Do you love wine and making money? Then a career in the wine industry may be right for you! Imagine getting to work with something you’re passionate about every day.
Whatever job you decide to pursue in the wine industry, you’ll get to go to work every day, knowing that you get to do something you love and enjoy. What could be better than that?
To give you an overview of what types of jobs are available, here are the six most popular wine industry jobs:
Job #1: Wine Vineyard Worker
If you’re interested in agriculture, then a job at a vineyard may be the ideal job for you. If you’re also interested in becoming a vintner (someone who produces wine), but would rather not go to school for it, working at a vineyard is a great way to learn the business from the bottom up.
To be a vineyard worker, you will need to live and work in the countryside, have a keen interest in being outdoors, and not be afraid to get your hands dirty.
Vineyards are only found in certain areas, so unless you live in one of these locations, you should be prepared to move away to pursue this career.
Job #2: Wine Sommelier
Working as a sommelier is a great wine industry job. Once the wine leaves the vineyard, it will either go through a distributor to the restaurants or directly to the stores. Fancy, high-class restaurants that put a special emphasis on wine will usually employ a sommelier.
A sommelier (also called a wine steward) is someone trained and knowledgeable in wine. This person typically works in fine dining restaurants and specializes in all aspects of wine service. This includes wine and food pairing.
Sommeliers are also in charge of things like quality control. They also train staff on how to both present and pour wine to customers. Plus, they get to try out different types of white wine and red wine flavours.
If you have good attention to detail, an ability to teach others, and most importantly, a love and passion for wine, you can find a very satisfying career as a sommelier.
Job #3: Winery Worker
Another job in the wine industry that is very popular is working in a winery. Wineries range in size from small family-run businesses to much larger operations. While working at a winery, you will be selling one particular brand of wine, or a group of wines, that are made right on-site.
Some jobs that you may find yourself doing at a winery include customer service, sales, tours, actually making the wine (production), and even marketing. There’s something for everyone at a winery and the best part is that you get to welcome the public in to try wine unique to your winery.
Job #4: Wine Cellar Manager
As a cellar manager, you will work at a winery and be tasked with looking after the wine once it’s been made. You will need to be the in-house expert in storing and ageing the wine. This means you will need to look after things like the conditions in which the wine is stored, take daily tasting of each batch of wine, and work closely with the vintner.
A cellar manager typically has a handful of employees that help them out with their daily tasks. Being an assistant to a cellar manager is another great job in the wine industry that allows you to work your way up.
Job #5: Winemaking Shop Owner
If you have not only a passion for wine but are also interested in being an entrepreneur, you may find a career as a winemaking shop owner fulfilling.
These types of shops have a wide variety of wine kits available that customers can choose from. Then, customers actually get their hands dirty making and bottling their own wine.
You become the expert and guide them through the process, answer any questions they may have, and run the shop from top to bottom.
As a winemaking shop owner, you will need to be knowledgeable about the products, be able to train staff, have exceptional customer service skills, and be able to market your services to the local community.
Job #6: Wine Broker
A wine broker is extremely knowledgeable about wines and helps customers acquire wines based on what their individual wine preferences are.
To be a wine broker, you need excellent customer service skills, the ability to enjoy a consistent schedule, have a passion for exploring different kinds of wine, and be able to develop and nurture business relationships.
What all of these jobs in the wine industry have in common is both a passion for wine and a solid foundation of wine knowledge. Often, this knowledge is acquired through on-the-job training, by attending college, or by getting your sommelier accreditation. Find a college that offers a viticulture or enology course to enroll in and that will provide you with a lot of the knowledge you will need to work in the wine industry.
