Professions in wine
The Chef of LafiteProfessions in wine : The cellar
The cellar master
He is one of the estate's artistic talents, and it is he who gives body to new wines. After supervising the harvest and fermenting, he prepares tastings of blends of various grapes from different soils in order to obtain the noblest creation possible, which upholds the image of the estate.
Supervising the wines' ageing is then his foremost concern in ensuring the success of the vintage. He oversees the cellar staff's work with care to the slightest variations in the long ageing of the new wine. Later, he supervises the various operations involved in bottling.
The cellar worker
The cellar worker can be described as "a man in the shade" due to the fact that he is always in dark cellars. He handles the wine from the arrival of the grapes through to bottling.
In autumn, he performs various harvest receiving operations, vatting, pressing, placing in tanks, blending and cleaning. Once placed in barrels, he will perform the topping up and the racking of barrels every 3 months, along with the handling of the barrels, and lastly the bottling. This cycle can vary depending on the wine, but it generally lasts 3 years for fine wines.
The cellar worker is the steward of the wine during its long ageing period. He is part of the work that lets the wine blossom through its contact with the wood, and which enables it to become clear naturally.
