Hygiene: Current practice

Hygiene is regarded as vital by modern winemakers (although it is still ignored by some traditional or peasant winemakers, several of whom somehow manage to produce top-quality wine). Old cellars, while usually more picturesque, are almost impossible to keep clean and free of bacteria and wild yeasts.

Most modern wineries, on the other hand, are designed with sanitation and hygiene in mind. stainless steel tanks can be easily cleaned and sanitized; hard floors are designed to drain dry; and all equipment is sited and mounted so that it can be cleaned thoroughly around, above, and below the unit. Vast quantities of water are used, together with non-foaming detergents and sterilizing agents, by carefully trained staff. In many wineries, all places where finished wine is exposed to the atmosphere are in separate, essentially sterile rooms, and care is taken particularly during bottling, to its limit in sterile bottling. See also winery waste.