The 10 Best Home Winemaking Kits in 2023

Making your own homemade wine might sound like a daunting task—but once we remind ourselves that humans discovered wine-like beverages during the stone age and were cultivating grapes for viticulture as early as 6,000 B.C., then maybe it’s not so unreasonable to imagine that anyone sophisticated enough to read an article on an electronic device is quite capable of making some tasty fermented grape juice in their garage. And the plethora of intuitive and accessible home winemaking kits available today make the goal seem all the more attainable.

But not all home wine kits are created equal—there are important distinctions to be aware of before we all take off our shoes and get ready to do some grape-stomping. Winemaking kits tend to fall into two categories: those which include winemaking equipment, but not actual grapes, and those which include grapes or grape juice concentrate, but not the crucial winemaking equipment. (There are examples that include both in a single package, but these tend to be small-format kits, designed perhaps for a one-time fun experiment rather than the cultivation of a longtime hobby.) While our roundup is composed mostly of equipment reviews, we also include a couple of our favorite options for sourcing the actual ingredients.

Whether you’re looking to up your home winemaking game, or whether you’re just considering dipping your toes into the water (er, that is, the wine), here are our picks for the best home winemaking kits to get right now.

The Rundown

Best Overall:

North Mountain Supply 3 Gallon 32-piece Wine Making Kit at Amazon

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Best Splurge:

Master Vintner Wine Making Starter Kit at Amazon

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Best Budget:

Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies Starter Equipment Kit at Amazon

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Best for Beginners:

Craft a Brew Home Pinot Grigio Making Kit at Amazon

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Best Large Format:

Home Brew Ohio Deluxe Wine Making Kit at Walmart

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Best Compact:

Winemakers Depot 3 Gallon Glass Wine Making Equipment Kit at Walmart

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Best for Fruit Wine:

Master Vintner Fresh Harvest Fruit Wine Making Kit at Amazon

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Best for Red Wine:

Fontana California Shiraz 6-Gallon Wine Kit at Amazon

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Best for White Wine:

Wild Grapes Pinot Grigio Premium DIY Wine Making Kit at Amazon

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Best For Mead:

Must Bee Mead Making Kit at Amazon

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North Mountain Supply 3 Gallon 32-piece Wine Making Kit

Courtesy of Amazon

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Pros

Extremely complete kit
Accessible for beginners
Can be used to make grape or fruit wine
Detailed instruction book with 100 recipes

Cons

3-gallon capacity, rather than 6
Does not include instructional DVD

Topping our list for home winemaking is the extremely well-appointed kit from North Mountain Supply. While some kits feature a 6-gallon carboy (secondary fermentation vessel) rather than the 3-gallon carboy included here, few kits can match North Mountain’s exhaustive checklist of equipment, tools, and additives, an embarrassment of items that will have even the most dubious beginner feeling like a seasoned home winemaker in no time. All that they’ve left out of the kit are those two crucial elements, the grapes (or other fruit) and the bottles—but, as is the case with most of these kits, those are up to the aspiring winemaker to source on their own.

What’s included: 30 pieces of equipment, including 6-gallon fermenter, 3-gallon carboy, auto-siphon, straining bag, campden tablets, pectin enzyme, stabilizer, yeast, nutrients, acid blend, tannin, hydrometer, wine thief with test jar, stirring spoon, bottle filler, 100 corks, corking mechanism, step-by-step instructions, and recipe book.

Courtesy of Amazon

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Pros

Very complete
All necessary equipment included
6-gallon capacity
Comes with instructional DVD

Cons

Expensive
Tubing is a bit short

While the Master Vintner kit is on the pricier side, it’s pretty unparalleled in terms of its completeness. Boasting a big 6-gallon carboy and a unique “big mouth bubbler” fermenter—no tawdry buckets when you’re paying these prices!

The Master Vintner starter kit aims to make its well-heeled purchaser the envy of every other home winemaker on the block. Source yourself some quality grapes and designer bottles, then just pop in the included DVD to start your journey toward celebrity winemaker status.

What’s included: glass carboy, “big mouth bubbler” fermenter, auto-siphon, wine thief, tubing, hydrometer, stirring spoon, cleaning brushes, 30 corks, corking mechanism, sanitizer.

Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies Starter Equipment Kit

Courtesy of Amazon

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Pros

All necessary equipment included
6-gallon capacity
Plastic carboy is less likely to break than glass

Cons

Some additional items must be purchased separately
Plastic carboy, not glass

Here’s another high-capacity winemaking kit featuring a plus-sized 8-gallon fermentation bucket. You’ll note that the so-called “better bottle” carboy is made of plastic, rather than glass—one of several cost-saving measures that pervade this kit. But there’s a certain appeal to the humbler carboy (it is far less breakable, after all!), and if you’re an aspiring winemaker who doesn’t crave a whole lot of bells and whistles, this kit will get you on your way to making large batches of delicious wine at a significantly lower cost than some of its competitors.

What’s included: 8-gallon plastic fermenter, 6-gallon “better bottle” carboy, bottle brush, hydrometer, cleanser, racking cane, tubing, bottle filler, 30 corks, corking mechanism.

Related: The Best Home Brewing Kits

Amazon

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Pros

Combo kit: juice AND equipment included
Inexpensive
Choose between red or white wine

Cons

Small capacity
Must provide own secondary vessel
Only makes five bottles

The perfect kit for any potential home winemaker who just wants to get his or her feet wet. Not sure that you want to drop a hundred bucks or more on a high-capacity winemaking setup, plus all the grapes or juice concentrate you’ll have to source? Snag yourself the Craft a Brew Home Wine Making Kit, and you’ll have everything you need to test-run a five-bottle production of your choice of white or red wine! Well, almost everything—the kit doesn’t include a fermentation bucket, so both the first and second fermentation occurs in the carboy, meaning that you’ll need to provide a secondary vessel for transferring in between fermentations. But this affordable kit does come with grape juice concentrate, crucially eliminating one of the arduous steps between you and homemade wine.

What’s included: one-gallon fermenter, funnel, racking cane, rubber stopper, transfer tubing, tubing clamp, airlock, yeast, additives, five cork stoppers, instruction booklet, and fresh-pressed grape juice.

Courtesy of Amazon

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Pros

6-gallon capacity
Inexpensive
Includes glass carboy

Cons

Fairly basic kit
Certain items must be purchased separately

Home Brew Ohio offers a very solid high-capacity kit for just a few dollars more than our “Budget” entry from Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies. For the extra fee, you get a glass carboy, rather than plastic, plus several other small but significant upgrades (like an auto-siphon rather than a racking cane). This is a well-made, lean-and-mean kit for the home winemaker who doesn’t need a whole lot of extras.

What’s included: 7.8-gallon fermenter, 6-gallon glass carboy, spoon, triple-scale hydrometer, auto-siphon, bottle filler, tubing, degassing rod, bottle brush, cleanser, 30 corks, corking mechanism

Winemakers Depot 3 Gallon Glass Wine Making Equipment Kit

Courtesy of Walmart

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Pros

Very affordable
3-gallon capacity

Cons

Certain items must be purchased separately
No corks or corking mechanism included

While the Winemakers Depot 3-gallon kit goes light on the features, it over-delivers on price and on quality of equipment. You get a solid, 3-gallon glass carboy, a full-sized fermentation bucket, and every other item you’d need to make wine—if not every item you might want. Source yourself some high-quality grapes or juice concentrate, plus some yeast and clarifying agents (and don’t forget the bottles and corks!), and there’ll be nothing standing between you and a mid-sized batch of delicious homemade vino.

What’s included: 3-gallon glass carboy, 6.5-gallon fermenter, bottle filler, hydrometer, thermometer, racking cane, siphon hosings, sterilizer

Master Vintner Fresh Harvest One Gallon Small Batch Fruit Wine Making Kit

Courtesy of Amazon

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Pros

Very complete kit for making fruit wine
Inexpensive
Yeast and additives included

Cons

Corks and bottles not included
Small capacity

Grape wine’s playful cousin, fruit wine can be found on the shelves of small-town farm markets across the nation—and what it lacks in stoicism and age-worthiness it makes up for in pizzaz and originality. The Fresh Harvest Fruit Wine Making Kit gives you everything you need to get started making delightful alcohol out of whatever fruit you have on hand in sufficient quantities. Do you have apple trees teeming with fruit? Strawberries in season? Round up some bottles and some corks, and let the included yeasts and enzymes do the heavy lifting.

What’s included: 2-gallon plastic fermentor, 1-gallon jug, straining bag, sanitizer, campden tablets, pectic enzyme, acid blend, tannin, yeast, yeast nutrient, stabilizer, racking cane, tubing, hydrometer, winemaker handbook.

Related: The Best Sweet Wines

Fontana California Shiraz 6-Gallon Wine Kit

Courtesy of Amazon

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Pros

Concentrated wine base; no grapes needed
Compact packaging
Instructions included

Cons

No equipment included
Bottles and corks not included
Tannin and oak must be purchased separately

Once you’ve acquired your choice of the many equipment kits listed above, it’s time to start thinking about grapes—and, if there’s no local vineyard to source from, the Fontana wine kits are a great place to turn.

Each 1.5-liter pack contains enough grape juice concentrate to produce six gallons (or about 30 standard-sized bottles) of finished wine. We especially like their California shiraz kit, which makes a smooth, juicy red that bulks up with the addition of optional oak and tannin packets. Be sure to let your shiraz rest for a few extra months to settle into itself and mature a bit. We recommend no fewer than six!

What’s included: wine base, brewer’s yeast, bentonite, sulphite, sorbate, chitosan, kieselsol.

Wild Grapes, Premium DIY Wine Making Kits

Courtesy of Amazon

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Pros

Concentrated wine base; no grapes needed
Compact packaging
White wine requires less aging than red

Cons

No equipment included
Bottles and corks not included

Wild Grapes produces a whole line of concentrated wine bases, and their pinot grigio is a great place to start honing your white wine skills. Italian pinot grigio is known for its pale color, high acid, and delicate floral bouquet—properties you’ll be personally savoring in a few short months if you follow the directions closely. (Pro tip: make sure you fully ferment your wine, leaving no residual sugar behind. This will ensure a dry, zippy pinot grigio with no uncharacteristic sweetness in the mix.)

What’s included: wine base, yeast, bentonite, sulphite, sorbate, chitosan, kieselsol.

Courtesy of Amazon

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Pros

Complete beginner’s kit
Detailed instructions included
Enough yeast and activator for multiple batches

Cons

Small-capacity
Must provide own honey
Funnel may be too small

Mead, often referred to as “honey wine,” is considered the oldest alcoholic beverage in the world—there’s ample evidence that it was being produced a full millennium before its grape-based cousin. Why not tap into that delicious bee-borne tradition by making your own mead at home?

The Mead Kit from Must Bee Mead includes all the basic equipment you’ll need to make your own small batch of mead, except for a secondary fermentor (so you’ll have to provide a pot or bucket), and the honey itself. (Please note: acquiring the several gallons of honey you’ll need to start your batch can be cost-prohibitive, but quality wine grapes aren’t cheap either!)

What’s included: 1-gallon carboy, siphon tube, funnel, airlock, rubber stopper, temperature tape, yeast, yeast nutrient, step-by-step guide.

Related: The Best Meads

Final Verdict

If you’re feeling ready to take that full plunge into an impassioned side-hustle as a home winemaker, there’s no kit quite as capable as the North Mountain Supply 3 Gallon 32-piece Wine Making Kit (view at Amazon). But if you’re not entirely sure whether you’re ready to go full Mondavi just yet, then try a test run on the affordable and accessible Winemakers Depot 3 Gallon Glass Wine Making Equipment Kit (view at Walmart), or avoid the entire question of sourcing grapes by playing it safe with the Craft a Brew Home Wine Making Kit (view at Amazon). We have a feeling, though, that once you’ve polished off those five bottles, you might be thirsting to take it to the next level.

FAQs

How much wine does one kit make?

The largest kits in our roundup each are capable of producing six gallons of wine at a time—that’s about thirty standard 750ml bottles (which means you just took care of your holiday shopping for your thirty closest friends). The equipment should generally last for years, so the total amount of wine you eventually produce is only limited by your thirst! (Kits that include yeasts and other additives, of course, will require that those be replenished once the original supplies run out.)

Can I use grapes from the grocery store to make homemade wine?

You can, but don’t expect it to taste like any wine you typically enjoy. Grocery-store grapes (table grapes) are sweeter and thinner-skinned than most wine grapes—properties that make them ideal for casual snacking, but that doesn’t allow them to lend much depth or richness to any wine you might make out of them. Better to opt for juice concentrate produced from grapes traditionally used in winemaking—or, if you can manage to get your hands on them, vineyard-fresh grapes from your favorite local winery. (Foot-stomping contest, anyone?)

Is homemade wine safe to drink?

Unlike home distilling, which used to be a far more perilous pursuit before the advent of modern technology (improperly-distilled spirits are full of compounds that can, indeed, “make you go blind”), home winemaking is actually quite safe. Generally speaking, the worst that can go wrong is that your wine will turn out murky, or have a strong vinegar odor—but, if you closely follow the instructions regarding sterilizing, clarifying, and oxygen exposure, these tragic pitfalls can be avoided, and you’ll be enjoying your delicious homemade wine in no time. (Well, in one to six months.)

Why Trust Liquor.com?

In addition to working as a sommelier in restaurants, Jesse Porter has also worked as a wine educator for corporate groups and wine-tasting clubs, and has even assisted his winemaker friends in Santa Barbara County with various stages of the production process. (If anybody’s wondering: yes, he is willing to be paid in wine.)

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