Winemaking in the context of "Sparkling wine production"

Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region on the coast of the Black Sea. It is located at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia, and is today generally regarded as part of Europe. It is bordered to the north and northeast by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. Georgia covers an area of 69,700 square kilometres (26,900 sq mi). It has a population of 3.9 million, of which over a third live in the capital and largest city, Tbilisi. Ethnic Georgians, who are native to the region, constitute a majority of the country's population and are its titular nation.

Georgia has been inhabited since prehistory, hosting the world's earliest known sites of winemaking, gold mining, and textiles. The classical era saw the emergence of several kingdoms, such as Colchis and Iberia, that formed the nucleus of the modern Georgian state. In the early fourth century, Georgians officially adopted Christianity, which contributed to their unification under the Kingdom of Georgia. Georgia reached its Golden Age during the High Middle Ages under the reigns of King David IV and Queen Tamar. Beginning in the 15th century, the kingdom declined and disintegrated due to internal discord and pressure from various regional powers, including the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire, and Persia, before being gradually annexed into the Russian Empire starting in 1801.

A vineyard (/ˈvɪnjərd/ VIN-yərd, UK also /ˈvɪnjɑːrd/ VIN-yard) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards are often characterised by their terroir, a French term loosely translating as "a sense of place" that refers to the specific geographical and geological characteristics of grapevine plantations, which may be imparted to the wine itself.

Wine is an alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice. It is produced and consumed in many regions around the world, in a wide variety of styles which are influenced by different varieties of grapes, growing environments, viticulture methods, and production techniques.

Wine has been produced for thousands of years, the earliest evidence dating from c. 6000 BCE in present-day Georgia. Its popularity spread around the Mediterranean during Classical antiquity, and was sustained in Western Europe by winemaking monks and a secular trade for general drinking. New World wine was established by settler colonies from the 16th century onwards, and the wine trade increased dramatically up to the latter half of the 19th century, when European vineyards were largely destroyed by the invasive pest phylloxera. After the Second World War, the wine market improved dramatically as winemakers focused on quality and marketing to cater for a more discerning audience, and wine remains a popular drink in much of the world.

Grape seed oil (also called grapeseed oil or grape oil) is a vegetable oil derived from the seeds of grapes. Grape seeds are a winemaking by-product, and oil made from the seeds is commonly used as an edible oil.

A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus Vitis. Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.

The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,000 years ago, and the fruit has been used as human food throughout its history. Eaten fresh or in dried form (as raisins, currants and sultanas), grapes also hold cultural significance in many parts of the world, particularly for their role in winemaking. Other grape-derived products include various types of jam, juice, vinegar and oil.

Viticulture (Latin: vitis cultura, "vine-growing"), viniculture (vinis cultura, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, ranges from Western Europe to the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, the vine has demonstrated high levels of adaptability to new environments, hence viticulture can be found on every continent except Antarctica.

The duties of a viticulturist include monitoring and controlling pests and diseases, fertilizing, irrigation, canopy management, monitoring fruit development and characteristics, deciding when to harvest, and vine pruning during the winter months. Viticulturists are often intimately involved with winemakers, because vineyard management and the resulting grape characteristics provide the basis from which winemaking can begin. A great number of varieties are now approved in the European Union as true grapes for winegrowing and viticulture.

Oenology (also enology; /iːˈnɒlədʒi/ ee-NOL-o-jee) is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word oinos (οἶνος) "wine" and the suffix –logia (-λογία) the "study of". An oenologist is an expert in the science of wine and of the arts and techniques for making wine.

A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes:

• Cooperating with viticulturists
• Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to determine the correct time for harvest
• Crushing and pressing grapes
• Monitoring the settling of juice and the fermentation of grape material
• Filtering the wine to remove remaining solids
• Testing the quality of wine by tasting
• Placing filtered wine in casks or tanks for storage and maturation
• Preparing plans for bottling wine once it has matured
• Making sure that quality is maintained when the wine is bottled

Today, these duties require an increasing amount of scientific knowledge, since laboratory tests are gradually supplementing or replacing traditional methods. Winemakers can also be referred to as oenologists as they study oenology – the science of wine.