Travelling Winemaker Job Realities

Whenever I tell someone I work in wine or have studied it, their first response is “Oh, are you a sommelier?”

This makes sense. Sommeliers are the important first line of contact with consumers in the on-trade. The ones holding up the pomp attached to the industry. They are the omniscient oenological gods, guiding you through the jargon-filled world of wine.

However, once I respond with “I am a travelling winemaker,” the questions start pouring in.

Ours has always been an industry of mystique and opulence, the luxury item from the realm of fermented beverages. From vineyard tours to fine wine auctions, and champagne showers, wine has been wealth’s trusty companion for most of modern winemaking.

So, you think you would be safe to assume that winemaking would be equally as opulent, no?

For some, especially those for which owning wineries is a late career change investment, it may be. But for the rest of us, the travelling winemakers, the passion chasers, our wealth comes from the experiences we have, the people we meet and the places we go.

Travelling winemakers, also known as vintage/harvest cellar hands, harvest interns or more affectionately, cellar rats. A group of people who travel the globe, often hemisphere-bouncing, working in wine cellars during grape harvest time.

Travelling Winemaker Job Realities - 90% Beer, 10% Cleaning

There is a true saying that “Winemaking is 90% cleaning, 10% Beer”. A forever glamorised industry but when harvest kicks off and reality sets in, it is anything but glamorous.

Here are some of the job realities I have experienced as a travelling winemaker:

• Long hours - 12 hours a day becomes the norm

• The post-harvest muscle gains

• Wine stained clothing

• Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning

• Very tasty overtime pay

• Vintage merch - expect reused wine puns

• Large upfront costs for moving countries

• Multiple phone numbers

• Getting used to being wet most of the time

• So many bugs. I am talking to you earwigs.

• The feeling of that free and fresh cold beer at the end of a long day

• Breathtaking sunrises and sunsets

• Community

• Incredible passion

• The opportunity to try delectable wines

• The chance to live in some of the most beautiful parts of the world

Travelling Winemaker Job Realities - The Hard Work

I want this blog to be a place of honesty and transparency. So I won’t lie, the hours are tough and not for everyone. You are at the mercy of the grapes and their harvesting. This is where you need your passion to push you through. My harvest in Oregon, USA, highlighted this to me more than ever. Myself and my partner were the only two cellar hands with experience. Everyone else had no cellar experience, wine experience or interest in wine. When the long hours started, people started to crumble without that passion to drive them.

The Hours

For most wineries with longer harvests, you will work 6 days a week, either on day or night shift, between 9-12/13 hours a day for between 4-12 weeks. Your only day off is spent trying to catch up on cooking, laundry and squeezing in a bit of extracurriculars if you have the energy. My harvests in the UK had me working 7 days a week, 12 1/2 hour days for 2-3 weeks.

The Mess

It is sticky. You are constantly covered in grape juice or wine, showered in nutrient powder and smelling like yeast. Unconsenting bug massages will become standard practice. You will finish the harvest with new scratches, scars and holey clothes to prove your participation in the great grape battle.

TOP TIP – Do not start a vintage with any clothes you like or wish to keep. They shall be destroyed. Instead, go down to your local charity shop/thrift store/op shop and buy all the awful t-shirts and warm layers you can find. Also, highly recommend waterproof trousers. I find hiking work best, with the ability to turn into shorts. Make sure you invest in some good steel toe capped boots too unless you want to throw them away straight after harvest.

Why We Do It

Follow the Money

Not everyone has the same motivation. For some, it is a great way to earn good money quickly to keep the travel dream going. The overtime pay in English-speaking countries like Australia and the UK means that for any hours over 39/40, you get paid time and a half (1.5). The wineries can include accommodation and 1-2 meals a day depending on location. With such little time to spend the money, the pay adds up quickly during peak harvest. A way to save money for travelling whilst travelling. It helps to fund the next vintage if you are hemisphere-hopping, an essential as the start up costs of the visas, transport and accommodation really adds up.

For the Experience

For others, it is just as much about money as it is about experience. Requirements for winemaker positions now almost always specify the need for a degree. Equally important is the practical experience. That was one of the motivating factors for my year of harvests. Get as much experience as I could, as quickly as I could. As important as cellar work is all year round, harvest is the fun stuff, the passion fueler.

For the Passion

Harvest is an emotional rollercoaster. The feeling of excitement and anticipation when the first bin of grapes comes in versus the last, feeling pure accomplishment of getting to the finish line. It is electric.

You leave harvest feeling exhausted but strong, those post-harvest gains accentuated by a cheesy group harvest t-shirt. Your mental limits will be tested and you will learn a lot about yourself. You become a competitor in the day vs. night shift war. Cleaning is now your life. A post-shift beer will never have tasted so good. Lifelong international friends will be made, with whom you will get to visit one day in their home countries. You’ll see more breathtaking sunrises and sunsets than you have ever in your life. Share and swap incredible wines, tips, and stories with other winemakers. Most importantly, you will have the chance to live in some of the most beautiful places in the world and get paid for it.