I did an "oxygenate" search

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Newbie here. I am a Ale brewer from way back and am just now getting started with wine. Finally. My first kit (Italian Dolcetto Wine Kit - Winexpert Reserve - marked down from $149 to $129- that because of aging maybe? It was just released in June.) is in the mail. I found lots of concern and information about oxygen during fermentation and afterwards. I never saw anywhere if anyone is oxygenating must (NOT wort!) prior to pitching. Lots of people reported using an atmosphere permeable cloth cover over the fermenter. Does anyone oxygenate with pure O2 and a .5-micron stone and then seal it up with a bubbler in place? Seems more sanitary than gathering oxygen from the atmosphere. I am sure to learn more places that "this is not beer" but I must start somewhere. :)
 
Noooo. During the initial fermentation, about 1 to 2 weeks, the yeast needs oxygen to reproduce. Most often this is done in an open bucket with a clean towel draped over the top, secured with a cord or rubber band. After initial fermentation, the wine is racked into a carboy with a small neck and an air trap installed. It's at this time we restrict oxygen. During first fermentation we also punch the cap down or stir the must to instill oxygen for the yeast.

Happy Fermenting!
 
You will find that winemakers, particularly with red wines are much less worried about open air than beer brewers. We have several things in our favor, lower ph, higher alcohol, and tradition. We don't oxygenate or musts, but do allow them to get plenty of oxygen. It's very scary to the former beer brewers.
 
Yes, it is :) I read everywhere to sanitize with potassium meta-bisulfate. I have a lifetime supply of Star San. Does anyone use that. If not, why not? If its also tradition, I can get in line with that. I still follow the Reichstag laws. No cherry milkshake pumpkin stouts in my recipe book!
 
Yes, it is :) I read everywhere to sanitize with potassium meta-bisulfate. I have a lifetime supply of Star San. Does anyone use that. If not, why not? If its also tradition, I can get in line with that. I still follow the Reichstag laws. No cherry milkshake pumpkin stouts in my recipe book!

Welcome to WMT! Yes, I use Starsan for my normal sanitizing, and k-meta for some spritzing on things.

Did you mean Reinheitsgebot? Here is what kills me: The law didn't mean "Beer should be pure, so you can only use barley and hops. We value the purity of beer above all." It meant "You stupid gits, don't be fermenting all the valuable wheat and rye that people need for bread! Otherwise, our people will be starving drunkards!"
 
Craig has a good answer, reds can let oxygen in. This implies that whites and fruit do not/ should not let air in.
If commercial folks are doing a “reductive white“ style wine they will go to extremes as nitrogen flush the grape press to minimize oxygen. Feeding oxygen to the yeast is over played.
 
Oooh, I forgot to welcome you to WMT, @Fort Robert Brewing . My bad. Welcome to WMT, home to answers for all your questions. You will find this place full of friendly people with lots of information and a great place to 'bend the elbow' with fellow winemakers.

I don't use Star San myself but that is a personal choice. I use OxiClean, marketed as a laundry cleaner, for general cleaning and potassium metabisulfite for sanitizing. Bleach seems to be no-no around here.
 
Welcome to WMT! Yes, I use Starsan for my normal sanitizing, and k-meta for some spritzing on things.

Did you mean Reinheitsgebot? Here is what kills me: The law didn't mean "Beer should be pure, so you can only use barley and hops. We value the purity of beer above all." It meant "You stupid gits, don't be fermenting all the valuable wheat and rye that people need for bread! Otherwise, our people will be starving drunkards!"

This is absolutely true! The Reinheitsgebot was primarily a food and price control law, not a so called beer purity law. Although the word translates to " beer purity" it was about making sure there was wheat, spelt, and rye to make the delicious German breads (which if you haven't had it, you haven't had bread IMO- ;)) .Lots of folks don't know any thing about the food control aspect much less the seasonal price control aspect. To this day in Germany beer glasses and steins have a graduation mark, you buy a half liter of beer you get a half liter of beer and foam on top, here in America almost all places that sell a pint for instance sell you maybe 14 oz of beer and 2 oz of foam for the "pint" price. I bring this up quite often at breweries and brew pubs especially those that call themself German style beer breweries or have the Reinheitsgebot posted or referenced in their literature. I almost always get blank stares, I could count on one hand how many times the person knew this out of the dozens, perhaps a hundred times I've said this.
 
Anyway back to the OP! I agree that almost no one oxygenates their wines with a compressed gas setup but I do, at least my red wines. I come to wine making from being a long time beer brewer and I know that during the lag phase when yeast are multiplying they need oxygen. They can certainly get it from the air in an cloth covered open fermentation but I have an oxygenation setup.
Why not use it and put some oxygen into solution in the must just before pitching? I also know from brewing that one can indeed over oxygenate so I use just exactly what you reference Fort Robert, pure oxygen through a 0.5 micron stone for about 15 and no more than 20 seconds in a 6 gal batch right before pitching my yeast starter. Yeast starters are another thing that most wine makers do not use but again I am originally a brewer, so why not make a starter.
Now to all the wine makers who do not have an oxygenation setup or make starters, I am not telling you that you need to do this, people made wine (and beer) for centuries before purified compressed gases were available.
So Fort Robert, as a fellow beer brewer I say if you have an oxygenation setup you can indeed oxygenate your red wine must immediately before pitching, just do not over oxygenate your must. Is it absolutely necessary? No, but it will reduce lag phase time as you probably know.

Edit: I use StarSan extensively to sanitize all my equipment, it works fine in wine making too.
2nd Edit: I use a Brute food grade container as an open fermentor too, no airtight fermentors until nearly finished fermenting
 
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Thanks for the info from all sides in response to my OP. I have all week to research initial process choices. My kit is expected to arrive the 15th and I will study instructions and contents before finalizing my decisions. For the first batch I would likely be well advised to stick to the kit’s step by step. I am excited about beginning this expansion of my fermentation expedition. From bread to beer and now wine. Thanks.
 
Two changes in the kit process -- the instructions will tell you to wait X days before 1st racking. During fermentation, ignore the calendar. Use your hydrometer to determine when to rack. Most wines will be between 0.990 and 0.996 when fermentation is complete. Folk rack between 1.020 and "done" for various reasons, all good. If you have a red kit with skins, rack closer to done to give the wine more skin contact. If it's a white or red w/o skins, it doesn't matter.

2nd tip -- after fermentation, treat all time frames as minimum values, e.g., treat "2 weeks" as "at least 2 weeks". I understand you're building up a drinking stock, but rushing wine does not work. Wine will do its thing without regard to your feelings. ;)

Otherwise, follow the instructions as written. The instructions are written for complete beginners and are designed to ensure everyone has a successful result.
 
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I will have more questions. Thanks. Have a good night.
Welcome to the hobby! This forum is awesome and people are genuine and kind to each other, and give great answers to your questions. There's a range of experiences from beginners to masters after decades, so there's many folks where you are and many folks to give guidance.

If you want some more kits or equipment, I tend to go to Label Peelers to get all my stuff: Label Peelers Wine Making and Homebrewing Equipment and Supplies and they're part of this wine forum so can sometimes weigh in on questions. Their videos are based on years of making and selling. Learning To Make Wine 1 of 4 - YouTube

I have Daniel's book. as well and he's super knowledgeable. He also had a Facebook group called (20+) Home Winemaking | Groups | Facebook that you can join and get his opinion directly. I am in it and find that since he's an author and a winemaker, he's great at giving advice based on facts and not opinions. Daniel also helped Texas-based Jack Keller's family finish his book on fruit, nut, weed, and other wines after Jack died, so if you want to get this book and have questions, Daniel is the guy for that as well: Home Winemaking: The Simple Way to Make Delicious Wine: Keller Jr., Jack B., Pambianchi, Daniel: 9781591939474: Amazon.com: Books

Tim Vandergrift is in Daniel's forum and he's designed kits and equipment for a long time so his videos are really great: Tim Vandergrift - YouTube
 
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