Definition: Winemaker Job Description

What are the winemaker’s missions? What training to follow to exercise this profession? What are his outlets and his salary? The answers are provided to you by this winegrower’s job description.

Winegrower profession

The profession of winegrower makes more than a manager dream of professional reorientation. However, this profession is not easy and requires a full investment to hope to obtain a high quality product.

What is a winegrower?

First of all, you have to be careful not to confuse winegrower and winegrower. Indeed, the first cultivates the vines and produces the grapes intended to be transformed into wine while the second takes care of the entire process, from the cultivation of the vine to the production and then the marketing of its own wine.

Setting up as a winegrower cannot be improvised: it requires a good knowledge of the vine and the elements that make up the quality of a wine (terroir, climate, production method, grape variety, etc.), a certain level of technicality., but also organizational and management skills.

Training and practice will therefore be essential to hope to collect the nectar of the gods.

A farmer specializing in vines and wine production, the winegrower continually cultivates and takes care of his vines to ensure quality wine production. Depending on the region, wine takes different forms and can be more or less renowned.

Maintenance, harvesting, but also bottling and marketing of their products are part of the daily life of a winemaker.

Missions of the winegrower

Both a winemaker and a specialist in winemaking, the winemaker supervises all stages of viticulture, namely:

• Floor maintenance;
• Maintenance of the vines respecting the seasons: pruning, binding, de-stemming, disbudding, training, trimming, leaf stripping.
• Harvesting of the grapes during the harvest;
• Construction or international development of the reputation of its wines;
• Marketing of products;
• Animation of tasting meetings, visits and participation in fairs and competitions.

Qualities required to become a winegrower

Have good interpersonal skills

The winegrower is in contact with the customers, the cellar master, the wine merchant, the oenologist. A good relationship is therefore essential.

Have a passion for your profession

A wine specialist, he must know the grape varieties, fermentation and products inside out, and always want to promote the products.

Demonstrate rigor

The making of a wine proving to be a delicate undertaking, it seems essential to be both rigorous and attentive.

Training courses to become a winegrower

CAP level

• CAP agricultural Trades in agriculture plant production: vine and wine (basic diploma for a winegrower worker). This diploma is prepared in 2 years after the 3rd, full-time or as an apprenticeship and allows integration into working life or a continuation of studies in professional bac, certificate of specialization or BP.
• BPA work in the vineyard and wine, specialty work in the cellar (open to cellar employees) or vineyard work. This diploma is prepared by apprenticeship, in 2 years after the 3rd.

Baccalaureate standard

• Bac pro CGEVV – conduct and management of the wine company (ex graduate pro CGEA – conduct and management of the farm). Preparing in 3 years after the 3rd class, the students now enter the 2nd professional agricultural production in order to prepare this specialty of the professional bac. Students holding certain CAPs in the same sector can also prepare for it in 2 years under certain conditions.

• Bac pro TC – food advice-sales technician, wine and spirits option. Preparing in 3 years after the 3rd class, the students now enter the 2nd agricultural professional sales advice in order to prepare for this specialty of the professional bac. Students holding certain CAPs in the same sector can also prepare for it in 2 years under certain conditions.

• BP REA – agricultural company manager. This diploma is prepared by apprenticeship, in 2 years after a CAP.

Licence level

• BTSA TC – technical sales, professional field of food and drink products. This diploma is prepared in 2 years and is accessible to any holder of a baccalaureate: in priority agricultural technological baccalaureate, STMG baccalaureate, graduate S or baccalaureate pro conduct and management of the farm or sale. It allows integration into working life or a continuation of studies in professional license or to prepare another specialty of BTSA.
• BTSA VO – viticulture-oenology (for a position of head of culture). This diploma is prepared in 2 years and is accessible to any holder of a baccalaureate: in priority agricultural technological baccalaureate, STMG baccalaureate, graduate S or baccalaureate pro conduct and management of the farm or sale. It allows integration into working life or a continuation of professional license studies.

Master level

• Professional license in Management of quality systems for the wine industry (Aix Marseille University). This diploma is prepared as an apprenticeship, in 1 year and is accessible to any holder of a licence level diploma (DUT, BTSA, L2) in the sector of viticulture-oenology, agri-food, organic engineering, chemical engineering, industrial management.
• License in vine sciences. This diploma is prepared as an apprenticeship, in 1 year and is accessible to any holder of an L2 in life and earth sciences, life sciences, BTSA in viticulture-oenology, agronomy: plant productions, plant technologies, DUT in biological engineering, agronomy option.
• License pro wine trade and wine tourism. This diploma is prepared in apprenticeship, in 1 year and is accessible to any holder of a Licence.

Doctorate level

• Engineering degree (Ensa Toulouse, National School of Agronomic Sciences of Bordeaux Aquitaine),
• Master pro: vineyard wine terroir, fermentation processes for the food industry : wine, beer, cheese products (training provided by the “Jules Guyot” university institute of vine and wine in Dijon)

Salary of a winemaker

The average net monthly salary of a salaried winegrower is around $ 1,650 for a man and $ 1,550 for a woman.

The average net remuneration of a self-employed winegrower is around $ 2,000 for a man or a woman.

(Source: Insee statistics).

Opportunities, evolutions

Even if consumption patterns change, French wine continues to dominate the world market. Consumers drink less but better. The new winegrowers will therefore have to produce quality wine, offer new services such as going organic, obtaining appellations, etc.

There are relatively few winemaking positions and the profession is passed down from generation to generation. An apprentice winemaker will seek to become a tenant of land or to join a large network of vines in order to hope to become part of the profession over the long term.