Decoding Wine Jargon

Wine Tasting in Moorpark
July 22, 2023

What is a vineyard?

Put simply - a vineyard is a place where grapes are grown.  

What is a winery?  

A winery is a building in which wines are made. It may be located on a vineyard, or it may be located in a warehouse. It may have wine tasting at its location or it may have no wine tasting. It may be ornate or it may be simple.  

How are vineyards and wineries related?  

This is really where people get confused.  They can be fully connected or not at all. A winery may own a vineyard and produce wine from that vineyard.  A winery may also not own any vineyards and just purchase grapes from vineyards owned by others. A winery may own some vineyard property and buy fruit from others.  

What is a wine brand?

Some business owners have wines grown and produced by others. They then market and sell those wines.  Perhaps as many as half of the wines in California fall in this category. The brand can be called a winery, vineyard, cellars, a word, or a phrase.  

What is a tasting room?

A wine tasting room is a place where wine can be sampled in order to make an informed decision on which wines to purchase.  A tasting room may be on a gorgeous vineyard property with majestic sculptures or it may be in a simple industrial building in an urban setting. Some tasting rooms require reservations and some are walk-in only. Everything in between exists.  Most commonly there is a fee to sample the wines. That fee covers the cost of the wine poured in the flight. Many wineries waive the fee if a certain number or value of wines is purchased.  Some wineries do not have a tasting room and some wineries may have as many as three separate tasting rooms.  

Why is Cavaletti Vineyards named the way it is?  

We own a vineyard, we establish and plant vineyards, and we farm other vineyards locally to produce our wines. Farming world-class grapes in our region and turning them into wines. Our name reflects that commitment. Our winery and tasting room is located in an industrial building off the beaten path in Moorpark. It is not on a vineyard.

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