Ah, wineries – not only are they some of the most beautiful places on Earth, but they also create one of the most delicious beverages! While most of us will only encounter these picturesque venues if we’re attending a wedding or going on a tour, some people are lucky enough to get paid to hang out in wineries daily; and it’s quite an interesting job. Don’t believe us? Here are five fascinating facts about working on a winery:
You Probably Won’t Spend Much Time Actually Picking Grapes
A common misconception about working on a winery is that your days will be filled with wandering around pulling plump, juicy grapes off vines. If this is your dream, you’ll need to target your job search to smaller businesses as most larger wineries don’t actually harvest by hand. Instead, they use grape harvesters to easily and efficiently remove the fruit from the vine. You will have to learn how to drive one and perhaps even change the grape harvester parts if something goes wrong, but you’re not going to be out in the field all day picking and inspecting each grape. Plus, there’s a lot more to wineries than just picking the fruit.
There Are Many More Roles Than You Might Think
A lot goes into keeping a winery running. Though your brain has probably already reached the logical flow of picking grapes and turning them into wine, there’s plenty more going on behind the scenes. Although vintner (winemaker) and harvester are the most obvious roles, you could operate any of the machinery used on-site, run tours or tastings, manage the cellar, be in charge of distribution, or look after general admin – and that’s just the start of it.
Many Wineries Employ A Full-Time Event Organiser (And A Marketing Crew)
Not so great with the hands-on aspect of creating your favorite beverage but still want to be a part of the industry? We’ve got good news for you! Since a lot of winery revenue comes from events, not just wine sales, many wineries employ full-time communications and event organization teams.
This means that if you’re working in the winery in a more traditional sense, you’ll come into contact with these guys a lot (think briefings for events and photography/videography shoots). So, if your skillset is more tailored towards these kinds of activities, you’ve got a shot at being involved in the process.
You Can Travel The World
Once you’ve wrapped your head around the basics down of harvesting and crafting this delicious beverage, there’s plenty of opportunity for travel. Those who don’t want to be tied to one place often engage in freelance work with various vineyards, and you can also shift more to the retail side of things and travel around wining and dining potential clients or stockists if this is more your speed.
All Winery Roles Includes A Lot More Cleaning Than You May Expect
Due to the nature of the work you’re performing, pretty much any role in a winery is going to require a decent amount of cleaning. You may be wondering why we’ve included this as cleaning certainly isn’t fascinating, but what is fascinating is getting to discover how everything works. This is exactly what will happen as you’re keeping things nice and clean!
So, there you have it – five fascinating facts about working on a winery. Let us know which one surprised you the most in the comments!
