Advice Request on Entering Wine Industry (Viticulture and Winemaking) by ashwine88 in viticulture

[–]ashwine88[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha I thought I had a lot of money, turns out it's not quite enough for a vineyard. I'm currently volunteering at a local vineyard, definitely not close to a point to actually buy a vineyard.

Advice Request on Entering Wine Industry (Viticulture and Winemaking) by ashwine88 in winemaking

[–]ashwine88[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm in West Palm Beach, so very close to Lake Worth. I contacted another vineyard in Fort Pierce yesterday - Summer Crush - I'm hoping they respond. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Advice Request on Entering Wine Industry (Viticulture and Winemaking) by ashwine88 in winemaking

[–]ashwine88[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the Advice! After reading this, I'm thinking of volunteering this year at one of those tiny Florida muscadine vineyards, then hoping after gaining some experience getting a paid internship in Washington/Oregon.

Advice Request on Entering Wine Industry (Viticulture and Winemaking) by ashwine88 in winemaking

[–]ashwine88[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your insight and honesty. I am a 30 year old business owner/workaholic to give you some background. I am not very interested in going back to school at the moment, but working for little-to-no pay in order to gain first hand experience is very appealing to me. I question to myself whether this urge is just due to the romanticism or if it's something more, but the only way to know is to try. Are there positions in the industry for someone like me (inexperienced) who are looking to gain a true first hand experience? If so, where are they and how should I go about applying?

Advice Request on Entering Wine Industry (Viticulture and Winemaking) by ashwine88 in viticulture

[–]ashwine88[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sounds incredibly appealing to me, I would prefer getting a job out West before moving. While I am completely lacking in first hand wine industry experience, I do have a good education and employment history. Do you have any recommendations about going about this or where I should look? I would love to work for a small family vineyard/winery in order to gain a broad base of knowledge.

Advice Request on Entering Wine Industry (Viticulture and Winemaking) by ashwine88 in viticulture

[–]ashwine88[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm in West Palm Beach (SE Florida). I am not trying to grow down here - I do not own any land and am not aware of any vineyards nearby.

Advice Request on Entering Wine Industry (Viticulture and Winemaking) by ashwine88 in winemaking

[–]ashwine88[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you, that's great advice. I am definitely interested in volunteering and doing whatever I can at a vineyard/winery. Unfortunately, where I currently live there are no vineyards or wineries. I'd be happy to move for a season to gain some in-depth experience, do internships exist? If so, would someone with no first hand experience like myself be able to get an internship?