"Robert Lee" > wrote in message >...
> Remember for many years in European cellars women were banned because
> menstruation would upset the wine being stored in barrels (and I have heard
> that some winemakers over there still adhere to this).
>
> A lot of winemakers in Europe are untrained in oenology, and just do what
> tradition dictates (obviously not in the better wineries), there is a hell
> of a lot of village wine made of pretty appalling standard.
>
> In a winery, we rack when the lees are settled to our liking, or when we
> desperately need the tank the wine is in (most usual case during vintage,
> there are never enough tanks!).
>
> Rob L


Here's a slant

In France (these days) many of the wineries have women in the
cellars as the actual wine makers. Men are used to harvest, crush and
press etc. under the winemaker (women) direction. I questioned why and
was told trained oenolgy/viticulture women have a measurable advantage
in taste/smell than men..........interesting