Don't worry, Darlene, I'm not rushing into anything, which is why I'm
asking for the advice. While I'm asking more for general information
and ancedotes from those who've made this decision in the past, for
those who want to help me in this specific case, the info's below.

I'm using juice sold in 6 gallon containers under the name "Home Wine,
inc." They're the same folks who make the Alexander Sun Country
concentrates, but they sell juice under that name at their home base a
relatively short distance from where I live. While there was no date
on the bucket, I did it with the expectation that the juice was very
fresh (2003), as it was right at the end of the harvest here. Started
fermentation on 10 Oct 03, racked on 15 Oct and 14 Nov. Started with
24 Brix, .70TA (3.5 pH), and last reading on SG was .99. I used
"Bordeaux Red" yeast, and had no obvious problems with fermentation -
in fact it was the best fermenting wine of the three I'm doing this
year (6 gallons of Sauv Blanc (I got this from the same company and at
the same time as the Merlot; it shows no similar sign of weakness) and
6 gallons of Zinfandel (purchased the grapes straight from a vinyard
on that).

BTW, last year I did a Mosto Italiano Riesling juice kit (they sell
sterile juice, and included in the package is yeast, clarifiers, etc.)
that about 2 months after fermentation I was questioning, but given
some time it came around and is now really nice - wish I had more now!
That seemed very different to me, though, as in the riesling's case
it started with a lot of flavor which wasn't particularly "yummy".
The Merlot that I'm asking about here seems more like colored, lightly
flavored water.

Thanks, everyone.
Rob



"Dar V" > wrote in message >...
> Rob,
> I hope you'll sit tight and give everyone a chance to respond considering it
> is the holidays. It is a tough decision to toss a batch. I've done it, but
> it was only 1 gallon of a 2 gallon batch, I had waited almost 7 months, and
> I had had problems with the batch from the beginning. It might help if you
> tell us what the brand name of the wine kit is, what your starting and
> ending SG was, when you started it or how old the wine is, and how many
> times you racked it. I do not do wine kits. But I do know that wines
> change a lot from the first month to 6 months to 1 year and beyond. There
> also may be some fixes, others might suggest - hang in there.
> Darlene
>
> "Rob" > wrote in message
> om...
> > I've currently got 6 gallons of a Merlot juice kit "bulk" aging in my
> > garage. When I first got the juice, and even moreso at it's last
> > racking, it seems very weak, almost like it was greatly watered down.
> > Very uninteresting. With about an ounce of lightly toasted oak, my
> > wife has described it a "coffee flavored water".
> >
> > I'm tempted to give up on the wine and start something else, but
> > before I do, I figured I'd ask here about anyone else's experience in
> > giving up on a wine, and what does anyone else use as a criteria to
> > make this decision.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Rob Woodard