[snowdrops]

For Christmas I was bought a wine kit,a Youngs Wine Buddy to make Cabernet Sauvignon 6 bottle- 7 day starter kit. My sister purchased it & asked advice in a specialist homebrew shop. On opening the box I'm a bit surprised to find it has 2 plastic buckets to brew the beer in,well 1 to brew in & 1 to rack it to. The only other time I have made wine was many years ago & it was from my home grown grapes, it was foul but good in white wine sauces.

What do I need to look out for,can wine really be made in 7 days-I suspect it won't taste too good-so is there anything I can do to improve it. I do want to use it as my sister would be disappointed if I didn't.

[SG6]

Only suggestion is to follow the instructions.
Make sure that the concentrate is fully dissolved, it has a habit of not fully dissolving so you get two layers.

I would assume that the yeast is a turbo yeast - know nothing about these.

You would be best letting the initial ferment take place in a bucket then transfer to a DJ with air lock to complete. I assume that the initial ferment is vigerous so maybe not a good idea to do all the ferment in a DJ. The other aspect being that the kit has oak chips in so the addition of them should be in a bucket. Easier to get out.

Can a wine be made in 7 days? I suspect not really, and having looked at the contents of the kit (and therefore the cost) I would have thought that 4 bottles of an Australian Cabernet Sauvignon would have been better (sorry to put it like that).

For it to be better then let it mature for as long as you can, 6 months at least. Just because it says made in 7 days doesn't mean always to drink after 7 days. I make wines from fruit and it takes 3-6 weeks then they get left of a year. "Made in" and "drinkable in" are different.

Personally I would make it as the instructions, bottle and leave for 4-6 months then see what it is like. If not up to drinking then cook with it.

[snowdrops]

Thank you for your prompt reply,much as I suspected then,will give it a go over New year & post with the results.

[New shoot]

I've been bought a kit like this before.

The instructions will tell you to add various sachets to stop fermentation and clear the wine after 7 days.  I let it ferment longer as it was still really fizzing at 7 days and I wasn't that bothered if it took longer.  Once it calmed down, I carried on as per the instructions.

It made an OK quaffable wine.  Not sure keeping it improves the taste, but mine was a white wine kit, so might find a red does keep better 

[Daamoot]

I would advise not fully diluting as per the instructions, maybe add a couple litres of water then top up with red grape juice.  It sounds like the same kit I started with, does it come with oak chippings that you add later?  Good luck and I hope it turns out better than my attempt!