Cellar participants will take part in the basic and physical work of turning grapes into wine. Trainees will gain knowledge of how important the cellar work is when it comes to making great wine. Cellar positions are physically demanding, involving heavy lifting, and require long hours, especially during grape-pressing, or "crush" time.
Cellar duties:
- Vineyard sampling
- Sanitizing tanks
- Receiving grapes
- Crushing/de-stemming
- Juice racking
- Red pump-over
- Stirring barrels
- Punch downs
- Additions
- Emptying red fermenters
- Learning to drain and shovel out tanks
- Pressing
- Barreling juice
- Topping barrels
- Racking wine
- Wine filtration
- Lees filtration
Skills to be learned may include:
- Identify different styles of wine
- Identify major factors affecting wine quality
- Identify and understand microorganisms – beneficial and detrimental
- Identify barrel types and understand effects on wine
- Understand functions of winery equipment
- Understand the process of alcohol fermentation
- Identify and perform wine filtration techniques
- Identify and perform wine development and blending
- Identify and carry out sanitation procedures
- Identify and practice winery safety procedures - breathing apparatus, caustic products, and accident prevention
*Actual skills learned will vary by host and previous experience