Vineyards are places of constant activity, with daily care provided by laborers and chemical analysis conducted by winemakers. Some vineyards sell wine directly, while others sell grapes in bulk. The growth of vineyards can drive out other crops, leading to complaints from some residents.
If you happen to live in any region that produces wine, you are probably already familiar with the sight of grape fields, grown solely for the purpose of making wine or sometimes wine vinegar. Acres of land may be devoted to vineyards, and in some parts of the world, the land is divided into sections where different types of grapes are grown. For example, a vineyard could have one part of the land devoted to the cultivation of Chardonnay grapes, another to Pinot Noir and a third to Zinfandel. When it’s time to pick the grapes, which can have slightly different harvest times, the vintners pick the sections separately, so there’s no confusion about which grapes will make which types of wine.
Except during the winter months when the vines are dormant, a vineyard is a place of extraordinary activity. Daily laborers, in the United States, mainly migrant and immigrant workers, provide daily care for growing grapes, apply fertilizer or chemical sprays as needed, and check the grapes for problems or the presence of molds or pests. An invisible aspect of the vineyard, if the wine is produced on site, are the laboratory workers. Not only do they evaluate the chemical nature of the wine that is already bottled, but they observe the chemical makeup of the grapes as they ripen to determine when they are ripe and what adjustments may be needed once the grapes are pressed. They will then evaluate the grape juice for it to be ready to be sold as wine. Chemists who work as analysts and winemakers are called winemakers.
Vineyards may also engage in the sale of wine directly from a tasting room or offer guided tours of the winemaking apparatus. Many wineries not only sell wines to larger distributors, but also sell wine on site and offer visitors the opportunity to sample their different varietals. This means that a vineyard attached to a cellar will have a chemistry staff and one dedicated to customer service, marketing and distribution. Jobs as tasting experts or tour guides are common at larger wineries. Some wineries are so small that they only distribute from their cellar or to shoppers who approach them, such as individual restaurants. This reduces marketing costs and allows the winery to make more profit from direct wine sales.
Not all vineyards produce or sell wine. One growing market is simply growing wine grapes, which are then sold in bulk to larger wineries. In fact, even a number of wineries that grow grapes on site may source some of their grapes from other countries or regions. The larger the winery, the greater the chance that at least some grapes are not grown on site.
In various areas designated as wine countries, where a lot of wine is produced, some people love the look of vineyards, especially in the fall when the grape leaves turn orange, yellow and purple. Others complain that too many vineyards can drive out other crops as it is a more lucrative agricultural market. One complaint made by many who live in Sonoma County, California’s wine country, is the sheer number of vineyards that have replaced apple, other fruit and nut orchards. The Gravenstein apple, largely considered one of the superlative baking apples, was grown primarily in Sebastopol, California. It has now been designated a slow food, because so many apple orchards have been cleared to generate more vineyard space.
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