Primary fermentation kicks in usually around day 4 or 5. Until then the must cap is mostly still in the juice. Once the fermentation gets going and the temperature rises, the must cap will rise well above the juice. I use the must puncher to push everything back down so the wine can ferment properly and extract as much flavor as possible from the grapes. This process happens three times a day for two weeks until Pressing Day.
As temperatures come back down it is a good idea to stop the hard punch and go for a more gentle push because for the siphoning on Pressing Day you want as much must free liquid in the bottom of the drum as possible. For this punch I use a heavy plastic disk and just push until wine flows over the top.
