Enologists
Overview
Introduction
Enologists, also known as wine makers and vintners, direct and manage most activities of a winery, including planting grapes and producing, storing, and shipping wine. They select the type of grapes grown and supervise workers in the production process from harvesting to fermenting, aging, and bottling. Enologists work with different varieties of grapes in a type or species to develop the strongest and most flavorful wines.
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Salaries for wine-making professionals in 2024 ranged from a low of $25,000 for cellar workers to $96,000 or more, according to Zippia.com. The median salary was $49,821. Top winemakers and other executives at some larger wineries can earn salaries of $200,000 or more. In 2023, enologists earned about $69,505, while assistant winemakers averaged $85,639 per year, as reported by the industry pub...
Work Environment
Enologists work mostly indoors, with some outdoor activities in a vineyard. Enologists enjoy variety in their jobs as they constantly alternate between analyzing the grapes in the field, assessing the development of wines, studying current production techniques, planning marketing strategies for the upcoming harvest, and performing other duties. Physical labor such as lifting a 40-pound wine ca...
Outlook
Job growth is tied to the size and quality of grape harvests, the success of wine production, and the foreign and domestic demand for American wines. In 2022, there were 11,691 wineries in the United States, and the industry has grown at a rate of 4 percent since 2019. As stated by Wine Business Monthly, "The sustained growth of wineries, through the pandemic and associated economic tu...
