1 gallon of Mango wine needs a kickOn 4-12-2006 12:06 AM, DAve Allison DAve, Do a web search for "Pearson square" and you'll find many links to this useful tool for blending two wines (or any fluid, such as the vodka...
Duck Redbeard
I've heard it recommended that if it's your first wine kit you should follow the instructions to the letter. Everything is already pre-balanced for 6 gallons; by concentrating the wine, you'd also be concentrating all the additives (nutrient, finings, etc.).
The kit will contain all the ingredients you need - wine concentrate, yeast, finings, etc. The yeast in the pack should be fine.
Vintners Reserve Chianti should already have an oak pack in it. If there isn't one in the package, return it to your seller for a refund or get a new pack from him.
The only thing I would change would be in the racking. The first kit I used instructed me to add isinglbutt as a fining, wait x number of days, and then bottle right from that carboy without racking first. I got some lees (and some isinglbutt) into some of the bottles. I now rack off the lees back into the primary and then bottle.
One thing my LHBS recommended was to use a different plastic primary fermenter for wine. Although the fermenter is of course food-grade plastic, it will impart some flavour to the must or wort from previous batches, and often wine doesn't go well with beer or vice versa.
Good luck and enjoy your wine!
wd41
