Anyone want to work in a winery?

James Frost, from the lovely Quinta de Sant’Ana in Portugual’s Lisboa region (see my report on a visit here) is looking to hire a temporary worker for vintage. This would be a fantastic way of gaining hands-on experience of making wine in a really nice part of the world. The advert is below.

We rely on seasonal help during the harvest, and we are presently looking for someone who can work alongside me in the winery. The work would entail the following:

-collecting grapes from the vineyards for ripeness tests
-ripeness tests –total acidity, pH, probable sugar (these can be taught at the time)
-sanitizing of winery and equipment prior to harvest
-processing of grapes as they arrive at the winery; emptying boxes of grapes into press (whites) de-stemming/crushing machine (reds), sulphur
additions
-foot treading, pump-overs, lees stirring
-controlling and monitoring fermentation temperatures
-de-vatting and pressing of reds
-lab test of acidity, pH
-filling casks

The person should be prepared to work long hours when necessary, be physically fit, happy climbing ladders to a height of 4m and have black hands and feet for a few weeks! It is an ideal all-round hands-on experience for someone who wants to learn about almost all aspects of winemaking. We have an English speaking, Portuguese consultant winemaker who visits us regularly during the vintage, who has a wealth of in-depth knowledge that can be tapped. We pay a monthly salary of €700, food and accommodation are provided on site.

We start the harvest at the end of August with Pinot Noir, but we do not really need extra help till the second week in September when we usually start harvesting the whites and soon after the reds. We are busy till the end of October, when we have a large open day with tastings, dancing, hog roast etc.

James can be contacted at james at quintadesantana.com