I am going to begin my first position in the wine business this fall as a harvest intern at a winery. For someone trying to seriously enter the business and learn as much as possible, what are the best next steps after working a harvest? From what I understand, everything pretty much shuts down for a while after thanksgiving, so what opportunities are there for people who are relatively inexperienced after this? Southern hemisphere harvest seems to be an option, but that is only for a short while during spring. It seems that opportunities for work/learning are somewhat limited, is this accurate?
If anyone has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated.
Brian,
Getting a good harvest internship is a great start. Chasing the harvest around the globe is a great way to get a lot of experience really quick if money isn’t a huge issue. It wasn’t an option for me. I think your best bet will be to find a winemaker/winegrower who is willing to take you on as an apprentice/low-wage employee. Like anything, if you’re really interested in it, bright, and willing to work hard for pennies, you’ll find someone who is willing to teach you the trade. I’d make a list of winemakers whose style you like and bug them all. Nothing may come up at first, but if you have a bit of time, show you really want it, you’ll find something. Probably more difficult is figuring out how to live on a cellarhand’s wage. I had two additional jobs for two years and still it was a struggle.
Best of luck on your search.
What region(s) are you looking in?
Ian
Ian pretty much hit this on the head. IF you can find a winemaker with an open position after harvest, you are well on your way. Chances are you won’t be the only harvest hire, but if you want it bad enough, you should be able to get it. In this economy (at least around here), there are very few FT cellar jobs to be had.
My son has done two harvests in Napa and one each in NZ & Australia over the past two years. He’s enjoying it for now and plans on at least another year of the same. Partly because the economy is in the crapper, partly because he gets to travel for several months out of the year.
A next step for something different might be in the hospitality side, such as a tasting room, but getting that in the winter is almost impossible. Other “starter” jobs might be in shipping or wine club, but will also be very hard to come by after the harvest.
You can look for a harvest job that promises a f/t cellar possibility afterwards, but those are not plentiful either.
if you are focusing on a particluar region, and looking for something after harvest, you might see if you can work in the tasting room for that winery, or another in the area. i understand that you might not want to deal with “the general public” on a daily basis, but it will give you some perspective on how the front of house operation functions. plus, as someone with recent harvest experience, you will have a wealth of information to share about what you’ve done with the current vintage, and be able to answer questions from the production side of the equation. people who come in to taste, for the most part, love this kind of stuff and will bend your ear.
good luck!
Ian and William both hit it right on.
My first internship was over at a winery in Sonoma. They kept me on for a few extra months to help with bottling then I was on my own. I think Southern Hemisphere jobs are the best bet if you want to stay on the harvest side. Also a great way to travel.
Another option, which I did, was found a vineyard manager who let me work in the vineyards pruning and suckering. I did this until I found a permanent cellar job. It taught me a lot about hard work and the importance of winter and spring growing practices.
Good Luck!
Go to school.
Great comments. I’d follow up with saying do anything you can to stay afloat to get you going until next harvest. Continue looking for a FT position while others are looking elsewhere. Be persistent. And take it very seriously.
Last thing, best of luck. Not too long ago (just maybe two years actually) I was in the exact spot as you trying to make sense of the down time. You’ll do well, just trust your gut and have a solid backup plan.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Funny you should chime in, Ray.
I was going to say “sell everything you own, move your family across the ocean to Burgundy, learn a new foreign language and start a wine company”.
Hmmm…maybe it takes a special kind of cajones to do that. Doesn’t look like as easy an idea when you write it down ![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
Not to water down your message, Nate, but “cajones” are “drawers” (as in a desk or dresser) or “boxes”. “Cojones” are “balls”.
Have you seen Ray’s living conditions? He has wonderful taste in furniture and there is a special matching pair of armoires that helped facilitate the trip across the pond.
What did you think I meant?
The first few years are going to be a mix of wine-related jobs. None of these will be bad experience and I think a good wine professional needs to understand everything from pruning to retail.
There are more jobs in the vineyards than there are in the winery and always encourage people to look at vineyard work and vineyard management before the seemingly more glamorous job of winemaker. For lifestyle, vineyard manager is the best choice.
Working in retail is good experience too. If you don’t understand how customers buy wine, there is very little point becoming a winemaker.
Thanks for the advice everyone.
You’ve received some good advice. Folks might be able to be more specific though if they knew what you were bringing to the table besides your obvious enthusiasm and presumed willingness to work hard. Not to be glib, but Linda’s recommendation that you go to school was perhaps the best idea. There are a bunch of viticulture and enology majors willing to do the exact same things you are. I’m not trying to be an ass, you may already have a Masters from UC Davis, but if not, your past experiences in other industries might make it easier to break in to a specific area of the wine industry.
No matter what, good luck!
no need to hold back on being glib or anything like that.
I used to work in finance, and left this past december to give life in the wine business a shot. I have zero experience in this realm outside of being a consumer and working in restaurants where wine was a priority during college. This spring and summer I have been taking classes to fulfill prerequisites for masters in viticulture and enology (which i would hope to begin in 2011 unless i find out this is not what i want to do for whatever reason) before working at a winery in santa rosa for the upcoming harvest.
The reason i posted this question (my first post on the forum) was to get a better feel for what is out there after harvest, since there is so much time between mid-november and the following august, during which fewer jobs are available. Overall, I really just want to learn as much as possible about the industry as a whole, how it operates, the different roles people have in any stage…anything.
The responses to this thread though were great and showed that there definitely is no clearly defined path and that there is a variety of options if you want it badly, are good enough, are persistent, and ready to sacrifice.
Thanks for the welcome everyone.