Grower

grower, the all-important producer of the raw material for winemaking. This individual may be called a grape-grower, more precisely a vine-grower, possibly even a wine-grower (or winegrower) if he or she also vinifies. Terms in other languages include vigneron and viticulteur in French, and vignaiolo in Italian. Wine producers who grow their own grapes and vinify them into wine but on a limited scale are often referred to somewhat carelessly and often inaccurately as small growers. A significant proportion of all vine-growers produce only grapes, however, which they sell to co-operatives, merchant-bottlers (see négociant), or larger wine operations.