Vineyard vs winery vs cellar door: What’s the difference?
So you want to visit a place where you can taste and buy wine direct from the producer… a vineyard, right? Actually, in Australia, you’re more likely to be looking for a winery or a cellar door. Vineyard, winery, or cellar door – what exactly is the difference?
To put it simply, a vineyard is where grapes are grown, a winery is where wines are made, and a cellar door is where wines are sold.
But these terms are often used interchangeably, and in fact, there’s often some crossover, with two or all three of these places being found on one site.
So let’s delve deeper into the difference between vineyards, wineries and cellar doors.
What is a vineyard?
What would a wine region be without rolling hills covered in rows of beautiful grape vines – bright green in springtime, shades of red, orange, yellow and brown in autumn?
Vineyards are where grapes are grown… basically a grape farm. Not every vineyard has a winery on site: plenty of grape growers sell their produce to other companies who make them into wine.
The characteristics of the vineyard like its position (and the resulting impact of sun, wind, rain and temperature) and soil – its terroir – have a lot of influence on the characteristics of the grapes grown there and the resulting wines.
Instagrammable as they may be, never wander into a vineyard (whether it’s at a winery site or not) without permission – the vines are sensitive to diseases which we could unwittingly carry in on our shoes! Not to mention the fact that it’s someone’s private property, of course.
Of course, many wineries welcome visitors to explore a vineyard on site, some even offering tours where you can learn about the process of grape growing and harvesting. Which brings us to the next point…
What is a winery?
A winery is a place where grapes are made into wine. This is where the magic happens… or rather, where the art and science of winemaking is applied to achieve certain styles of wine through particular techniques. Grapes grown and harvested in a vineyard are crushed and pressed, fermented, aged and (often) bottled in a winery.
The term winery is also used more generally to mean a company that produces wine (which could also be referred to as a wine producer), or their main premises (which may or may not include vineyards, a cellar door, and even a restaurant and/or function venues as well as the actual winemaking facility). Winemaking companies may grow all their own grapes (across multiple vineyards which can be quite far apart – even in different regions) or purchase grapes from other growers’ vineyards.
If you’re interested in learning how grapes are turned into the drink of gods, you may be able to book a tour of a winery and go behind the scenes. (These days, you’re more likely to see big machinery than someone stomping on grapes in a barrel!)
What is a cellar door?
Cellar door is a term commonly used in Australia to describe the place where a winery sells its products direct to the public. You’ll usually find them on the same site as a vineyard and/or winery – but there are also some standalone cellar doors, for example in the centre of towns (making for easy access).
In Australia, if you want to visit wineries, you’ll be looking for the ones that have a cellar door. Cellar doors generally offer tastings (which may be free or at a small cost – often redeemable if you purchase some bottles) as well as wine sales. They may also have a restaurant attached or sell light food that can be enjoyed along with a glass of your favourite wine – ideally overlooking a beautiful vineyard. You’ll likely be served by someone who can tell you about the vineyards where the grapes were grown and the winemaking processes used, as well as the characteristics of the wines you’re sipping.
The name comes from the days pre-refrigeration when wines were literally kept in an underground cellar to stay cool, and customers would knock on the door to make a purchase. Nowadays cellar doors can range from tiny tasting rooms that fit just a handful of guests to vast operations hosting hundreds at a time.
Vineyard vs winery vs cellar door: What’s the difference?
As we’ve seen, a vineyard is where grapes are grown, a winery is where they’re made into wines, and a cellar door is where the wines are sold direct from the producer to the public. But the term ‘winery’ may also be used more generally to refer to all of the above.
If you’re heading to a Western Australian wine region, use our guides to plan visits to some of the many amazing wineries for tastings at their cellar doors – and perhaps a tour of their vineyards and winery facilities.
