consultants are used with increasing frequency in wine production, selling, and occasionally consumption. Consultant viticulturists are particularly useful since those who operate on an international scale can impart knowledge gleaned from a wide variety of different vine-growing environments, although strictly local specialists such as David Abreu in northern California can forge an international reputation. Like viticulturists, the more energetic consultant oenologists can use their expertise in both hemispheres, although their work is necessarily limited by the timing of harvest. One of the first internationally famous consultant oenologists was Professor Émile peynaud. Today his best-known successor from Bordeaux is Michel rolland, although dozens of other highly respected consultants operate in Bordeaux alone and there are now hundreds of winemakers who travel the globe and offer, if not consultancy, then hard graft (see flying winemakers). Consultants play an increasingly important role in wine production everywhere but have long been particularly important in Bordeaux, California, and Italy, where the likes of Riccardo cotarella are liberally used for marketing purposes.
