Welcome to Cellar Hand Secrets
cel·lar·hand
noun
A cellar hand is a crucial winery team member responsible for assisting in grape processing, fermentation management, wine transfer, aging, bottling, and maintaining cleanliness and equipment, ensuring the production of high-quality wine.
By the end of the holiday season, business slowed, and I was again at risk for losing my role and paycheck. Once again, I asked if I could be of help to the business in any other way, so they sent me back to the winery where I spent the next few years and got my first real taste of life as a cellar hand. Fast forward to 2013 - the assistant winemaker informed me that he had some connections out west and asked if I’d be interested in working in Oregon for the harvest season. With nothing to lose, I packed my Honda Civic and drove across the country with a friend.
In the Willamette Valley, my life truly shifted when I realized there’s an entire culture around traveling the world doing seasonal work at wineries! My Australian housemate insisted I do a season at the winery at which we worked full time, so in January 2014, I was on the flight Melbourne to work in the Yarra Valley.
That was it. I was addicted. I got to travel the world, to meet people from every walk of life, avoid winter, and to work in agriculture while getting paid well… the dream!
I continued on this northern hemisphere/southern hemisphere trajectory more-or-less for the next decade.
SH 2015: The Grampians, Victoria, Australia
NH 2015: New Jersey
SH 2016: Margret River, Western Australia, Australia
NH 2016: Sonoma, California
SH 2017: Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia
NH 2017: Walla Walla, Washington
SH 2018: Stellenbosch, South Africa
NH 2018: New Jersey
SH 2019: Marlborough, New Zealand
NH 2019: New Jersey
SH 2020: Margaret River, Australia … flying back to the USA during a global pandemic was nuts
NH 2020: No harvest! Worked at a wine bar in New Jersey.
SH 2021: Wine bar in New Jersey
NH 2021: Wine bar in New Jersey
SH 2022: Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia
NH 2023 – Present: Pennsylvania
I have now “retired” from traveling to make wine, but it still shaped my life.
I’m a full time winemaker, part time wine (and beer and spirits) salesperson, home winemaker, and wine educator.
Just think … all I was trying to do was sell produce and flowers!
I started working at a winery in 2009 … kind of.
I was actually selling produce and flowers on the patio of the building which had more of a farmer’s market vibe. This was an ideal gig for me as a college student who grew up working on her friend’s family farm, and I was happy keeping my distance from the intimidating wine sales space indoors. However, as the cold weather rolled in, my position was coming to its seasonal end. I was pretty keen to keep getting a paycheck to help pay for life while going to school, so I asked if I could do something else for the business. Inside I went, to the tasting room where people would ask if we had Pinot Grigio, and I’d have to ask, “Is that the red or white Pinot?” It was embarrassing to say the least, but it really set the stage for my desires to know more about wine.
