How do Master Vintner®, Winexpert, and RJS Craft Winemaking wine kits compare at Midwest Supplies?

Midwest Supplies carries three wine recipe kit brands — Master Vintner®, Winexpert, and RJS Craft Winemaking — and the honest answer is that the site itself doesn't publish a side-by-side spec sheet for them. What it does show is that all three are recipe kits (juice and ingredients), not equipment kits, so whichever brand you pick, you'll still need winemaking gear such as a fermenter, carboy, airlock, and bottles. If you're starting from zero, the Master Vintner® Starter Kit is the one product the site explicitly describes as combining "easy-to-follow instructions with a complete set of equipment," which makes it the natural first purchase before you compare recipe brands at all.

What Midwest Supplies actually tells you about each brand

The homepage groups the three brands under Wine Recipe Kits:

That's the full extent of the brand-level description on the page. Midwest Supplies does not state kit sizes, grape varietals, yield in bottles, difficulty tiers, or included ingredients for any of the three here — so any comparison on those points has to come from each individual product page, not the category listing.

The comparison dimensions that matter (and where to check them)

Since the brand blurbs won't decide it for you, compare on these dimensions instead, using each kit's own product page:

• Wine style — the site's examples span "a complex Cabernet," "a balanced Merlot," and "your handcrafted Rosé," plus fruit wines made from "apples, berries, plums, pears, and more." Match the style to what you actually drink.
• Kit type and volume — concentrate vs. juice, and how many bottles the batch yields. This drives both cost per bottle and how much carboy space you need.
• Included ingredients — yeast, bentonite, fining agents, stabilizers, and oak are sometimes bundled and sometimes not. Check the "what's included" list rather than assuming.
• Difficulty and time — some kits are pitched at first-timers, others at people who already have a process. The site's own beginner on-ramp is the "New to Wine Making? Learn How to Make Wine" path.
• Equipment overlap — if you already own gear, a recipe kit alone is enough. If you don't, budget for equipment separately.

Recipe kit vs. equipment kit: don't buy one and stop

This is the most common mistake the page structure invites. "Wine Recipe Kits" and "Wine Making Starter Kits" are separate categories. A Master Vintner®, Winexpert, or RJS recipe kit gives you the must and ingredients; it does not give you the fermenter, carboy, airlock, siphon, or bottles. The Master Vintner® Starter Kit is the exception the site calls out, because it bundles equipment with instructions.

Practical sequence:

1. Decide whether you own winemaking equipment.
2. If not, start with the Master Vintner® Starter Kit (equipment + instructions).
3. If yes, go straight to the recipe kit category and pick a brand by style, yield, and included ingredients.
4. Verify the specific kit's product page for what's in the box before ordering.

Choosing between the three brands

• Pick Master Vintner® if you want the brand Midwest Supplies pairs with its own starter kit and beginner-facing instructions — the lowest-friction entry point.
• Pick Winexpert if you're comparing it as a standalone recipe line and its specific kit matches your target style and batch size.
• Pick RJS Craft Winemaking on the same basis — treat it as a peer recipe line and let the individual kit's style, yield, and inclusions decide.

None of the three is described on this page as cheaper, easier, or higher quality than the others, so there's no supported basis for ranking them by brand alone. Compare the specific kits.

Shipping note

Midwest Supplies advertises free standard shipping on orders $125 and over (marked with an asterisk, so check the terms). If you're buying equipment plus a recipe kit together, that threshold is easier to hit in one order than buying a single recipe kit alone.