Viticulturist
(Wine Jobs:
Vineyards & Cellars )
Full Time
Entrée Recruitment
Adelaide Hills & Barossa,
South Australia
- Drive & create wines which sit at the pinnacle of worldwide opinion.
- SA ultra-premium wine brand.
- Enjoy generous employee benefits.
About the company:
Internationally acclaimed, Bird in Hand is a modern, contemporary and ultra-premium Adelaide Hills winery, pursuing the ambitious goal of making wines that rank amongst the world’s finest. Much more than a winery, it produces premium quality wines and olive oils as well as hosts a range of bespoke events locally, interstate and across the globe.
Bird in Hand inspires excellence in every aspect of its organisation, with a focus on the wellbeing of its shareholders, staff and the general community. To achieve its ultimate goal of delivering the experience of excellence, it requires the highest degree of ethics, integrity, honesty and professionalism from all its employees.
About the role:
Reporting directly to the Executive Director, the Viticulturist/ Vineyard Manager forms an integral part of the skilled and hardworking winemaking team. In addition to working alongside the Chief Winemaker and Winemakers who are committed to sustainable vineyard practices, you will be responsible for looking at adopting a more organic approach to grape growing and farm management.
Delivering products of outstanding quality and consistency, this role will ensure ambitious goals are set and reached. Responsible for improving winery harvest coordination and fruit scheduling, improving average fruit pricing and ensuring the fruit is picked at optimum quality levels, the role also covers production and packaging of wines and oils through every process, from the vine to the bottle. Maintaining high standards of vineyard maintenance and presentation, this diverse role will be pivotal to the future growth of the winery.
Duties:
- Manage Bird in Hand estate vineyards to a world class standard using sustainable and where possible, organic vineyard practices
- Provide sound, informed viticultural advice to the Winemaking team across estate and contracted vineyards
- Make accurate crop estimates and ensure cropping levels maximise fruit quality and are within contract specifications
- Assist in making informed picking decisions
- Coordinate and carry out accurate and consistent fruit maturity sampling
- Undertake visual inspection of vineyards with the ability to identify incidents of pest and disease
- Must have robust technical knowledge in the field including but not limited to fungiciding, herbiciding, slashing, pruning, thinning, and trimming of vines
- Undertake grower liaison duties with all contracted growers
- Build and maintain strong connections with long term growers
- Make valuable recommendations for speculative and spot buying of fruit
Skills & experience:
Ideally qualified in Viticulture (or related field) but not mandatory, you bring a balance of head and heart to the role. With a sound technical ability and a strategic focus, you will be driven to create artistic wines which sit at the pinnacle of worldwide opinion and set ambitious goals for yourself and the team. With a strong passion for the land and eye for detail, you will bring progressive initiatives to the winery to continually improve standards and performance of the winery and enhance the future of the brand.
Culture & benefits:
A family-owned winery, this organisation has strong drive around developing a positive, collaborative and fun working culture who value staff contribution and development. A team who are passionate and determined; they have lofty goals.
