[Rossi46]

edward sacco, on 27 June 2010 - 01:50 PM, said:

I also am blessed that I can still afford the higher priced kits, but many aren't. So I can see its tough for a lot of wine makers. Just like people that were buying higher end wines are down grading. They're still drinking the same amount of wine just purchasing a lower price point of wine. You want value for your money if you can afford it in tough times. You want to continue to drink wine if you have fallen on hard times, so you'll go with a more value priced kit or alternative home wines from fruit you can find or purchase more economically. There are other kit companies that produce a more affordable kit. Is it any better or not it's more affordable and thsts the bottom line. If people find a kit that they like and can save a few bucks or be able to get a few more kits a year. When things get better for them they will probably stay with the less expensive option. Sorry for my long winded thought. God bless, Ed

I don't really agree with the part I put in bold. The reason why is that W/E also makes lower end models themselves, so that isn't the reason why people go with another brand, it's because they ARE able to get one as good or better, and it costs less. I like my crushendo's, but they aren't better or worse than the Kenridge founders, RJS EP/Winery Series and CC Showcase kits. So you look at the price, and the Crushendo's don't justify the price, unless you don't have much selection where you live. What the guy told me was that they are getting rid of the grapeskin crushendo's because of the cost. If they are going to be coming out with a "better" kit and it's got no skins and is about the same price as a CC showcase, what incentive is there to buy it? I hope they come out with a 23L juice kit, or a dramatically reduced premium kit, but how is that going to be different than their regular estate kits? We shall see.

[edward sacco]

Being in the States we don't have easy access to all the manufacturer's you have. It will be interesting to See what they come up with. A 23 Lt. juice kit would be very interesting. By the way most of the kits i make are wine expert kits and are quite good. Not to complain about them. Just with the economy a new high end kit might be a tough sell unless it's something really different.
God bless, Ed

[diggerdan17]

I can't see WE replacing the crushendo line with a non grape pack style kit.If they do tweak it i predict it will be roughly the same price but the kit will be far superior in quality.

I have been wrong before and as my wife likes to point out i will be wrong again!(it 's fun to speculate)


Dan R

[Rossi46]

diggerdan17, on 27 June 2010 - 09:03 PM, said:

I can't see WE replacing the crushendo line with a non grape pack style kit.If they do tweak it i predict it will be roughly the same price but the kit will be far superior in quality.

I have been wrong before and as my wife likes to point out i will be wrong again!(it 's fun to speculate)


Dan R

I'm with you on the logic of that, BUT... I think grapes skins are gone! Which is a bad move to me, unless they come out with something very different than their standard Estate (16L no skins) Series, which is already more than the competitions best. I don't know, for me, I'm moving away from W/E until I see something that stands out more for the price. I am excited to hear what they have planned though, Tim must be dying to tell us:)

[greenmind]

This is all speculation - there's only one person on this thread who really knows, and he isn't talking (yet). I'm actually surprised he confirmed the rumor as not a rumor.

BUT.... of course, speculation is fun, as Dan pointed out. Here's mine: Crushendo will become a pseudo-limited edition kit - only available certain times of the year, and you are urged to pre-order to ensure you get one. Maybe similar to the Small Lots series. In my short experience watching the wine kit marketplace, seems like limited edition kits generate a lot more excitement than "always available" kits. WE may be interested in capturing some of that excitement for their top-of-the line kits.

Just tonight I racked a Crushendo sonoma cab sauv - certainly hope its not the last one I make, but maybe it is.

Dave

[DrunkSkunk]

Not if you rush out and buy the last ones available on sale! What's not to love? You can get a kit you like at a discount then wait excitedly for those limiteds.

[tom sawyer]

greenmind, on 27 June 2010 - 10:04 PM, said:

This is all speculation - there's only one person on this thread who really knows, and he isn't talking (yet). I'm actually surprised he confirmed the rumor as not a rumor.

BUT.... of course, speculation is fun, as Dan pointed out. Here's mine: Crushendo will become a pseudo-limited edition kit - only available certain times of the year, and you are urged to pre-order to ensure you get one. Maybe similar to the Small Lots series. In my short experience watching the wine kit marketplace, seems like limited edition kits generate a lot more excitement than "always available" kits. WE may be interested in capturing some of that excitement for their top-of-the line kits.

Just tonight I racked a Crushendo sonoma cab sauv - certainly hope its not the last one I make, but maybe it is.

Dave

That would seem to me to be a good strategy going forward.

Here are my unsolicited predictions/suggestions:

I could see going to a dry skins pack. Although I haven't used one I think it might be cheaper to supply than the jelly stuff that is currnetly in use by so many kitmakers.

Personally I hope they don't go any higher volume than 16L, I haven't found the 23L format kits to be superior and the weight of these things makes shipping more expensive and handling more tedious.

[diggerdan17]

One of the fop stores in my area will NOT do wet skins kits because of the mess and extra effort needed. He does do the En Premiur genuwine dry skin kits because they are easier to rack and deal with.

[Tim Vandergrift]

Quote

What the guy told me was that they are getting rid of the grapeskin crushendo's because of the cost.

Respect to your guy for trying to stay ahead of the information curve, but he is 100% wrong.

Quote

Tim must be dying to tell us:)

How well you know me! Again, not the place for advertising, but very quickly:

• Grapeskins were never the end-point of technological progress for winemaking kits. If they were, we'd sell frozen grapes.
• Our new kit will be skin free--no raisins or Zante currants, no wet skins. Just juice/concentrate
• It will not be as good as Crushendo. It will be dramatically better. It will be a game-changer. (Of course, that will be up to you folks to decide. )
• It won't be a 23 litre kit. Any 23 litre kit made by any manufacturer will have some portion of concentrate in it, meaning water-added. Nobody should have to pay to ship water around.
• It won't be a Limited or restricted product. It will be year-round, exactly as it is now.
• I've been working on this product for more than a decade, and it's finally here.
• I'm so stoked I could jump out of my skin

I promise you'll get more info before we launch.

[Juniper Hill]

Sounds great Tim! I'll look forward to trialing new product.

Neil

[IQwine]

Awesome, Tim. So you have been working on this project for 10 years.... it's gotta be good.

[Rossi46]

Tim Vandergrift, on 28 June 2010 - 12:42 PM, said:

Respect to your guy for trying to stay ahead of the information curve, but he is 100% wrong.



How well you know me! Again, not the place for advertising, but very quickly:

• Grapeskins were never the end-point of technological progress for winemaking kits. If they were, we'd sell frozen grapes.
• Our new kit will be skin free--no raisins or Zante currants, no wet skins. Just juice/concentrate
• It will not be as good as Crushendo. It will be dramatically better. It will be a game-changer. (Of course, that will be up to you folks to decide. )
• It won't be a 23 litre kit. Any 23 litre kit made by any manufacturer will have some portion of concentrate in it, meaning water-added. Nobody should have to pay to ship water around.
• It won't be a Limited or restricted product. It will be year-round, exactly as it is now.
• I've been working on this product for more than a decade, and it's finally here.
• I'm so stoked I could jump out of my skin

I promise you'll get more info before we launch.

Now THAT sounds a heck of a lot better than the store owner was saying. If it's something you have been working on and are excited to release, I am sure we are going to be excited about it too. Are you able to speak on the price point, is it going to be crushendo type price or more? Thanks for the update.

[cpfan]

Tim:

If you can comment further...what will the expected aging situation be? Similar to the Estate Crushendo, longer, shorter?

Thanks, Steve

[Vern_L_Equinox]

A gamechanger? Now that's just a plain mean tease!

[bassmannate]

Funny, I had just gotten my driver's license about 10 years ago. You've really gotten me curious now.