I have a 6 gallon primary fermentor and a large 6 gallon glass carboy.

My question. I am making peach/raspberry wine. I have 1lb. raspberries and 6lbs peaches. The recipe for my 6 gallon primary indicates 13 lbs of peaches. BUT...can I cut the batch in half and only add say 3 gallons of water to my primary fermentor?

Please understand this will be my first batch of wine and I don't know if the extra space in my fermentor and eventually my carboy will ruin my wine. In fact I'm not sure I know what I'm doing at all the recipe I have is very vague.

Thank you for any advice you can provide.
Tj

That's exactly what you should do ... cut the amount of water in 1/2 and use the 6 gallon as a primary. The extra amount of room won't make a difference in the initial fermentation but you'll want to rack it to a 3 gallon after your primary is complete. During the portion of fermentation when the yeast is actively growing and changing the sugar to alcohol, they're also creating carbon dioxide that provides a barrier between the wine and air so the wine is protected but once the fermentation stops, you want to minimize the amount of space in the fermenter to reduce the air contact with the wine.