Alrighty, I havethe kitcooking and have something to report back.
First thing I noticed about the instructions what that they specifically stated leave the I the primary lid loose to allow oxygen.
Also to stir daily to circulate, you all know I'm a "stirrer" so I liked that part especially.
Secondly they state that when doing the first racking to splash it and add the yeast nutrient then, to envigorate a new yeast culture to push it to drieness.
Very good directions so far in my opinion.
Now the juice: They give you 16L which is a good sized lit. They add 8 oz water with the bentonite, 2 oz to rehydrate the yeast and 1 liter to rinse the bag the juice came in. Then they add 6 more liters of water.
I added the water a liter at a time stirring thoroughly and taking hydrometer readings. Since they give you ec-118 I know the yeast can handle higher alcohol production so I held back 1.5 liters of water of water. I figure I can sacrifice a couple of bottles of wine and have more alcohol and stronger varietal flavor. I also figure I can add some back too if I really need to. I think I can get away with this because the acid and tannin in kits are on the low side as to be more palletable to a broader range of folks and I always wind up adding more of each in anways these days so I figured I'd play. My starting specific gravity with the 1.5 liters with held is 1.1 on the nose, a very nice 24.5 % brix. If I have done my math right that'll give me a little over 13% alcohol with a little stronger varietal flavor. The tannin in the juice is better than average.
Now I have to get 1.5 liters worth of marbles to displace the water I held back or something else, haven't decided yet.
Welp, that's all for now. I'll post back in a few days how everything is fermenting....