A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in making wine. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes:

• Cooperating with viticulturists
• Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to determine the correct time for harvest
• Crushing and pressing grapes
• Monitoring the settling of juice and the fermentation of grape material
• Filtering the wine to remove remaining solids
• Testing the quality of wine by tasting
• Placing filtered wine in casks or tanks for storage and maturation
• Preparing plans for bottling wine once it has matured
• Making sure that quality is maintained when the wine is bottled^[1]

Today, these duties require an increasing amount of scientific knowledge, since laboratory tests are gradually supplementing or replacing traditional methods. Winemakers can also be referred to as oenologists as they study oenology - the science of wine.

[edit] Vigneron

A vigneron is someone who cultivates a vineyard for winemaking. The word connotes or emphasizes the critical role that vineyard placement and maintenance has in the production of high-quality wine.^[2] The term, French for someone who works in a vineyard, is used in Australia^[3][4][5] and when referring to a winemaker from France.^[6][7]

Vincent of Saragossa is the patron saint of vignerons.

[edit] See also

• Oenology
• Vignerons indépendants de France
• Viticulture

[edit] References