To carry out experiments requiring sterile conditions, the investigator must work under aspetic environmental conditions and have recourse to procedures that render substrates sterile.

It is easier to maintain sterile conditions in the laboratory; but in the wine cellar, sterility is more difficult to acheive because of the large masses of product that must be processed under conditions that are far from aseptic. However, in the wine cellar, techniques can be adopted that can reduce the microbial load of wine products almost to zero. By inhibiting microbial activity with these techniques, growth is prevented and the product can be considered stabilized. That is why it is more correct to speak about "microbiological stabilization" of oenolgical products rather than "sterilization" of wine products.