Hey,

First timer making a kit wine (Merlot) and struggling to comprehend the
minimalist instructions.

Currently at the degassing stage (Day 21, SG 0.996). From doing a
little research I have read that this is really only applicable for kit
wines to make them ready faster, and that the wine would degas on its
own given the time. Being newbies, we don't have the patience to wait a
couple of months and so we are proceeding to degas.

My questions a
* what amount of degassing is appropriate?
* what are the signs that enough CO2 has been removed?

We don't have any fancy stirring doowhackeys (vacuum pumps and the like)
and are just stirring it using a long spoon. The plan was to stir the
wine about 5 times over 2 days for about 2-3 minutes at a time.

Thanks,
Adam