Hello!
I posted on here a few years back about opportunities in the wine industry, and everyone was super helpful! At the time, I was working as a wine rep, and looking at taking WSET courses to increase my knowledge and expertise.
After some recent changes in my career, my schdeule has opened up, allowing me some flexibility this fall.
I’m looking to take about 2-3 months off, head to California, (Preferably the Folsom area- I have a friend who lives there) and work at a winery. I have been researching harvest season internships, and am very intrigued, however it all seems super intimidating/demanding! I’m not opposed to learning the ropes, but I’m also not sure whether or not that would be the BEST fit for me.
Because I have experience in both bartending and wine sales, I am looking at working in more of a tasting room setting. Is this something offered as a seasonal position at many wineries? Does any one know of any specific wineries in the Folsom/Sacremento area that I should contact?
I’m also going to need affordable housing, which I’m sure will be challenging. I am still in the beginning stages of my research, so I will take any adivce I can get at this point! Just hoping to make this pipe dream a reality!
Keep your eye on this page, if you havent already. Lots of opportunities in the world of wine, both seasonal and FT.
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Thank you! I have been applied to a few, but never heard back. I was hoping someone on this forum would have some insight into the hiring process. Im sure its fairly competitive!
I went through the west coast harvest intern interview process in March. I used winejobs.com for the majority of my applications and sent a few directly to some wineries I had visited in the past. I am changing careers and completed my WSET 3 in May, so that was really the one ‘wine’ experience on my resume alongside ~25 years in tech/AV. It had been close to 20 years since I had to interview for a job and I was out of practice for the whole process. I cast a wide net and applied to about 70 jobs on winejobs.com; I got about 10 interviews. I was surprised at the low response rate, but I was offered 3 jobs and took one in Calistoga. I had to stop interviewing in late March so that I could devote time to studying for my WSET exam on 5/1 as the process was exhausting, but I would have liked to have done more interviews as some good wineries didn’t post their jobs till May. I learned from the interviews that enthusiasm and personality are a big part of what they are looking for in a cellar intern as everyone is working together for long hours. Can’t comment on applying for Tasting Room jobs, but you have similar work experience in service. Happy to answer any other questions about the process.
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Also, for housing you can look at:
AirBnb
Facebook’s California Interns 2025 - Wine Industry (Redirecting...)
FurnishedFinder.com (used mostly by traveling nurses, often less expensive than Airbnb and I found my apartment there)
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From experience, the hardest part is convincing them you will actually show up and NOT quit halfway through. Wages and housing will be a tough pill to swallow as well.
Dusty is spot on here…
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