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Getting a Wine Internship

Written By: Michael Keba on Friday, April 4, 2008

A look into what kind of wine internships are available. Michael Keba visits the UC Davis career fair.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended UC Davis's Internship and career fair. It was a rather large-scale event attended by almost 200 different companies, and covered the entire floor of the basketball pavilion. Thousands of students from freshmen to graduates walked the rows looking for jobs. Fortunately for me, the wine industry made an impressive showing and held down a large chunk of the basketball court with dozens of booths.

I had one mission in mind: To get an internship for the summer. Following all the collective advice I had ever received about talking to prospective employers, I prepped myself for a proper showing. This required some work the day before: I picked up my suit at the dry cleaner, made a list of the companies I wanted to talk to, did some research on their histories, wrote down some talking points and questions, organized my calendar, had my resume reviewed by my lab supervisor, printed out a fresh stack of them on "grey stone" resume paper, and set my alarm early enough to get a proper breakfast in before I left in the morning.

My roommate and I showed up promptly at 10:00 a.m., at which time I turned on my tunnel vision. Unlike many of the other industries at the fair, the people staffing the wine area were not all human-resources managers. I talked to winemakers, assistant winemakers, enologists, lab managers, and vineyard managers, in addition to a few HR reps. I met some really good people. A few owners of smaller wineries took the time to talk to me about what they do and how they got there. I would say all in all it was a success; at the end of the day I had handed out a total of 32 resumes.

And just so you don't think the kind of work I was looking for is limited only to wine-school students, the possibility exits for other people to get involved, too. There are a few different types of positions available for beginners like myself wanting to get started in the industry. While some demand a chemistry or winemaking background, many only require enthusiasm, a certain amount of physical strength, and a driver's license: No wine education required.

Here are some examples of positions offered at various wineries:

Enologist/Winemaking Intern at Robert Mondavi Winery: "Work directly with winemaker. Responsibilities include grape maturity assessment, juice and wine taste evaluation, fermentation monitoring, press cuts, refermentations, scope checks, data entry, and lab support. Degree in winemaking or related field required."

Grape Maturity Sampler at Mumm Napa: "Responsible for assisting Grower Relations Department in evaluating grape maturity in grower and estate vineyards. Visit vineyards to monitor and sample grapes during harvest season. Record pertinent information and update files. Communicate conditions as necessary. Must be able to lift 50 pounds, enjoy working outdoors, and work odd/long hours."

Lab Technician/Wine Chemist Intern at Domain Chandon: "Assist in chemical analysis in winemaking laboratory. Perform all routine analysis of musts and wines. Maintain lab quality and precision standards. Investigate out-of spec analysis. Monitor tank fermentations. Process grape maturity samples. Assist in prep of tastings and harvest-related trials. Participate in routine bottling line analysis."

Cellar Intern at Far Niente: "Successful candidate will work in cellar getting hands dirty with Cabernet, Chardonnay, and Dolce wines. Duties include: sanitation of equipment and tanks, help with pumpovers, barrel prep, additions, topping and transferring of juice to barrel for primary fermentation. Person should have great attitude, attention to detail, strong organization skills, and willingness to work long hours."

There is, however, one big problem for students wanting to work a full internship: school starts before the harvest is over. Crush is the busiest time of the year in the wine industry, and because of this, most wineries don't want to take interns that have to leave in the middle of everything. I can't justify taking this upcoming fall quarter off, so one solution is to work the sparkling crush. Champagne-style wines are harvested much earlier than still wines, and internships are usually timed to end right before school starts. This may work out perfectly.

I've been getting some calls back over the last few weeks. Some look more promising than others, but I'm sure that I'll be doing something with wine this summer. I am patiently looking forward to it, and will be sure to report back.

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jkwino
,
Posted on 4/07/08

Dude,Love the article - keep us posted on your summer job search results.

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