House of Beaverdale Grape Wine Kits, use high quality grape juice concentrates, allowing you to produce a range of wines to rival those produced professionally in the Chateaux of the world's greatest wine producing regions.

Riesling Description: Riesling is the name of a grape originating in Germany (also considered to be Germany's greatest), but now used internationally to make wine. Wines made from the Riesling grape usually exhibit good acid balance and sweetness. Characteristics: Dry to sweet and sometimes flowery. Usually lower alcohol content. Appropriate Foods: Crab and lobster if a dry Riesling; light desserts if sweet.

Chardonnay Description: Chardonnay, along with Riesling, is one of the world's great white wine grapes. In France where it originated, it is used in the making of Chablis, Le Montrachet, Pouilly-Fuissé, and Champagne. It has also been widely planted in California. When properly aged in oak, the fragrant and flavourfully crisp wines derived from Chardonnay are rich and well balanced with wonderful body and finesse and a lingering after taste. Characteristics: Full bodied, intense and crisp. Many wine styles from fruity to oaky. Appropriate Foods: Full-flavoured fish, chicken, ham, cream or pesto pasta and shellfish.

Cabernet Sauvignon Description: Cabernet Sauvignon is a splendid grape variety used in the creation of some of the world's finest red wines. The full-bodied, complex wines made properly from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are well balanced and intense with splendid fragrances. These long-lived wines start off high in tannins, but smooth out to a velvety finish with ageing. Cabernet sauvignon is frequently blended with Merlot and Cabernet Franc to soften it somewhat. Characteristics: Fine rich tannic reds. Appropriate Foods: Beef, lamb, turkey, and aged cheeses.

Sauvignon Blanc Description: A good basic dry white wine made from the grape of the same name. The Sauvignon Blanc grape may be used in combination with other grapes to make wines such as the White Bordeaux wines of France. Characteristics: Usually dry and smoky or grassy Appropriate Foods: Salads and light seafood, shellfish and piccata.

Merlot Description: An early ripening and productive grape that originated in France and which is now grown widely in many areas including California and Northern Italy. The grape produces a rich fruity non-astringent wine that, because of its softness, is often blended with many of the world's finest Cabernet Sauvignons such as Bordeaux. Characteristics: Firm to soft and slightly fruity. Appropriate Foods: Light red meats and game such as duck.

Red Rioja Description: A blend of Tempranillo (Cencibel) and Garnache (Grenache) grapes. The Tempranillo gives finesse and fragrance to the wine, while the Garnache gives power and colour to the wine. Best treated with oak chippings or better still stored in an oak barrel to give the characteristic Rioja oakness. Characteristics: Robust deeply coloured red wine, ages wonderfully. Appropriate Foods: Paella, red meat and bean dishes.

White Rioja Description: Generally a blend of the Viura (Macabeo) and Malvasia grapes which makes wines with a freshness and rounded flavour, which benefit from some bottle ageing. Characteristics: Smooth and grapey. Appropriate Foods: Shellfish and seafood.

Pinot Noir Description: The famous red grape used for all red Burgundy wines and the majority of Champagnes. The juice is less tannic and richer textured than Cabernet Sauvignon, and therefore it matures more rapidly. Characteristics: Soft, fruity and smooth. Appropriate Foods: Veal, pork, roasts, salmon, duck, young cheeses & game birds.

Pinot Blanc Description: One of the favourite grape varieties of the Alsace region of France for making those dry, crisp white wines with a clean fresh aroma. Characteristics: Dry and soft. Appropriate Foods: Light soups and cold cuts.

Muscadet Description: Best known for the famous French wines of the same name, produced in the area around Nantes. The grape produces light, crisp acidic wines, often with a slight sparkle if bottled directly off the yeast. A combination of fresh acidity & flinty-minerally overtones, makes Muscadet an excellent everyday drinking wine.

Barolo Description: An enormously robust wine that is deep, nearing black in colour. It is made from the Nebbiolo grape in the hilly district in and around the city of Barolo in Piedmont in Northwestern Italy. The Nebbiolo grape give the wine a suggestion of truffles, a touch of tar, a positive note of raspberry. Characteristics: Rich, dark and deep; high alcohol, ages well. Appropriate Foods: Beef roasts, game, Italian sausage.

Fumé Blanc Description: Formulated from a blend of sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes, the Fumé blanc produces a very distinct dry wine with a herbal bouquet. Fumé Blanc combines the characteristics of a Bordeaux wine with the fullness of Burgundy. Characteristics: Dry and smoky, sometimes grassy. Appropriate Foods: Salads and light seafood, shellfish and piccata.

White Californian Zinfandel Description: Using the Chenin grape, this wine is refreshing to the palate. The Californian varietal produces a mellow fruity character with a distinctive floral after taste. Characteristics: Fruity, adaptable. Appropriate Foods: Picnics and other light foods.

Red Californian Zinfandel Description: A University of California, Davis, cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignane. Deep in colour and full flavoured, this wine is a great table wine. Characteristics: Fruity, adaptable. Appropriate Foods: Turkey, light game, ratatouille, stews and casseroles.

Chablis Blush Description: One of the many styles of blush wines to follow in the footsteps of the Zinfandel Blush; light and refreshing almost a Rosé in style. Characteristics: Fruity, adaptable, dry to sweet. Appropriate Foods: Salads, fruit, paella, Middle Eastern dishes.

Gerwurztraminer Description: Widely planted in Alsace, France and in Germany, the wines are spicy with a pronounced and sometimes heavily perfumed bouquet. This Gewurztraminer is attractively light with well-defined vatietal flavours. Soft spicy floral aromas with aromatic peach and apricot, this has just enough acidity to keep it fresh and inviting. Characteristics: Spicy with ranges from dry to sweet. Appropriate Foods: Spicy foods, Chinese and Korean, fruits. When sweet, with any rich desserts.