking out on my own. On the other hand, I don't want my first batch to leave a bad taste in my mouth. Are the more expensive kits better? I've noticed that some of those are really expensive, which is another reason that I'm thinking of going sans kit.

Dan

Hi,
It depends on your goals. You can make wine from just about anything. I've had excellent wines made from prickly pear cactus fruits, carrots, strawberries and raspberries. However, if you want to make grape wine, you can start either with the concentrate kits or with fresh grapes - if you are willing to do the reading, testing, etc. necessary to produce fine wine.

Kits are a great way to go for a first attempt because the vendor has already "dialed in" a near optimum procedure for the concentrated provided. Grapes on the other hand require lots of decisions, testing, tasting, evaluating, etc. for best results.

Regarding the cost of a kit, the most expensive ones will provide you with excellent wine for a total cost of around $6 a bottle. That's relatively inexpensive compared to commercial wines of similar quality. If that's not consistent with your budget, then make some small batches of fruit wine and enjoy the hobby and hone your skills.

I would go with some cheap ingredients on your first couple batches to dial in your winemaking skills. My 1st batch was from grape juice concentrate(frozen) sugar & bread yeast. It was ok & really strong.
But it did help me with the proccess of winemaking.
Then if you mess something up your only out a few bucks.
I would go with wine yeast though. It isnt any more expensive than bread yeast & should give a much better taste.
Then if you want to try a kit you can see the difference between your own stuff & a kit.