r/winemaking • u/Healthy-Abroad8027 • Aug 18 '26
Grape amateur working at small batch winery vs large
I have chance to work at a large scale winemaker or be a third year at a small one.
Not really sure how to proceed. one has knows and the other is unknowns.
The place I’m familiar with is closer but the other place is much larger.
What would you choose?
Thanks in advance.
8
u/ChrisMaragakis Aug 18 '26
I'm going to offer the opposite from many of these responses.
They are all great responses, and it's very true, it depends on what your career goals are.
In my experience other cellar masters talking to me over the years. A large winery, you may only have one task, repeated over and over. A small winery you get to learn and do everything.
Every cellar/winery has a different process (although they are just versions of the same thing).
I enjoy working in a small cellar, I (and many others) have a unique position to be able to make my own wine there on the side while using all the equipment available. This is much more rare in a large winery.
The pros for a large winery is that you would get solid benefits, paid time off, healthcare, 401k etc..
My personally, I prefer the smaller winery where I am more flexible in my time, being able to do other opportunities on the side.
For you, your current winery, you know the people, the vibe, the work conditions. You can change that if it's a stressful place. The unknown is the working conditions of a new job (any new job, new people, new boss. Could be better working conditions could be worse).
If you feel like you've learned everything you can at your current winery, change it.
Just know the risks that as a new celler hand, a large winery will have no problem dropping you if they need to downsize their labor force. (Typically after harvest).
Same goes with small wineries but it seems you've worked a few years there and know the rhythm (busy harvest, the rest is aging wine and bottling)
1
4
u/X1thebeast29X Aug 18 '26
Are we talking like 5 tons vs 500 tons?
Or 500 tons vs 50,000 tons? (Or 500,000 tons)
7
u/xWolfsbane Professional Aug 18 '26
Not a huge difference imo. Still putting grapes in tanks one way or another.
But how big of a difference are we talking about?
1
u/Healthy-Abroad8027 Aug 18 '26
One place is about 100x the size of the other.
5
u/xWolfsbane Professional Aug 18 '26
What's the tonnage difference? I started at a larger winery and found the skills easily transferrable especially in the lab, less so in the cellar, but still.
3
u/CompetitionSudden896 Aug 18 '26
Disclaimer: I have not and do not plan to work in the wine industry. However; I would recommend working at the larger company. Typically you will learn more about optimizing operations and can always move back to a smaller winery if you decide it’s not for you. It’s the “small fish in a big pond vs big fish in a small pond” type deal. You generally will learn more from those around you at the bigger company if that’s your goal. If you just want the paycheck, do what’s more comfortable
3
u/ExaminationFancy Professional Aug 18 '26
It depends on the size of the larger winery. What exactly will you be doing for the larger facility?
If the smaller winery still has opportunities to learn and a possibility for full-time employment, I could see the argument to stay.
If you're looking to learn something new and don't mind stepping outside your comfort zone, you might want to try the larger winery. From my experience, it's always easier to scale down than scale up when stepping into a new cellar, so that large winery experience could be a good thing.
1
u/grapejuicedrinker Professional Aug 18 '26
"it's always easier to scale down than scale up when stepping into a new cellar"
Great point.
1
u/ExaminationFancy Professional Aug 18 '26
Just my personal experience from working in wineries from 4,000 to 2,000,000 cases and everything in between.
Learning from a new winemaker and cellar master can also be an eye-opening experience.
2
u/grapejuicedrinker Professional Aug 18 '26
I have always worked in smaller/smallish facilities, a good friend is the winemaker of a massive factory type winery. And whenever I am around his winery I feel like I wouldn't have the slightest idea to go about doing anything, but anything smaller than my experience level would be easy to figure out.
3
u/ferrouswolf2 Aug 18 '26
At smaller places you will learn more breadth. At larger places you will learn more depth.
2
u/gotbock Skilled grape - former pro Aug 18 '26
Which one aligns better with your career goals? A significantly larger winery will probably allow you to learn a lot. Different equipment, higher level of automation, more intensive logistics, perhaps different laboratory analyses. Also potentially greater networking opportunities. If this is something you want to do long term I'd go with whatever provides more opportunity for growth.
2
u/hugo-evans7332 Aug 18 '26
sounds like a tough choice, id probably be torn too. both options have their own perks for sure
1
u/grapejuicedrinker Professional Aug 18 '26
It depends so much on what you want to get out of it, what your previous cellar experiences have been, where you see yourself in the future, etc. Super hard to recommend one or the other without knowing more about you and where you want to go.
As others have said, it depends a lot on the size difference, and what you would be doing at the larger winery.
1
u/sinvino Aug 18 '26
The difference is the scope of the job. I’ve had to manage and physically run a 30 acre vineyard and simultaneously be the winemaker, lab technician, bottling line technician, plumber, tile layer, marketing face and sales agent. I was hired to be the vineyard manager. I just happened to have all of the other skills and we ran very lean. The answer is, take the job that allows you to focus and do the thing you are great at and love to do. Don’t be anyone’s bitch. Clearly define your role and your boundaries. In writing.
1
u/moreau-ethan215 Aug 18 '26
i'd probably be torn too, big places have their perks but there's something special about getting to know the ins and outs of a smaller spot
1
u/New-Depth-4210 Aug 18 '26
fr the small one sounds way more personal and like you actually learn the whole process instead of just being a tiny cog in a giant machine
1
u/sheadong Professional Aug 21 '26
I am in a position similar to you, work at a small winery (30 tonne/y) and have opportunities to work at significantly larger wineries (the largest winery in the Southern Hemisphere for example) just around the corner. I love working at the small winery but I would feel remiss to not do at least one vintage at the huge winery, just to see how the sausage is made when it's not being pressed in a one-tonne basket press. Jump in the deep end, give it a crack. Worst case you hate it.
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u/devoduder Skilled grape Aug 18 '26
Before opening my small, sub 500 case, winery I did a harvest at a huge winery (hundreds of ton and Trader Joe’s was a big client). I’m really glad I did that harvest first because I learned an amazing amount about winemaking and also learned that’s not how I want to make wine. Seeing it on a huge industrial scale saps all the passion for winemaking for me personally. The winemakers did the winemaking from behind a desk, issuing work orders to the cellar crew and rarely getting their hands dirty doing the actual work.
It really depends what your goals and preferences are, for me it’s doing the hard work and knowing I’ve interacted with every bottle I sell.