"DssSouth" > wrote:

> I plan on crushing ~700 lbs of grapes this weekend, but will be going away
> next weekend and will NOT be near the must. Can I delay the process of
> starting the fermentation till Thursday. I will be there during the week
to
> add the Camden tablets, monitor the temperature and push down the cap. Any
> recomendations?

It's best to crush your grapes as soon after harvest as possible, and it's
best to begin fermentation as soon as possible after the crush. The quality
deteriorates if you do not, and must problems become more difficult to
solve. I'm not sure that an unattended must is any less risky than an
unattended fermentation, but I suppose you could either refrigerate (or
freeze) the must, or sulfite it to death, and delay the start of
fermentation.

You're not seriously going to sulfite a 700 lb. must with Campden tablets?
Assuming your crush yielded only 1 gallon per 15 pounds you will have 47
gallons of juice. To sulphite it to 50ppm, you would need to crush and
dissolve 47 tablets! Why not buy some metabisulphite powder and toss in 2.5
teaspoons!

Actually, if you crush and begin your fermentation this weekend, you will
probably be fairly close to pressing by next weekend. It only takes 3-5 days
for a red fermentation to get to 0 Brix at 75-80ºF (which is the best
temperature for extraction of colour and flavour). I would rather delay
pressing for a few days than the onset of fermentation. You will have to
figure out how to keep the cap from drying for 2-3 days, if it hasn't sunk
by then. This can be done with some sort of pump and a sprayer (the juice is
pumped and sprayed atop the cap). If the cap has sunk before you leave,
cover the must with polythene sheeting, cover the primary, and affix and
airlock.

A few years ago, I had 4 fermenters almost ready to press, and ended up in
hospital for a week (with no time to do anything to protect the wine). I
expected everything to be ruined when I got home, but it wasn't. The cap had
sunk, so it didn't dry out, and the wine was still effervescing enough to
keep out the baddies. You may (or may not) have similar good fortune.