Making wine can be somewhat forgiving. You can goof up a few things and it will still turn out okay. However if you understand how each process works and why it occurs you begin to realize that you really should adhere to a few basic princibles.
With that being said everyone has their own preferences, whether it was how they were taught, stumbled upon or it just plain works for them.
Your kit says to keep it in an air tight container till thru fermenting. Yeast need to breath. They need air. They expel CO2 and too much can cause them to slow down or become stressed and stall fermentation. Stirring the must a few times a day moves the yeast around so that they may always have fresh food and nutrients. Stirring also helps to release CO2 from your must thus making less that needs to be gotten rid of later on.
CO2 coming off of your must will help to protect your wine during fermentation. Once fermentation has ceased oxidation begins and your wine will start to go thru another process....it's called vinegar.
Kits are made for those just starting to have a somewhat easy attempt at wine making and also for those who want an Australian Shiraz, can easily make one without having juice shipped from Australia. Having to deal with many novice winemakers it may just be easier to instruct to add yeast and leave alone rather than to include a 30 page book on wine making.
There are many very knowledgable wine makers (and beer) on here than can help you fine tune your adventure. If you find something that goes against the norm and you have no trouble, go for it. For me I prefer to stick a little closer to the science end, especially after all the time and money I put into it. I would hate to find out a year later my 5 gallons is spoiled because I didn't understand what really goes on.
As away on here and search. You will undoubtedly get an education and have fun in doing so.
Just my 3 cents worth...inflation.
Well said, good write up.
