Those of you who are used to making wines can just skip this post. You won't miss anything as it is slightly
Those of you asking about this who obviously aren't very familiar with wine making... .
When I start a new batch I always add 1 crushed Campden tablet per gallon or 1/4 tsp potassium metabisulfite if I'm doing 5 gallons. You need to let that sit with a sanitised cloth or napkin over it for 24 hours before you pitch your yeast to allow the gas to escape. This will kill off almost all of the nasties that might be in the juice, including any wild yeast which might want to compete with whatever strain you choose to pitch. I know a few people who don't always, but you really should do this whether the recipe calls for it or not.
After you pitch the yeast, you still want to keep it covered with just a cloth or napkin secured with a rubber band for the first 4-7 days. This part is called primary fermentation. It needs air! If you fit an airlock during this stage it can cause all sorts of weird problems.
I'm a little new to this myself but I've found that stirring it once a day during this time also
seems to help it out. I'm not positive that it helps, but since I'm not the only person who does this, I feel comfortable recommending it. Just remember to first sanitise
anything you might be sticking in the juice at this point!
When primary is done you want to rack to another fermentation vessel and fit an airlock for the duration.
I know this last topic has been covered already, but I'd like to add my 2 cents: The choice of using potassium sorbate or not is up to you.
If you plan to leave it dry, there is no need for potassium sorbate at all, so don't even worry about it.
If you plan to sweeten and consume very soon after fermentation, you can start out with only enough sugar to ferment to the desired alcohol level and then sweeten to taste afterwards, you can get away with skipping the sorbate. However, if you don't plan to consume
all of it soon after, you really should add the sorbate anyway just to be safe. Trust me, you don't want to drink something with active yeast in it.
Alternatively, you can add enough sugar to ferment to a higher alcohol level and then add potassium sorbate to stop it at the desired alcohol level and preserve any unfermented sugars at the point you find enjoyable. It wouldn't hurt to also do the Campden tab/potassium metabisulfite again at the same time as the sorbate if you choose this route.
As far as carbing... I think that's up to the individual. It doesn't sound good to me.
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