winemaking

[jyodie]

Hello to any/all all knowing winemakers! I am new to the message board and I am trying to find out some information on making wine from juices I have purchased from Delta Packing Company in Lodi, California. My juice came in a 6 gallon bucket which has a small rubber grommet on the lid which I am assuming is a vent/airlock. I have been told that I can just leave the juice in the bucket and the grommet will act just like an airlock and it will let the air out from the fermentation process but it will not let any air back into the bucket to spoil the fermentation process and the wine. Is this correct? I really don't know. I have also been told that I should insert a tube into the bucket and seal around it and install an airlock on the top of the tube! Is this correct? I don't know! I have also been told that I should transfer the juice to a glass carboy and insert a tube with an airlock on the carboy. Is this what I should do? I am starting to get really confused now! My father tells me that I can just let the juice stay in the container it came in and that it will start to ferment naturally, he said that he has done it before and he also knows others who have done the same thing! I just want to make sure that my wine turns out to be very drinkable and I don't want to be wasting my time and money if it is not going to turn out right! I would appreciate it if anyone can shed some light on this subject, especially if anyone else has been through this process of winemaking using the six gallon buckets of juice! PLEASE, write back and inform me of the best way to go about dealing with this juice in the bucket! Thanks a Million! All replys will be greatly appreciated!!!

John Y.

[Catch 22]

John,

Welcome to the board. You sure do have a lot of questions. I think your best bet is to get a book and do a quick read through. I used "The Art of Making Wine" by Andersen/Hull when I started. It is very informative, and simple to follow.
The one thing I would like to comment on is that I would strongly recommend against just letting the juice sit in the bucket to ferment on its own. You are far better off buying a wine yeast from a wine supply store (look in the yellow pages if you don't know of one) than hoping nature takes the proper course. The book I recommended above has a section to get you started immediately if you have some juice and cannot wait to read the whole book. Good Luck.