Winery
Encyclopedia
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
s, bottling line
Bottling line
Bottling lines are production lines that fill a product, generally a beverage, into bottles on a large scale.-Wine bottling process:The first step in bottling wine is depalletising, where the empty wine bottles are removed from the original pallet packaging delivered from the manufacturer, so that...
s, laboratories
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
, and large expanses of tanks known as tank farms. The oldest winery in the world found to date is a 6,000 year old winery in the Areni
Areni
Areni is a village in the Vayots Dzor Province of Armenia. It is best known for its wine production, although the majority of wine produced locally is from the nearby village of Getap. The church of S. Astvatsatsin is a single-nave two-aisled domed Armenian church completed in the year 1321, and...
region of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, which is still a wine making region today.
Purpose
Winemaker
A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes:*Cooperating with viticulturists...
s to produce various wines from grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
s by following the winemaking process. This process involves the fermentation of fruit, as well as blending and aging of the juice. The grapes may be from vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
s owned by the winery or may be bought in from other locations. Many wineries also give tour
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
s and have cellar door
Cellar door
The English compound noun cellar door is commonly used as an example of a word or phrase which is beautiful in terms of phonaesthetics with no regard for semantics...
s or tasting rooms where customers can taste wines
Wine tasting
Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onwards...
before they make a purchase. Winery architecture is very varied and rich and it is used by wineries as a way to promote their wines and cellar doors.
Types and locations
While some associate wineries with large winemaking regions such as Napa ValleyNapa County, California
Napa County is a county located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is coterminous with the Napa, California, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 the population is 136,484. The county seat is Napa....
and Sonoma Valley
Sonoma Valley
Sonoma Valley is the birthplace of the California wine industry and often called The Valley of the Moon. Sonoma Valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards and wineries in the state, some of which survived the phylloxera epidemic of the 1870s and the impact of Prohibition...
in California or the legendary wine regions of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(Bordeaux
Bordeaux wine regions
The wine regions of Bordeaux are the area around the city of Bordeaux within the Gironde department of Aquitaine. The region is naturally divided by the Gironde River into a Left Bank area which includes the Médoc and the subregions of St-Estèphe, Pauillac, St.-Julien, and Margaux and a Right Bank...
, Burgundy
Burgundy wine
Burgundy wine is wine made in the Burgundy region in eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône River, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here - those commonly referred to as "Burgundies" - are red wines made from Pinot Noir grapes or white wines made from...
, Champagne) and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, wineries can be found nearly everywhere. The east coast of the United States also has winemaking regions like the Finger Lakes region, Aquidneck Island
Aquidneck Island
Aquidneck Island, located in the state of Rhode Island, is the largest island in Narragansett Bay. The island's official name is Rhode Island, and the common use of name "Aquidneck Island" helps distinguish the island from the state. The total land area is 97.9 km²...
, RI and Long Island, NY and Cape May, NJ. Wineries do not have to be located adjacent to vineyards; grapes can be shipped anywhere. In addition, people make wine out of other fruits and plants
Fruit wine
Fruit wines are fermented alcoholic beverages made from a variety of base ingredients ; they may also have additional flavours taken from fruits, flowers, and herbs. This definition is sometimes broadened to include any fermented alcoholic beverage except beer...
(dandelion wine, apple wine, strawberry wine), so these specialty wineries tend to pop up where the other substances are grown. For example, in Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
, there is a pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
winery.
Farm wineries
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
have given a special permit to open a satellite store in a tourist area. New York's passing of the Farm Winery Act of 1976
New York Farm Winery Act of 1976
The New York Farm Winery Act of 1976 is a law that allows grape growers in New York to establish wineries and sell directly to the public, subject to a maximum of annually....
set an example for other states to pass similar laws.
Farm wineries usually operate at a smaller scale than commercial wineries. Farm wineries are a form of value added marketing, known as agritourism
Agritourism
Agritourism, as it is defined most broadly, involves any agriculturally-based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. Agritourism has different definitions in different parts of the world, and sometimes refers specifically to farm stays, as in Italy...
, for farmers who may otherwise struggle to show a profit.
Micro-winery
A micro-winery is a small wineWine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
producer that does not have its own vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
, and instead sources its grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
product from outside suppliers. The concept is similar to a microbrewery
Microbrewery
A microbrewery or craft brewer is a brewery which produces a limited amount of beer, and is associated by consumers with innovation and uniqueness....
, in that small batches of product are made primarily for local consumption. The concept of the micro-winery is not as easily accepted as that of the microbrewery, however, as the general public has been conditioned to associate a winery as having a vineyard. A winery uses similar wine-making equipment as a major commercial winery, just on a smaller scale. Glass carboy
Carboy
A carboy is a rigid container with a typical capacity of 5 to 15 gallons . Carboys are primarily used for transporting fluids, often water or chemicals.They are also used for in-home fermentation of beverages, often wine.-Brewing:...
s and sanitary plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
pails are often seen in the facilities of a micro-winery. Typically, each batch of wine yields 23 Liters (6 US gallons).One of the primary differences of a micro-winery as compared to a typical winery is that a micro-winery is typically able to offer a wider range of wines; as it is not tied to the grapes it grows. New York State provides a specific micro-winery license that requires the microwinery to purchase local ingredients.
Urban winery
The urban winery is a recent phenomenon whereby a wineWine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
producer chooses to locate their winemaking
Winemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
facility in an urban setting within a city rather than in the traditional rural setting near the vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
s. With advances in technology and transportation, it is not a problem for an urban winery to grow their grapes in a remote location and then transport them to the urban facility for crushing, fermentation
Fermentation (wine)
The process of fermentation in wine turns grape juice into an alcoholic beverage. During fermentation, yeast interact with sugars in the juice to create ethanol, commonly known as ethyl alcohol, and carbon dioxide...
and aging. Urban wineries have been opened in cities across the United States including New York, Seattle, Cincinnati, Portland (Oregon), Frederick (Maryland), San Diego, Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Francisco to name a few.
Wine aficionados traditionally had to travel to remote areas to learn about winemaking firsthand and to taste the offerings of a wine producer in the setting in which they were made. Now, many urban dwellers can hop in their car for a short drive or take public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
ation or even walk, and have an authentic winery experience. Many urban wineries offer productions tours and a traditional tasting room for this purpose and also offer retail sales
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
of their wines. This allows the consumer to purchase directly from the source ensuring that wines have been stored correctly and not subjected to extreme conditions that can occur in transport which can occasionally result in spoiled wines.
A few urban wineries are also incorporating full service
Full service
Full service is a term that has many different uses. In general the term implies that the customer will receive as much service as is reasonably possible.-Gas station:...
restaurants or venues for live entertainment. Many also offer their customers the ability to make their own wine under the guidance of their winemaking team. Amateur winemakers can choose the grape varieties, select an appellation
Appellation
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown; other types of food often have appellations as well...
, make production decisions along the way and participate in the final blending, bottling and even design their own labels. This has spawned a new generation of boutique wines that are available in micro quantities as small as 30 bottles.
There are places in North America where making wine in this fashion is not currently allowed due to state or provincial legislation. In these cases, stores that sell a wide variety of ingredients allowing consumers to make their own wine at home are often referred to as "Urban Wineries".
Winery wastewater
Winery wastewater is primarily generated during the cleaning of winemaking equipment and facilities. The quantity and quality of wastewater shows seasonal variations. Wastewater handling involves collection, possible treatment, then disposal and/or reuse.Peak wastewater generation occurs during the "crush", in other words, when grapes are actively being processed into juice for fermentation. This process requires large amounts of clean water for washing newly harvested grapes, and results in a high wastewater output. To a lesser degree, wastewater is produced if boilers or water conditioning equipment is used.