Viticulture Technician (Wine Jobs: Vineyards & Cellars )

  Komes and Garvey Ranches

  St Helena, California

Start Date: ASAP
End Date: Dec 15, 2018

Company Description: Komes and Garvey Ranches is a family-owned business and is the vineyard operations portion of Flora Springs Winery. K & G Ranches is on-site at the estate vineyards and winery on Zinfandel Lane in St Helena. Flora Springs winery was founded in 1978, and the vineyards are tucked against the western hills bordering the St Helena and Rutherford AVAs. Additional family-owned vineyards are in the Oakville, Napa, and Carneros AVAs. 

Position Description: The viticulture technician will work directly with the Viticulturist to carry out vineyard sampling, pest and disease monitoring, water status measurements, and general vineyard observations. The technician will also interact with the winemakers during maturity sampling, juice analysis, and harvest. The position is full time Monday through Friday and may include some weekends. 

Daily Duties Include:

-Collecting leaf blade samples for nutrient analysis
-Measuring water potential and stomatal conductance
-Visual assessment of vineyards for symptoms of disease and water stress
-Recording phenological stages and general observations
-Surveying for pests and diseases, including sweep netting 
-Management of Grape Mealybug, Vine Mealybug, and Blue Green Sharpshooter trapping programs
-Crop estimation, including cluster counts and weights
-Maturity sampling and testing juice samples for pH and Brix
-Virus testing and virus mapping
-Creating and maintaining viticulture records and databases
-Other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

-Previous field work experience (i.e., collecting samples, conducting surveys) is preferred
-Completion of college-level coursework in viticulture or related field is ideal
-Knowledge of vineyard pests and diseases is a plus

Requirements:

-Daily attendance and punctuality is essential to the function of the job
-Applicants must be physically able to walk vineyard rows and carry samples for the majority of the day.
-Applications must be able to carry 30 lbs or more 
-Applicants must own and insure a reliable vehicle and be willing to drive to different vineyards (mileage will be reimbursed). Applicants must have a valid drivers license. 
-Applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S.