Wine Harvest Internships Explained
Harvest is the single busiest, most concentrated hiring window in the wine industry, and internships are how most people get their first real production experience.
A harvest internship is a seasonal, hands-on position on a winery's production team during crush, the period when grapes are picked and processed into wine. It's the most common way for someone with no prior wine experience to get real, resume-worthy production experience, and many wineries treat their harvest interns as a pipeline for permanent hires the following season.
When Harvest Happens
Timing depends on region and grape variety, but most US harvest seasons run from late July through October, with the busiest weeks typically in September. Sparkling wine grapes and some white varieties are often picked earliest; late-ripening reds come last. Wineries generally begin hiring for harvest positions in spring and early summer, so the best time to apply is well before the season itself starts.
What the Work Involves
Harvest interns work alongside the year-round cellar crew (see our cellar hand guide for the full range of tasks): receiving and sorting fruit, operating crushers and presses, monitoring fermentations, and a significant amount of cleaning. The hours are long and the pace doesn't let up, harvest crews commonly work 60 to 80 hours a week for the duration of the season, and the schedule can shift on short notice depending on when grapes are actually ready to pick.
Pay and Duration
Most harvest positions run 8 to 14 weeks and are paid hourly, commonly in the high teens to mid-20s per hour depending on region and the winery's size, sometimes with overtime given the hours involved. A smaller number of wineries structure the role as a fixed-stipend internship rather than an hourly wage, often aimed at students or career-changers seeking the experience specifically rather than the pay.
How to Find One
Search harvest and seasonal listings starting in spring, apply to multiple wineries in your target region since hiring timelines vary widely, and don't rule out smaller, family-run operations, they often provide more hands-on, varied experience than a large production facility where roles are more specialized.