VERY SPECIFIC HARVEST JOB AT PATRICIA GREEN CELLARS

We are neither a small or large winery. By Oregon standards we are on the larger side, however we still make everything the same way any boutique, artisanal Pinot Noir winery would go about things. We have a tight knit, family run feel to all aspect of the company. Many people have worked here between 10-20 years. We are mostly returning our entire 2024 harvest crew but we are looking for one additional person at this point.

Why is this Harvest Job “specific”?: The bulk of what this person will be asked to do, especially as we get deeper into harvest will be fermentation management. All the Pinot Noir is fermented in small, open-top containers and at 200+ tons of Pinot Noir we can have more than 100 fermenters going at any one time. We do manage our fermentations by doing pumpovers or a daily pigeage (foot treading in the fermenters). This is strenuous work that requires upper body strength, stamina, a relative lack of modesty, good hygiene, determination, generally positive human energy and skin that’s either tough or well-taken care of. A good level of physical fitness, stamina and, frankly, the ability to deal with discomfort for long periods of time is necessary. Pumpovers, while not physically taxing in the way that pigeage is, still requires organization, strength, patience and the ability to stay on task for a long period of time. There will be some level of fruit sorting and, of course, daily clean up is a task everyone engages in.

What Patricia Green Cellars offers in the whole deal: This is a progressive and team-oriented operation. The work environment is pretty low stress even if there will be days and stretches of days that are pretty intense. We will hopefully end up processing around 300 tons of fruit, most of it will be Pinot Noir from some of the best, oldest and most historic vineyards in Oregon. This should be around 4 weeks of work sort of give or take a week. You will work with an extremely experienced core group that will provide training, direction, motivation and hopefully inspiration. The pay ranges from $20-$24/hour depending upon experience, there is time and a half pay after 40 hours. This will be 7 days/week of 6-10 hour days. We don’t pull over-night shifts. We don’t work past 10 hours/day other than in crisis management situations which we hope to avoid. Breakfast, lunch, snacks and beverages are provided daily. Dinner is provided when necessary. There is a hot tub. We are out in the middle of nowhere and it’s really beautiful.

What we don’t provide: We don’t have guest quarters or a winery house. If you are from out of state you will have to arrange your own housing arrangements with friends or family in the area. We don’t necessarily have any transportation although that is a little flexible depending on things.

What we expect of you: You can physically and mentally handle the amount and intensity of work. During harvest this is a 6-7 day/week gig with around 55-60 hours/week. We start as early as 7:00 or so on some days. It can be very cold in the mornings and very warm on the same day so being prepared for a variety of conditions is important. You take direction, are enthusiastic, team-oriented and care about the quality of your work. Cleaning is an essential part of everyone's daily activities and taking initiative on it and being thorough about it is required.

Parameters: While it is basically impossible to predict when harvest will exactly begin at this point we are expecting, based on current trajectory, for harvest to begin sometime in the first 10-12 days of September.

Check out the website, patriciagreencellars.com for more general sorts of information.

Apply: Email cover letter and resume to Jim Anderson, Owner/winemaker