A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a . Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of tanks known as tank farms. Wineries may have existed as long as 8,000 years ago.
The earliest known evidence of winemaking at a relatively large scale, if not evidence of actual wineries, has been found in the Middle East. In 2011 a team of archaeologists discovered a 6000 year old wine press in a cave in the Areni region of Armenia, and identified the site as a small winery. Previously, in the northern Zagros Mountains in Iran, jars over 7000 years old were discovered to contain tartaric acid crystals (a chemical marker of wine), providing evidence of winemaking in that region. Archaeological excavations in the southern Georgian region of Kvemo Kartli uncovered evidence of wine-making equipment (containers called qvevri) dating back 8000 years. In 2017 the remnants of an 8000-year-old facility for large-scale production was found 20 miles south of Tbilisi, Georgia.
Wineries typically employ winemakers to produce various wines from grapes by following the winemaking process. This process involves the fermentation of fruit, as well as blending and aging of the juice. The grapes may be from vineyards owned by the winery or may be brought in from other locations. Many wineries also give tours and have cellar doors or tasting rooms where customers can taste wines before they make a purchase. Winery architecture is very varied and rich and it is used by wineries as a way to promote their wines and cellar doors.
While some associate wineries with large winemaking regions such as Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley in California, the Barossa Valley in Australia or the legendary wine regions of France (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne) and Italy, wineries can be found nearly everywhere.