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The Wine Job Search Continues

Written By: Michael Keba on Thursday, November 29, 2007

Wine 101 - Looking For My Big Break

Another fire raged through Malibu last weekend. While I watched from the comfort of my home, enormous airtankers dropped water bombs the size of swimming pools on the angry flames. Serious fires burn through southern California every few years, but this year has been particularly destructive. My heart goes out to all the families in Malibu, San Diego, and elsewhere who have suffered and couldn’t enjoy Thanksgiving in their beloved homes.

On a lighter note, my holiday was a much-needed break from the rigors of school. I was privileged to be one of lucky So Cal students to go home to an enormous feast in an un-roasted home. I thoroughly enjoyed my mother's spectacular Thanksgiving cuisine, and some quality family time. After the big meal, I munched on turkey sandwiches for the weekend pondering my life and what I’m going to do next.

I’ve been on the prowl for a wine related job since last winter. My original epiphany, and decision to study winemaking, occurred last year during the middle of an "Intro to Winemaking" lecture. I don't know if it was specifically something the professor said, but a light bulb in my head switched on. After class, I flew back to my dorm where I proceeded to call all the vineyards within an hour of my home. I talked to numerous people about a possible summer job or internship, and sent resumes to some very respectable places. Unfortunately, nothing worked out. It turns out that most vineyards and wineries require interns to take fall quarter off from school so that they can be present through harvest and completion of fermentation. I had only finished my first year, so I made the decision that I had better wait for an internship after my sophomore or junior year when I had actually learned some serious winemaking. Instead of an internship, I decided to focus my efforts on getting an on campus job, preferably assisting with Davis's world-renowned research.

Well, it's nearing the end of fall quarter my sophomore year and I’ve yet to land a job (besides my brief stint in the retail store last summer). Since last spring, I’ve e-mailed just about every professor in the V&E department and a couple economists on campus who deal with the wine industry. I keep getting replies about exciting projects that need they need help with, only to be let down when they get put on hold or they find more experienced help. At one point, I was interviewing for a job as a research assistant responsible for greenhouses maintenance, grape skin preparation for microscope slides, and a variety of other interesting scientific pursuits. They gave the job to someone else; someone who had experience with greenhouses. It’s going to be really tougher than I thought to get my feet off the ground in the wine industry. My plan for right now is to keep the e-mails flowing. I figure if I keep my name out there long enough, someone will eventually hire me just so their inbox is less cluttered.

On other news, the UC Davis Viticulture and Enology department just received a gift of 12.5 million dollars! One of the largest donations ever received by this university, the estate of the late Louise Rossi has made this generous donation in order to finance the growth of our winemaking program. This donation, along with the completion of the new Robert Mondavi Food and Wine science facilities will make our program completely state of the art. The next few years will bring some exciting changes, and I am going to the first to experience them!

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ikigai108
Bernville, PA
Posted on 12/07/07

It can take forever it seems, but you'll find something.

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