Manticore (X) Mar 12, 2011:

@Wendy Streitparth I am aware of increasing wine production in the UK, even Canada grows wine. But it's rather limited with regard to colour and cultivar. Back to "wine making cooperative": I am not to fond of Wikipedia since it is full of mistakes like this one: "As the KWV is now a privately owned winemaking co-operative". What does KWV stand for: "Koöperatieve Wijnbouwers Vereniging". Even those of you who don't speak Afrikaans will see that once again Wikipedia (and many other co-called references) are wrong. At the end of the day the asker has to live with this term if it's chosen as the correct one due to the majority of votes. And none of the "agree" offers a good reason why they think this term is right.

British Diana Mar 11, 2011:

Na dann Prost, Roland! so be it ;-)

Manticore (X) Mar 11, 2011:

@Britisch Diana I am not against coop of wine growers at all, see one of my previous posts. I am only against winemaking cooperative, otherwise we would have to rename Winzergenossenschaft into Kellermeistergenossenschaft. By all means, go to Frank Dietrich ask him for Scheurebe or Bachus; send him regards from Gizelle and me.

British Diana Mar 11, 2011:

@Roland Yes, there will only be one wine maker working for the members of the cooperative, I don't dispute that. (I should have said the Kellermeister takeS over) But we are not talking about a co-op IN wine making or IN wine-growing, but a co-op OF wine-growers (grape-producers) . That's all I'm saying. Why can't we call a Winzergenossenschaft a wine-growers' cooperative ?

BTW I must just go down to the cellar and get out a nice Bocksbeutel for my "Feierabend" - or should I nip over to Frank Dietrich instead - his WG is only 3 miles away from my home...

Manticore (X) Mar 11, 2011:

@Coqueiro take a plane to Cape Town, I pick you up there and we'll go to a few wine estates (and mybe a few coops too).

Coqueiro Mar 11, 2011:

@ Roland @ Diana Roland, don't worry, a *disagree* is perfectly okay! I don't take it personally. In real life I prefer to discuss such topics in a wine cavern in front of the object ;-)
Diana, your explanation corresponds exactly with my experiences in the *Markgraeflerland*. Thank you for beeing such a passionate *barrellister* ;-)

Manticore (X) Mar 11, 2011:

@all sorry, three answers are acceptable and wine making cooperative is not among threm.

Manticore (X) Mar 11, 2011:

@British Diana How many wine makers do you think an estate or a coop might have? You cannot have a coop in wine making, that would be like an orchestra with two conductors. I know coops that have two or more wine makers but for red or white or different cultivars. You live in Franken, good! Go to Sommerach Coop and ask Frank Dietrich (marketing manager - and send him my regards) how it works. There are only coops in wine growing, never coops in wine making, unless there are two wine makers that are joint responsible for fermenting; but that's not a coop and not a Winzergensossenschaft either.

British Diana Mar 11, 2011:

@Roland As the term is being used in a German context, perhaps you will allow me to slightly disagree with you and your wife. I live in a wine-growing town in Franconia and the local Winzergenossenschaft is a cooperative of wine-growers who each own a certain amount of vineyards but are not trained to make wine out of the grapes. So the individual Winzer do everything from January to September until the moment where they deliver their harvested grapes to the Winzergenossenschaft. Then the expert Kellermeister there take over and supervise the fermenting process which produces the wine. The Winzergenossenschaft also plays the role of vintner , i.e it markets the wine for its members.

Thus in my cooperative the shared work is only the wine-making and wine-seilling, not the wine-growing. But it is a cooperative of wine-growers, which is why it is called a "Winzergenossenschaft" It makes wine for wine-growers (who really should be called grape-growers).

Manticore (X) Mar 11, 2011:

@Coqueiro I am usually reluctant in sending a "disagree", especially when I submitted an answer myself; but first you've got plenty "agree" and secondly your suggestion is really wrong. Please check the definition of "Winzer" and "vintner".

Manticore (X) Mar 11, 2011:

sorry "winemaking cooperative" is wrong since they would be cooperating in fermenting wine only. However, a "Winzergenossenschaft" or "coop" also GROWS the wine. This information comes from my dear wife who studies wine at the University of Stellenbosch.

Nora Schmitt Mar 11, 2011:

co-operative of growers How about putting the "Genossenschaft", then it doesn't sound ambiguous to me anylonger.

http://www.dict.cc/?s=winzergenossenschaft