Director of Winemaking

Mendocino Wine Company
Ukiah, California

Position Overview:

Mendocino Wine Company seeks an experienced, service-oriented Director of Winemaking to lead all winemaking operations for our custom crush, storage, and bottling clients, while overseeing a small portfolio of company-owned brands.

This is a senior leadership role in a client-driven production winery. The Director of Winemaking translates client vision into high-quality wine, delivers a professional and responsive client experience, and leads the winemaking organization with clarity, discipline, and respect.

The Director of Winemaking reports directly to the Owner and serves as the final technical authority for all winemaking decisions.

Success is simple: clients love their wines, feel genuinely cared for, and trust our winemaking leadership.

Role Purpose & Outcomes

The Director of Winemaking is accountable for:
-Delivering wines that meet or exceed client expectations
-Providing clear, timely, professional communication—especially during harvest
-Ensuring consistent, technically sound winemaking execution
-Leading a capable team without ego or micromanagement
-Maintaining a certified, audit-ready, well-documented facility

Senior Leadership Role:
-The Director of Winemaking is a peer to the Director of Finance and Director of Business Development. Alongside the Owner, this group forms the company’s core leadership team, balancing client service, production realities, financial discipline, and regulatory compliance.

Key Responsibilities

Winemaking & Production Leadership:
-Final decision-maker for all winemaking activities from fruit intake through bottling
-Oversight of harvest logistics, fermentations, barrel programs, blending, and bottling
-Maintain a hands-on cellar presence and active engagement with daily operations
-Set direction while enabling Assistant Winemakers, Enologist, Lab, and Cellar Masters
-Apply standardized protocols with flexibility for client-specific goals

Custom Client Experience:
-Primary technical contact for many custom clients
-Lead tastings, harvest check-ins, and wine status updates
-Same-day acknowledgment of client communications during harvest
-Serve as a calm, confident escalation point when issues arise
-Partner with Business Development on onboarding and prospect support

Brand & Portfolio Management:
-Oversee production and blending for a small portfolio of company brands
-Support strategic private-label and exclusive-label opportunities

Team Leadership & Culture:
-Lead a winemaking organization of ~15 team members
-Manage staffing workflow and timekeeping
-Foster accountability, follow-through, and respectful communication
-Address conflict directly and maintain sustainable workloads

Regulatory Compliance & Quality:
-Lead compliance for CCOF organic and cGMP certifications
-Ensure daily operations meet audit-ready standards
-Maintain Vintrace accuracy, traceability, QA/QC protocols, and documentation
-Support audits, inspections, and corrective actions

Sales & Business Support:
-Participate in prospect tastings, tours, and technical discussions
-Provide winemaking input for proposals and feasibility reviews
-Represent MWC professionally with clients and industry partners

Winemaking Philosophy & Fit:
-We execute the client’s vision—even when it is not our personal style
-We collaborate openly while protecting the wine, the facility, and the team
-Key varietal experience should include Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir
-Experience with Made With Organically Grown Grapes (MWOG) protocols required

Qualifications

Required:
-Proven experience leading winemaking operations at the facility level
-Significant harvest and fermentation leadership experience
-Prior leadership of cellar, lab, and winemaking teams
-Strong client-facing communication skills
-Deep understanding of documentation, QA/QC, and traceability

Strongly Preferred:
-10+ years of winemaking experience
-Custom crush or service-based winery background
-cGMP operating experience
-Vintrace proficiency

Working Conditions & Compensation:
-Full-time, salaried, 100% on-site in Ukiah, CA
-Extended harvest hours expected-
-Health insurance, 401(k) match, PTO; housing assistance may be available

Measures of Success:
-At 12 months: aligned teams, clean audits, predictable operations, and clients saying, “We love your new winemaker.”

-Early warning signs: communication breakdowns, lack of follow-through, disregard for team expertise, or resistance to peer leadership.