Just like commercial wineries, the most active stage of winemaking is the first 7 to 14 days.  During this time, you should be present at least twice a day for reds if you want to punch down the rising skins yourself.  If not, then you can use our submerged method. Just follow our action requests when they appear.   

 

You don't need to be present for white wines everyday but it will benefit you as a winemaker to smell and taste once a day.  If you miss some days, just monitor progress on your phone.   After that, you need only attend to your wine once every few days until the secondary fermentation is complete.   Then once a month for several months until bottling.  All together, you can bottle your own great wine in 6-8 hours of your time.   Everyone is different and first time winemakers tend to check on their wines more often than experienced winemakers do (in our experience) just like first time parents!