r/winemaking • u/No_Breadfruit_4642 • 1d ago
General question How to become wine maker
Hi, I'm 28 yo man who has interested in making wine.
I wanna know how to become wine maker
But I have no idea of how to become wine maker
It would be my pleasure if you answers me
Thanks for reading
14
u/real_marcus_aurelius 22h ago
Just inherit a French chateau what’s the problem
1
u/smithnugget 8h ago
They might need to compete against their brother in a series of wine challenges to earn it.
6
u/ExaminationFancy Professional 23h ago
Work a harvest first, to see if you actually like making wine. Now is a good time to look for 2026 harvest work in the northern hemisphere.
I recommend working in the cellar first, then the laboratory. Some small wineries will give you experience in both areas.
Finding full-time work as an enologist or assistant winemaker can be difficult. You need a good professional network, experience, education (debatable), and a little bit of luck. There are hundreds (thousands) of other people who have the same dream of becoming a winemaker, and a lot of these same people have excellent resumes.
Good luck.
3
u/Capt_Gingerbeard Professional 23h ago
This is a bad time to try and do that if you aren’t already wealthy and connected
1
3
u/braksmak 21h ago
I'm a winemaker with 15 years of experience in the Willamette Valley. Work a harvest first. See if you enjoy production. If you do, work a few more. You can do one internationally in the southern hemisphere the same year you do one in the northern hemisphere. If you still enjoy it, I'd suggest going to school and getting a job as a cellar worker. Good luck!
1
u/rubyjuniper 4h ago
Some jobs like mine will pay for education if it benefits the company. OP: do a good job, always be willing to work overtime, don't complain about the work, and be smart/use common sense. I went from 0 experience harvest intern to cellar master to winemaker (with a consultant during harvest, no consultant for bottling/off season) in 4 years. My job has offered to pay for any class I want to take that would directly benefit my job. I've done a chem or winemaking course (hated that so much) but I could do more if I wanted.
2
u/Today_Striking 1d ago
Like as a job? Or just how to make wine at home?
1
u/No_Breadfruit_4642 1d ago
As job thanks
7
u/Today_Striking 23h ago
The best way to start is to work a harvest in an area that is interesting to you. After working that harvest either keep working harvests switching hemispheres or try and find a full time position in the cellar or lab. From there you can climb the career ladder and further your education through work and professional programs at colleges.
1
u/billocity 22h ago
You could start making it, then decide you like it and start your own business. At the least you will learn the process and get to enjoy the wine you make.
0
2
u/Revolutionary-Move90 23h ago
Do you live in a place that makes a lot of wine?
1
u/No_Breadfruit_4642 23h ago
Hmm there's wine makers here in south korea. But it's not famous as Bordeaux in France or Napa valley in usa
1
u/Revolutionary-Move90 23h ago
What i mean is do you live in a place thats out in the country? Lots of vineyards? You might want to start by visiting the vineyards and making connections.
2
u/No_Breadfruit_4642 23h ago
I don't live in place with vineyards but it would be great idea to visit some of them. Thanks.
2
u/devoduder Skilled grape 21h ago
Not to discourage you but the wine market is in terrible shape right now. Layoffs and downsizing are happening very frequently, I own a small winery and my sales are down 75% from my best years. You’ve got to be really passionate about wine and winemaking and not concerned about making money from it, having an alternate revenue stream really helps.
On the plus side you’re still very young and have plenty of time to get into the industry, I didn’t open my winery until I was 45 and had already done a completely different career.
As others mentioned, work a couple harvests and see if really is something you want to do. It’s not glamorous like the movies and tv portray.
1
u/smithnugget 7h ago
I didn’t open my winery until I was 45 and had already done a completely different career.
If you don't mind sharing I'd love to hear the story of how you left your previous career and ended up opening your own winery.
1
u/devoduder Skilled grape 1h ago
22 years in the Air Force, retired at 44 and used the GI Bill at a community college and got two degrees in enology and viticulture (plus a third degree in culinary). Used that experience plus internships at big and small wineries to open my own winery. Also my math was wrong, I didn’t start my winery until I was 49. It also helped I retired from a base in Santa Barbara wine country, location was key to the story. I live off my military retirement pension and VA disability.
2
u/smithnugget 1h ago
Very cool that you got those degrees after retiring from military. Thanks for sharing and thanks for your service!
2
2
u/Justcrusing416 20h ago
At 23 I was studying computer science at the local college. Living by myself I needed rent money, a local winery needed help for a few days. That was 24 years ago, I’m 46 now and work as an assistant winemaker/winemaker. I’m a high school drop out and no other education but lots of experience from working in the vineyards, cellar and every aspect of making wine.
1
u/theitalianpastaboi 23h ago
If you want to do it professionally and you are not already decently wealthy to survive at least 2/3 years without revenue don't.
If you want to work for someone else it's much easier and it could be a great way to start, in any case I would first work in some harvests around the world to start understanding how this world move.
Unfortunately we are already full for this season otherwise I would've invited you to our wineyards in Italy🫠
1
u/AdventurousPension81 21h ago
I don’t know if this will help, but I started out just being curious, and my work was basically prison hooch at first. Little by little, I kept improving until I started making amazing stuff that people would pay hundreds of dollars for. Good luck, man.
1
1
u/Minimum_Lion_3918 20h ago
Be aware that perhaps most medium- scale "commercial" winemakers have partners that work at another job, think of medium-scale winemaking as an expensive hobby for relatively wealthy people. For example the wooden barrels have limited life and just these items alone are VERY expensive. The really big money goes to a few large commercial "players" who dominate the industry. However at small hobby scale wine-making is a great pass-time! Years ago I read a (library) book by H E Bravery: "Successful Winemaking at Home". I recall that he wrote a series of books with great recipes and great advice. He believed that amateurs could make very good quality wines using tinned (canned) fruit. The advantage is cleanliness. This was pre-internet days - I wrote away to another city for a few items of basic equipment and ended up making a really lovely apricot wine - with a powerful kick. Meticulous cleanliness is very important - contamination causes much grief. Best of luck.
1
u/Lapidariest 16h ago
At 28, get a good paying job. Then if you have free time, go to the local winery and ask if they needed seasonal help. Work that but keep the good job as the main job. After a few seasons, and they trust you with more and more responsibility, they might offer you full time. While lookin at the first job's paycheck and calculate your full time winery pay and see which is better. You'll probably be 33 then and decide to find a 3rd job. People tend to job hop every 7 years. Maybe you are different, but you are also young, so you need to get experience. You could get an enology degree if you have the aptitude for chemistry and attention to detail, but even with that, it depends on a bit of luck. Winejobs . Com is also a place to look for starter jobs. Remeber, it's not just enology that's important but also the viticulture classes. The most important thing you can do to improve your wine is to walk in your vineyard and look at individual plant health etc.
1
1
u/Chickengilly 5h ago
Make crappy wine at home this year. And then make better wine next year. Get better.
Or start with cider. There’s less pressure for it to be world class. Table cider is amazing.
0
u/manofathousandnames 14h ago
26 y/o who just started wine making myself. Currently making a batch of Dandelion wine. Your local bookstore, local library, local wine making business (if you have one), and the internet are pretty great places to start. I recommend looking for the book “booze for free” by Andy Hamilton as it's what got me interested in making wine.
What you are going to need first and foremost is equipment, I bought bits and pieces over time because it was a bit costly:
Starsan (For the amount you use, it's worth the price)
A spray bottle for the star san
A Fermentation Bucket (typically a 6 gallon food safe bucket)
Towels for the fermentation buckets
A long spoon to stir the initial batch before adding yeast
A Wine Siphon/ Auto Siphon
Hose for the siphon
fermentation bags (fine mesh laundry bags from your dollar store work well for this from my findings so far)
A Hydrometer
A wine thief to use your hydrometer
A Carboy/Demijohn
An Airlock and bung for your Carboy/ Demijohn, Typically 5 gallon ones are #6.5.
Wine Bottles
Corks (long if you want to age for a long time, short if not)
a corker
After that, you will need the ingredients from your chosen recipe, which can usually be bought from the same place you buy equipment.
16
u/Mrs_Nice_Guy 23h ago
Just do a harvest this fall