Wine Grape Grower
What the work is
Plans, organises, controls, coordinates and performs farming operations to grow wine grapes.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Plans and coordinates the production and marketing of wine grapes from planting seedlings or grafting new varieties onto root stock to harvest, considering environmental and market factors
- Plans and oversees wine grape growing operations and routines, such as fertilising, cultivating, debudding and pruning vines
- Monitors and maintains wine grape crop health by managing biosecurity and other risks, and controlling pests, weeds and diseases
- Directs and oversees the harvesting, grading and packaging of wine grapes
- Plans and coordinates the sale, purchase and dispatch of wine grapes
- Plans and oversees the provision and maintenance of wine grape vineyard infrastructure and equipment, such as buildings, fences, trellises, machinery and water supply systems
- Maintains and evaluates the records of wine grape vineyard activities, monitors market activity, and plans production accordingly
- Manages wine grape vineyard business capital, including budgeting, taxation, debt and loan management
- May select, train and supervise wine grape vineyard staff and contractors
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a fictional stone fruit orchard and packing shed in a river valley during peak harvest. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- The first ripe fruit of the season is perfect and a buyer asks for more
- A busy picking day where the crew is in a good rhythm and the fruit is clean
- You get through a frost night without losing the crop
Hard days
- A late frost or hailstorm threatens months of work in a single night
- Not enough pickers when the fruit is ripe, and it will not wait
- A buyer rejects a load and you have to work out why while the next truck is waiting
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 151237, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.