When to stop punching the cap?

[Anderson_NJ]

My first wine kit is in primary fermentation. It started at 1.094 and is approximately 90% finished at day 8. The kit came with grape skins and the directions say to punch down daily until the next step at day 14, or at the stabilizing/degassing step. The grape skins are currently in a muslin bag. I know that punching down the cap is good in the beginning of fermentation as it introduces oxygen to help the yeast. It also helps avoid bacteria growth and regulate the cap temperature. However, is punching down the cap in the later stages of fermentation really a good idea? I’m worried that this will oxygenate the must. Does anyone have an opinion on this?

 

[Seamonkey84]

I’ve been punching and gently degassing my fruit wines right up till I pull the bag. As long as it’s still actively fermenting, you relatively safe as far as oxygen goes. Just don’t splash it around. I remove the fruit bag and rack the entire content into a carboy before it’s completely done (usually 5-10 SG points left to drop) so it finishes primary in a carboy and allowed to clear.
I am about to do my first wine kit too, but I’m not going to use the timeline they layed out, I’m going By gravity readings and I’m going to bulk age.

 

[lukebuz]

Once you hit 1.005 to 1.010, I remove fruit and put in carboy. It's nearly done, flavor is extracted. This way, no worries about mold or Oxy exposure. 14 days is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to long. I'm usually done no later than 7 days.

 

[Anderson_NJ]

Thanks for the input gents. I think I'll start doing this moving forward.