Job Title: Cellar Hand
Reports to: Assistant Winemaker / Cellar Master
Core Purpose
To execute the day-to-day operations of the winery cellar, ensuring that all wine movements, additions, and cleaning tasks are performed with precision and hygiene to maintain the highest quality standards.
1. Key Responsibilities
-
Hygiene & Sanitation: The most critical task. You will spend roughly 60% of your time cleaning tanks, floors, pumps, and hoses using chemicals (caustic/citric) and high-pressure washers to prevent microbial spoilage.
-
Fruit Processing (Vintage Only): Operating the crusher/destemmer and the press. Loading whole bunches or processed fruit and monitoring the extraction of juice.
-
Wine Movement: Setting up “lines” (hoses and pumps) to transfer juice or wine between tanks or into barrels without oxygen pickup.
-
Fermentation Management: Red Wine: Performing “pump overs” or “punch downs” to extract color and tannin from the skins.
-
White Wine: Monitoring temperatures and managing juice clarification.
-
-
Additions & Finings: Accurately measuring and adding yeast, nutrients, enzymes, or fining agents as directed by the winemaking team.
-
Barrel Management: Cleaning, steaming, sulphuring, filling, topping, and “racking” (moving wine off the sediment) of oak barrels.
2. Physical & Technical Requirements
-
Stamina: Must be able to stand for long periods and lift up to 25kg.
-
Confined Space Entry: Ability to work in tight spaces (inside tanks for cleaning) following strict safety protocols.
-
Forklift Operation: Often requires an F-Endorsement or OSH certificate for moving bins and barrel stacks (highly valued in NZ).
-
Chemical Handling: Knowledge of Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for handling cleaning agents and wine additives safely.
3. Professional Standards
-
Precision: Taking accurate volume measurements and maintaining meticulous cellar logs. One wrong valve turn can lose thousands of liters of wine.
-
Teamwork: In New Zealand, wineries often hire international “Vintage Crews.” You must be able to communicate clearly in a fast-paced, multicultural environment.
-
Shift Work: During harvest (Feb–April), expect to work 12-hour shifts, often on a 6-on/1-off rotation.
Success Profile
| Attribute | Why it matters |
| Attention to Detail | Prevents “tasting” the wrong tank or mixing batches. |
| Mechanical Aptitude | Helps in troubleshooting pumps, valves, and seals on the fly. |
| Resilience | Essential for cold, wet, and physically demanding winter cellar work. |
| Safety First | High-pressure lines and $\text{CO}_2 buildup in fermenters are serious hazards. |
More Information
- Salary Offer $24 - $30
- Address 59 Inns Street
- Experience Level Junior
- Total Years Experience 0-5
- Qualification Graduate
