When wines are produced, they definitely pass through a winery and perhaps through a wine cellar as well. But this doesn’t mean that the two are similar. They serve two completely different purposes and are not necessarily connected with each other. Wineries produce and create the wine, while wine cellars just provide the best place to store it.
Wineries
A winery is defined as a property that produces wine for consumption. The wine-making process involves experimenting with different types of grapes, searching for unique, yet delicious flavours, and then storing the final products in large containers such as wooden casks for the fermentation process. A winery doesn’t need to have their own grape vineyard. Owners can always settle contracts with grape growers. Wine producers are mainly responsible for the creation of wine from grape or any other fruit that owners plan to make them from.
Types of Wineries
There are several kinds of wineries. Large ones usually have their own grape vineyards and bottling manufactures, and these types are usually referred to as commercial wineries. Micro-wineries or farm wineries are smaller ones where they grow their own grapes and sell wine on their property without needing to distribute it. Many estates are popular tourist spots because they offer wine tasting services.
Wine Cellars
Wine cellars are defined as rooms where wines placed in barrels, bottles, amphorae, carboys or plastic containers are stored. Wine cellars need to have important factors such as temperature and humidity. Alcoholic beverages can be stored at temperatures between 7-18 °C or 45-64 °F. A temperature of 13°C (55°F) is ideal for both short-term and long-term storage and aging of alcoholic beverages. Wine matures differently and slower in rooms with lower temperatures, than it does in rooms with higher temperatures. Temperatures at 14 degrees or more allow wine to breathe through the cork which speeds up the aging process, however if temperatures are between 10-14°C, they will age at a normal speed.
Types of wine cellars
There are four kinds. Active wine cellars use appliances to artificially create ideal surroundings for the storage of alcoholic beverages, such as air conditioners, humidifiers or ventilation systems. Passive wine cellars, on the other hand, are not climate-controlled. They, however, have natural environment settings that are set up beforehand to store alcoholic beverages in the best conditions possible and are usually placed underground in dark basements or caves to reduce temperature swings. A wine cellar above the ground is often referred to as a wine room, while a small wine cellar that stores less than 500 bottles of alcoholic beverages, is called a wine closet. Cellars are dark and maintain a constant temperature at all times, protecting the alcohol from harmful substances. If such alcoholic beverages are exposed to different elements such as heat, light, vibration, or unstable temperatures and humidity, they will spoil, no matter what kind or type they are. When stored properly, alcoholic beverages not only sustain their quality, but they can actually improve their aroma, flavour and complexity as they grow old with time. Wines are often given by husbands to their wives to woo them by saying “may our love improve with time as wines do with age”.
