Primary Fermentation

[Dick Peterson]

The reason you always want to use a carboy for white wine fermentations is to keep air and solid crap out of your new wine. The small opening makes it easy to let the CO2 escape while keeping air out.

The reason you cannot use a carboy for red fermentations is that you can't easily get the grape skins into and out of the bottle. It's the same reason that reds are NEVER fermented in barrels commercially even though many Chardonnays are.

I hope this helps. Dick