ROLE: Harvest Intern
LOCATION: Inniskillin Estate Winery, NOTL
START: September 2026
END: November 2026
REPORTS TO: Commercial Winemaker
Why Join Arterra Wines?
At Arterra Wines Canada, we aim to inspire the simple joys of life, and we come to work every day with a shared passion to build wine brands people love. As a pioneer in the Canadian wine industry with 150 years of experience, our success is driven by our people. We work together with integrity and pride, striving to reach our fullest potential every day, and we’re looking for people who do the same.
As a Harvest Intern at our estate winery, you will be fully immersed in the daily grind of winemaking, from the physical work of crushing over 1200 tons of grapes to the precision of managing fermentations and barrel work. You will gain hands-on experience with all aspects of production, including making crucial additions, conducting pump-overs, and maintaining our high standards of cleanliness across all equipment and cellars. Working alongside our experienced team, you are encouraged to ask questions and learn, ensuring you leave the harvest with a deep, practical understanding of the craft.
Who You Are:
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A Self-Motivated & Determined Worker. Possesses a strong work ethic and genuine passion for wine, ready to tackle the long, physical hours required during harvest, from cleaning tanks to operating the crusher.
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A Punctual & Proactive Team Player. Consistently punctual and organized, with excellent communication skills to effectively collaborate with the winemaking team, report fermentation issues, and go above and beyond to get the job done.
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Eager & Enthusiastic to Learn. Approaches every task, from inoculations to daily temperature checks, with a willingness to learn new techniques and procedures, and isn't afraid to ask questions to deepen their understanding.
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Detail-Oriented & Safety-Focused. Understands that cleanliness is paramount in quality winemaking and takes pride in maintaining a spotless environment, while possessing the organization and focus to manage multiple tasks and follow safety protocols.
Role Overview:
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Crushing and receiving grapes. We average 1200 tons a year. You will see medium scale grape receiving and processing, running the crusher/de-stemmer and receiving hopper.
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Additions. Will be a huge task, you will gain experience with multiple types of additions for juice, must, ferments and possibly finished wines.
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Inoculations. You will be asked to aid in or complete inoculations with proper training and guidance from our staff.
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Pump overs /pulse air. We maintain a daily cap management sheet, we use a pulse air system for that majority of our reds, manual pump over, automatic punchdown tanks, rotating fermenters and manual punchdowns in bins.
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Cleaning. Cleaning is a huge part of making great wine!! We strive to keep everything as clean as possible always. You will be trained in cleaning various sized tanks, totes, bins, crushing equipment, barrels, and floors.
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Barrel work. You could be involved in barrel maintenance, Sulphur, cleaning, rehydrating, filling and storing of red/white barrels. We still manage quite a large barrel room. Could be involved in receiving/ preparing new barrels for production.
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Daily fermentation checks. You will be involved in checking tank temps, barrel ferment checks, red fermenters and bins and reporting to the winemaking team any issues and concerns.
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Questions. We encourage anyone to ask questions, you will be working alongside some experienced people, we want you to gain something out of it. No question is too silly, we will always answer.
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Perform other related duties and responsibilities as assigned or required.
Job Requirements:
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Highly motivated to work hard, enthusiastic and passionate about wine.
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Good communication skills and ability to work with a team.
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Willing to learn basic winemaking techniques and procedures.
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Need to be punctual, organized, willing to go above and beyond.
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Driver’s license, and own transportation required.
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Any lab skills are an asset.
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Fluent in English, 2nd language is an asset.
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Forklift license an asset.
What You Can Expect From Us:
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Competitive wages.
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Creative incentive programs.
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Flexible hours.
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Full training and exciting long-term career opportunities.
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Fun culture and environment.
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Wine education, training, and tastings.
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An organization that cares about Corporate Social Responsibility.
Compensation:
Budgeted Range – $18.50/hr. to $25.50/hr. The budgeted range will align with qualifications, including experience, education, training, licenses, certifications, and other business and organizational requirements.
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Harvest schedule – we run a split shift during the harvest, Days and Afternoons, shifts will be 8-10 hours depending on work load that day. We pay overtime after 44 hours
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Harvest pay will depend on experience in the cellars; we are willing to train but all candidates from Niagara college should have a general understanding of equipment and cellar procedures from volunteering in the teaching winery.
ACCESSIBILITY:
We are committed to establishing a qualified workforce that reflects the diverse population it serves and we encourage applications from all qualified individuals. We are also committed to preventing and removing barriers to employment for people with disabilities, and we invite you to inform us should you have any accessibility or accommodation needs.
We are committed to establishing a qualified workforce that reflects the diverse population it serves and we encourage applications from all qualified individuals. We are also committed to preventing and removing barriers to employment for people with disabilities, and we invite you to inform us should you have any accessibility or accommodation needs.
