The original poster - Brewhound28 asked:
Does anybody know if you can make wine in a conical fermenter?
The answer is Yes it can, Billtzk has addressed almost every variable and a bunch of potential issues.... the original question is
"Does anybody know if you can make wine in a conical fermenter?", not "tell me how I cannot use the Conical fermenter for wine."
Instead of writing a 3 page essay on why and how Brewhound28 shouldn't use the conical fermenter when we don't even know what kind of wine he will be making, my guess is that it will be a kit, if that is correct, the conical will be perfect, you wont have to worry about grape skins and punching down, if oak is included, put it in a muslin bag and tie it off and toss it in the fermenter.
As far as the wine "must be racked a minimum of twice"...? where did this rule come from?
If you're able to get rid of the lees/sediment by opening the valve, that solves that issue, no need to rack it off the lees, you'll be draining the lees off.
Aging the wine in the fermenter is something that I'm not familiar with, but I am fairly certain that it can be done.
Another question that came up is "how are you going to punch down the cap"...again, I don't see the problem, punch down the cap like you would do with any other fermenter.
I'm always curious what people mean when they say "secondary fermentation?" ...
The only secondary fermentation would be Malolactic fermentation, you may rack into a secondary container to age, but the only fermentations are the Alcoholic fermentation, and Malolactic fermentation.
I hope that Brewhound28 does a little research and finds out that not all of the advice that is posted is good advice, private message me, I'm glad to help.