10 Best Wine Making Kits UK 2026 - Compared & Reviewed
Making wine at home used to mean a shed full of kit and a shelf of mysterious chemicals, but it does not anymore. A modern wine making kit from Amazon UK bundles the juice concentrate, yeast, nutrients and finings you need into one box, and most take a weekend of light work plus a month of patience before you are pouring your own bottles.
The kits below are the ones worth your money in 2026. We compared and price-checked every single one on Amazon UK, and they split cleanly into three groups: complete starter sets for your first batch, ingredient kits for people who already own equipment, and fruit or mead kits when you want to make something the supermarket does not stock.
If you are new to this, the golden rule is simple. Buy a kit that includes the fermenting vessel the first time, because mismatched bits are the number one reason beginners give up. If you already have a demijohn, go straight for an ingredient kit and save the difference. Prices below are the live Amazon UK prices at the time of writing.
1. 15 Litre Ultimate Beginner's Winemaking Kit
Best for: Best all-round starter kit · Price: £54.95 · Rating: 4.2/5 (4 ratings)
This is the kit I point total beginners at. It makes 15 litres (about 20 bottles) and throws in five recipes, yeast, a hedgerow wine journal and 10 litre PET bottles, so the first batch costs less than the second. The recipes cover classic fruit wines and a couple of grape styles, which is a proper spread for someone who does not yet know what they like.
Everything in the box is food grade and the instructions walk you through racking and clearing in plain English.
2. VinClasse Home Wine Making Starter Set
Best for: Best equipment starter set · Price: £76.26 · Rating: 4.5/5 (123 ratings)
If you want the gear to keep making wine for years, this VinClasse set is the one. You get a proper 5 litre demijohn, airlock, bung, hydrometer, siphon, steriliser and a first ingredient kit, all in one box. The hydrometer is the bit that matters - it tells you when fermentation has finished instead of guessing.
Buyers with over a hundred ratings give it 4.5 stars, and the complaint I see most is that people wish they had bought it sooner instead of fighting with mismatched bits.
3. BJ #3 PET Kit - Winemaking Set (6 bt)
Best for: Best compact 6-bottle kit · Price: £28.49 · Rating: 4.5/5 (506 ratings)
The BJ #3 is the quiet champion of the budget end, with over 500 ratings and a 4.5 average. It makes six bottles, which sounds small until you remember a six bottle batch takes a weekend of light work and a month of patience. The PET demijohn is lighter than glass and less likely to smash on a kitchen floor, and the kit includes the airlock, bung and steriliser you need to finish the job.
Ideal for a first attempt or for testing whether home wine making is for you before spending more.
4. SG Gold 30 Bottle 7 Day Red Wine Kit - Merlot
Best for: Best value 30-bottle red · Price: £26.95 · Rating: 5.0/5 (10 ratings)
SG Gold packs a serious punch for the money. This Merlot kit makes 30 bottles (22.5 litres) in about seven days of active work, and the price works out to under a pound a bottle before you add the sugar. That is the entire appeal - proper red wine volume at a price that beats the supermarket on a bad day.
The instructions are aimed at people who have never racked a demijohn, and the final result drinks best after a couple of months in the bottle rather than straight away.
5. WineBuddy Cabernet Sauvignon Complete Home Brew Starter Kit
Best for: Best red with bottles included · Price: £39.95 · Rating: 4.0/5 (24 ratings)
Most kits make you hunt down your own bottles. This WineBuddy Cabernet Sauvignon set arrives with green glass wine bottles and brewing sugar in the box, so you can go from delivery to bottling without a second shopping trip. The Cab Sauv grape style gives a full bodied red with a decent finish, and the kit is sized so a first timer can follow it without any prior brewing knowledge.
It is a touch more expensive per bottle than a refill kit, but the convenience of the glass bottles is worth it for the first run.
6. Wine Buddy Sauvignon Blanc 30 Bottle 7 Day Kit
Best for: Best quick white wine · Price: £26.60 · Rating: 4.3/5 (365 ratings)
The most reviewed white kit on this list, with 365 ratings behind it. Wine Buddy's Sauvignon Blanc makes 30 bottles in seven days and delivers the crisp, dry character you expect from the grape. It is the kind of kit that suits a summer project - started on a Friday, bottled a week later, drinking well by autumn. The instructions are simple enough that the biggest risk is impatience, not failure. For volume white wine at this price, it is hard to beat.
7. WineBuddy Pinot Grigio for 30 Bottle
Best for: Best dry white for beginners · Price: £27.70 · Rating: 4.4/5 (75 ratings)
Pinot Grigio is the safe pick for people who prefer their white wine dry and light, and this WineBuddy kit nails that profile. It makes 30 bottles, clears quickly and drinks younger than most red kits, which makes it a satisfying first project. Reviewers specifically mention how easy the process was and how pleased they were to serve the result at a party without embarrassment. Pair it with the VinClasse starter set above and you have a complete first setup for under £100.
8. Solomon Grundy Original - 30 Bottle Rose Wine Ingredient Kit
Best for: Best rose wine · Price: £26.55 · Rating: 4.4/5 (177 ratings)
Rose is the crowd pleaser of the home wine world, and this Solomon Grundy kit makes 30 bottles of it. As an ingredient kit it assumes you have a demijohn, airlock and hydrometer already, which keeps the price down if you bought the VinClasse set first. The finished wine is a dry, pale rose that drinks well chilled. Solomon Grundy is a well established UK homebrew brand, so the recipe is properly dialled in rather than a lucky guess.
9. Young's Strawberry Fruit Wine Kit - 6 Bottles
Best for: Best fruit wine · Price: £12.25 · Rating: 4.2/5 (90 ratings)
Fruit wines are where home wine making gets fun, and this Young's Strawberry kit makes six bottles in seven days for barely more than a takeaway coffee. It is a proper fruit wine with real strawberry character rather than a grape kit with flavour added. The small batch size means you can experiment with recipes without committing to 30 bottles of something you might not love. Young's is a British brand with decades of brewing pedigree, which shows in the reliability of the results.
10. Honey Mead Wine Making Starter Kit
Best for: Best mead kit · Price: £32.95 · Rating: 4.2/5 (27 ratings)
Mead is the oldest wine in the book, and this starter kit makes 4.5 litres (six bottles) of it without needing a separate equipment purchase. The kit includes the fermenting vessel and everything else required, which makes it a neat change of pace from grape kits.
Mead needs a little more patience than supermarket-style wine kits - it rewards a few months of aging - but the honey character is unlike anything you can buy in a shop. Good for makers who like a project with a story.
How to Choose a Wine Making Kit
Batch size decides everything. A 6 bottle kit costs about a third of a 30 bottle kit and needs a fraction of the storage space. Start with six bottles if you are unsure, go straight to 30 if you already know you drink wine most weeks.
Equipment included matters more than the grape. A complete kit with a demijohn, airlock and hydrometer is the difference between a first batch that works and a first batch that stalls. If a kit says ingredient kit or refill, it assumes you already own the hardware.
Red needs patience, white does not. White and fruit kits are usually drinkable within two to three months. Reds improve noticeably with six months in the bottle, so plan ahead if you want a Christmas wine.
Check the ABV you are getting. Most kits ferment to somewhere between 10% and 13%, and you add sugar yourself to reach the target. Cheaper kits sometimes mean thinner wine, not just a smaller batch.
Buy steriliser as a habit. Clean equipment is the single biggest factor between decent home wine and vinegar. Every kit on this list assumes you will clean properly, and most come with a first sachet of steriliser.
Frequently Asked Questions
Final Verdict
For your very first batch, buy the 15 Litre Ultimate Beginner's Winemaking Kit. It includes everything except bottles and sugar, gives you five recipes to try, and the 15 litre size is a happy middle ground between a taster batch and a serious cupboard full.
If you already own a demijohn, the SG Gold 30 Bottle Merlot kit is the best value red on the list, and the Wine Buddy Sauvignon Blanc is the best value white. For a change of pace, the Young's Strawberry kit is cheap enough to try with zero commitment.
Whichever you pick, the advice is the same: clean everything, follow the timings, and resist the urge to drink it too young. Home wine making is a patience hobby, and the payoff is a shelf of bottles that cost you less than a round at the pub.
Sarah Mitchell writes about crafting, DIY and home projects for MakerUK.
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Last reviewed: August 8, 2026 · Evidence-based content · Contains affiliate links