Winemaker

Position Summary :

The Rutherford Hill Winemaker is responsible for the production and promotion of all the Rutherford Hill brand wines made at Rutherford Hill working in close partnership with the Operations, Marketing and PR teams establishing and executing the strategic vision and direction for the wines and brand. The winemaker will be the face of Rutherford Hill wines communicating and advocating the winery’s winegrowing philosophy to internal and external stakeholders including, but not limited to consumers, trade, media, club members, employees and critics actively promoting Rutherford Hill philosophy, brands and heritage.

Duties & Responsibilities :

• Dynamically represent and support the RH brand in the commercial market in partnership with Marketing and Sales.
• Collaborate with the Sales and DTC to educate sales force and staff, respectively, to the qualities, attributes and unique characteristics of the wines.
• Represent the winery with media, trade and consumers as the face of the brand. Work with Marketing on Public Relations campaigns.
• Partner with Marketing to define brand standards and expectations for quality, style, packaging, price-points, and product mix.
• Travel as needed to support specific market activities related to brand promotion, distributor meetings, trade events, winemaker dinners and market work with the sales force. (estimated 20% travel)
• Application of the best in winemaking technology and technique in creation of high quality, luxury wines.
• Active participation in monthly winery planning sessions, and related inventory and cost management activities.
• Demonstrate initiative in leveraging cost and quality improvements in winery operations.
• Maintain records as required for the purpose of meeting government and internal compliance requirements.
• Develop and maintain strong and collaborative relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Monitor the condition of all wines in order to maintain the highest wine quality prevent spoilage.
• Assist in development of the product mix and grape needs for coming season.
• Work in close partnership with Winemaking, direct to consumer and commercial sales groups to project the desired product mix based on the past year’s sales.
• Collaborate with the winemaking team to plan blends and products to be produced to meet the projections of the sales group.

Employee Management and Leadership Responsibilities :

Collaborate with the Supply Chain Winemaking and productions teams at Rutherfordteam to help set direction.

Actively engage with Marketing, DTC and Salesto work through important business opportunities and initiatives

Continually look to innovate winemaking and production and adapt to changing market conditions and the full potential of the vineyards.

Apply strong business acumen and project management skills in driving change initiatives.

Coach / mentor team members and provide regular feedback on performance and development

Leadership Capabilities & Behaviors :

Productivity- Able to identify the KPIs relevant to processes and their correlation to the business objectives. Aware of the current state of each KPI relevant to their area. Project definition, monitoring and control. Standardize operation procedures by measuring the work and defining process and plans. Troubleshooting, applying RCPS (root cause problem solving) tools.

Quality- Good understanding of the process involved in producing high quality grapes and wines.

Sustainability- Ability to make the business case for environmental sustainability. Challenges unsustainable practices in a productive way. Can translate environmental risks into local action.

Safety- Can lead safety inspections, risk assessments, incident investigation and Root Cause analysis. Recognizes positive safety behaviors and positively promotes the creation of a “learning organization.

Required Qualifications and experience :