I have been working full-time in wine production for 4 years at the same winery in the Sierra Foothills. I love my work but would like to gain experience working at another winery for harvest. My best friend is going to work in Australia (Melbourne) for a year or two in the tech field and I thought I could go work an Australian harvest, visit my friend and see a bit of the country, without leaving my winery high and dry at our harvest.
Any tips for locating wineries offering internships in AU? I have heard that there are organizations that help place international interns but my web search has not found anything helpful. Any advice is very welcome!
Thanks Bob! How old is your son? I am hoping that they will consider a 46 year old with 4 years experience dragging hoses and climbing ladders carrying 5 gallon buckets vs a 22 year old just out of college.
I should imagine vintage is largely wrapped up in OZ by now, and in any case hiring would have been a few months back. Might still be able to find something in Central Otago though I understand Kiwi visas have gotten harder for those of us over 30…
Unfortunately the vintage is wrapping up in Australia now, and new zealand is just behind. jobs start being posted for australia and new zealand vintage around late september, with the vintage starting in january/february for australia and march for new zealand. the site bob provided is the best for australia, and for new zealand, http://winejobsonline.com is a good one. As for your question about the placement services, bibber is the biggest one, but with those companies you pay a boatload of cash up front just for them to find you a job that you should be able to get on your own given your experience.
I don’t know much about australia visas, but for a skilled workers visa in new zealand you need to have three years of experience or a degree in your field, so your four years of work should cover you.
Good luck.
An fyi, my son has been down under for several harvests (NZ, Aus, S. Africa) and the accomodations and pay rates are different everywhere. He’s stayed in guest houses that are vacation rentals to a loft above the barrel room to having to get his own place and transportation. Pay rate is poor in S. Africa, best in Aus, but they take more taxes so overall he’s done best in NZ. Also, he’s preferred the smaller places to the really large operations as far as learning anything.
Most important things he’s learned: Don’t try to keep up with the Irish when out drinking. LOL
He’s 25. This is his 7th harvest. At some point he may get tired of it. Though he’s on his way to Fiji afterwards and he’s hoping for Europe next fall. He already has an offer for Turkey of all places, but will be checking out France, maybe Italy.
Good luck!
Working in Oz is tough for anyone over the age of 30; NZ is easier, but visas are region restricted (I’m talking about winemaking here) and you can only get them for more senior (cellar supervisor, assistant winemaker and winemaker roles).
I have a few more pointers but am a bit busy with the International Wine Challenge at the moment. If you can shoot me a PM with your email address I can send you a few links and contacts, when things have calmed down.
Just got back from working the 2011 vintage in Oz…
From my experience (and what I’ve gathered from all my friends who have worked in NZ or Oz), working personal connections is the best route to go, followed by cold calling/emailing wineries by using contact emails/numbers of websites, and then followed by those job websites. What I remember from looking at all those sites last year was that only the super large wineries really posted on there.
First I would recommend deciding what region you want to work in/type of wine you want to make. Do you want to make classic Australian hot climate Shiraz (ie work in the Barossa). Do you want to make slightly less hot climate Shiraz (McLaren Vale) and get to live 10 minutes from the beach? Do you want to do Bordeaux varietals (Margaret River, Coonawarra). Do you want to make Pinot (Mornington Peninsula, Tasmania, Macedon Ranges, etc). Do you want to work with similar varietals to the foothills (there’s some places I encountered that do specialize in Italian varietals, and even a couple zin producers). When you make that decision it will help you narrow down where you want to contact and make your interest in working somewhere a little more focused sounding.
Next, look up some wineries there and start sending out emails. You’ll get a lot of no responses and some disappointing no’s but you’ll eventually find some takers. I have a friend who ended up working at Henscke a few year’s back this way.
Visa wise, it is tougher in Oz once you are over 30 (but I believe its that way in NZ too, unless you work for a company that has a blanket agreement to bring in foreign interns every year). But that just means you have to apply for a regular work visa instead of the work and holiday visa, meaning you need to have a company willing to fill out sponsership paperwork (still much easier in oz than the US). And I definitely wouldn’t recommend a placement company like Bibber unless its worth $2000 to you to work for D’Arenberg or a similar spot.
Over the last 2 years or so, people I know have made a little more in Australia than NZ, but both pay significantly more than South Africa or Argentina/Chile. Minimum wage in Oz is around $16/hr, and once they include the casual loading rate you make over $19/hr as long as you don’t agree to a weekly or monthly pay.
That is great information Jeff. Thank you so much for taking the time to share that with me. I was thinking of Heathcote or Yarra Valley, but McLaren Vale sounds awfully nice. And 16 dollars is more than I am going to make at my harvest internship in Napa this coming harvest!
Right on… I wasn’t in the Melbourne area long enough to check out too many wineries so I don’t have much in the way of winemakers to recommend you contact… But I would also advise boning up on your Ned Kelly history (http://badassoftheweek.com/nedkelly.html) and Aussie Rules Football (Footy) knowledge if you’ll be living in the Melbourne area…
Thanks everyone for the great advice. I just finished a great harvest in St Helena and landed a harvest internship at a small winery in Waipara, New Zealand for 2012. I had to send out a couple dozen resumes, but somebody finally decided to give me a chance. Now I just need to find a job to keep me out of trouble until March. Any suggestions?
CP Lin is a fascinating winemaker. There is a podcast on Grape Radio of an interview with him. Very interesting person, with strong opinions on winemaking. Don’t agree with with all of his assertions, but that is part of what makes him so interesting.
If you had time to post some of your experiences at the harvest there, it would be fun to read. At least for me.
if you could find a harvest internship in australia at a place that just does sparkling wine, they usually finish up in march. a lot of people work sparkling in oz then go to the south island in nz. however, you never know during vintage if it’s going to run late, or the nz one might start early, so you would have to work with your bosses ahead of time to see if they would be open to being a bit flexible with your dates.
you could also work in vineyards before the harvest too in new zealand doing shoot thinning, fruit dropping, etc. it is incredibly easy to get work anywhere you end up over there in the vineyards.
you could definitely fit in three harvests in a year though if you worked at it, adding a sparkling producer early, or a late harvest/ice wine producer somewhere up north late in the season.
enjoy new zealand and good luck.
Monique-- I want to know how everything is going with your internship/job… I am a 22 year old about to graduate college with a BA in communications/minor in Italian. My biggest interst is in the wine industry…both the sales/distribution part of it as well as the wine making part of it–you know, be well rounded in the industry However, I am desperate to get an internship! All the “guaranteed” internships you have to pay a pretty penny and I have emailed numerous vineyards all around the world with no response. Maybe it is because I don’t have a viticulture major but I know I will thrive in this industry. I wouldn’t mind starting low like in harvest internships to get a better primary knowledge of wine, I also would love an internship on the sales aspect of it. Do you have any recommendations, knowledge, connections of finding a good internship (America or anywhere) In any of the fields? thank you!
Competition for jobs, even harvest internships, is pretty tough in the wine industry right now. In the US I probably send out 15 resumes for every one response I get. The odds were a little better for New Zealand. I don’t think you need to have a degree in viticulture or enology, but it helps to have some science background and a work history that shows that you are capable for doing very physical work for long hours. If you really want to work in the industry you need to have perseverance. I have only focused on wine production jobs in California, Australia and New Zealand, so I can’t offer much advice finding other types of jobs in the industry in other countries.
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However, I am desperate to get an internship! All the “guaranteed” internships you have to pay a pretty penny and I have emailed numerous vineyards all around the world with no response. Maybe it is because I don’t have a viticulture major but I know I will thrive in this industry. I wouldn’t mind starting low like in harvest internships to get a better primary knowledge of wine, I also would love an internship on the sales aspect of it. Do you have any recommendations, knowledge, connections of finding a good internship (America or anywhere) In any of the fields? thank you!