cellar work, general term for all the processing steps requiring human intervention or monitoring in winemaking. In its most general sense it encompasses all operations included in winemaking. In the narrower human sense of what cellar workers actually do, apart from overseeing grape reception, destemming, crushing, fermentation, clarification, filtration, blending, stabilization, and bottling, it generally entails operating pumps, adding fining agents and other additions or processing aids, and almost constant cleaning (see hygiene). Cellars in which small barrels are used for both fermentation and maturation involve the most physical work, including filling, racking and moving barrels, topping up, and possibly stirring. See also élevage.
