I am a first time wine maker and have a question concerning time of fermentation for a wine concentrate. I started my wine on March 20th, on day 10 fermentation stopped, no bubbles through air lock. The kit says wait 14 days before you Rack your wine from the fermenter. Am I right thinking that fermentation is over with and I can Rack now or do I wait until the 14th day? Fermentation was vigerous for 10 days but now now bubbles. Can anyone suggest next step. Thanks, Steve

Welcome to the forum. When you are doing one of those kits I would follow those directions as close as possible. When they write up the directions for those kits they have to cover all bases for many different fermentation conditions. Your wine sitting with an airlock for an extra few days won't hurt it. All that said, your wine has probably finished it's fermentation. Unless you are measuring SG etc. the directions for those kits work very well and you will get a pretty good wine. Although those kits make pretty good wine you have to have a little experience before you start making modifications to them.

When someone wants to learn how to make wine I always suggest buying an inexpensive juice at the local grocer. Very cheap way to make wine and if something should go wrong you are not out a lot of money.

To get into winemaking you need some basic equipment. Primary fermenter (large food grade plastic trash can), Couple of carboys, hydrometer, large plastic spoon, airlocks, plastic tubing for racking, acid titration kit (recommended but not really required), and some basic chemicals. One step or similar product for cleaning, campden tablets, pectic enzyme, bentonite, yeast nutrient, wine tannin, and acid blend. After you made wine a few times you can add things as needed to make the job easier.

The main thing that will make the best wine is patience. Don't try to hurry the wine.

I would rack the wine to a secondary fermenter and wait the 14 days, then bottle.

If it is a kit with directions I would try to follow the directions as close as possible. If you are buying off the shelf concentrate or juice things get slightly different. For kits, some of them are wine coolers, less alcohol, and they have their own agenda with magic packets of chemicals for clearing the wine rapidly. Generally new wine makers want to get it done and start drinking their product. The companies that manufacture those kits want to get it done quickly. All of that said, one day either way isn't too important. If you have an airlock on the primary, which most kits suggest, you are pretty safe when the bubbles stop. Once the bubbles stop and your SG is 1.000 rack it to the secondary and replace the airlock. Make sure you have minimum head space.

Here is a basic proceedure you can follow for off the shelf juices, or concentrates.

Put everything in the primary, if it is closed with an airlock that is OK. However, the primary does not need an airlock as long as you are watching it everyday. Set the SG to approx 1.090 which will give you approx 12% alcohol. If you have a titration acid kit set the acid at about .60% for fruit juice, or about .70% for grape juice. Add 1/2 teaspoon of pectic enzyme for every gallon, add 1 crushed campden tablet per gallon, stir everything up and place a dish towel over the top if it is an open primary. I then stir the primary once or twice a day and when the SG drops below 1.020 (approx) you can rack it to the secondary. Rack too soon and you will overflow the airlock in the secondary. If you have an open primary and wait too long your wine can turn to vinegar. The next racking from the secondary should be about 2 or 3 weeks. If you wait too long you can get a sulphur odor. Exact timing isn't that critical. You basically want to get the wine off of the gross lees. After that rack every 60 days (approx) . After fermentation is over add campden 1/2 tablet per gallon at every racking or 1 tablet per gallon every other racking. Campden keeps the wine from oxidizing. Oxidized wine has a brown tint and has a burned taste.