Cellar Hand / Vineyard Worker

About the Winery

Icellars Estate Winery is a boutique, family-owned VQA estate in Niagara-on-the-Lake operating 47 acres with a focus on Bordeaux red varieties. We are Canada’s first Net Zero Energy winery and a Sustainable Winemaking Ontario certified operation.

Position Summary

We are seeking a motivated, physically capable individual to support all aspects of cellar and vineyard operations. This is a hands-on role requiring flexibility to move between winemaking and viticultural tasks as seasonal demands dictate. The position reports directly to the Winemaker.

Cellar Responsibilities

•        Receiving, sorting, and processing fruit during crush (destemming, crushing, pressing)

•        Performing pump-overs, punch-downs, délestage, and rack-and-return operations on fermenting lots

•        Monitoring fermentation parameters (temperature, Brix, sensory) and maintaining accurate cellar logs

•        Racking, topping, and maintaining barrels including SO₂ additions and sampling

•        Barrel washing, cooperage inventory management, and barrel movement

•        Operating and maintaining cellar equipment: pumps, presses, filters, hoses, fittings, tanks

•        Performing fining, blending, cold stabilization, and filtration tasks as directed

•        Assisting with bottling line setup, operation, and breakdown

•        Cleaning and sanitizing all cellar surfaces, tanks, equipment, and floors (CIP and manual methods)

•        Chemical handling including SO₂, citric acid, tartaric acid, and cleaners/sanitizers

•        Receiving and organizing dry goods (bottles, closures, labels, packaging materials)

•        Case goods assembly, labelling, palletizing, and inventory organization

Vineyard Responsibilities

•        Pruning (cane), tying, and vine training

•        Suckering, shoot positioning, leaf pulling, and canopy management

•        Fruit thinning and crop load adjustment

•        Harvest operations: hand-picking, bin management, grape transport

•        Trellis installation, repair, and wire tensioning

•        Operating tractors and vineyard implements (mowers, sprayers, hedgers, under-vine cultivators)

•        Assisting with fungicide, biological, and foliar nutrient spray applications

•        Irrigation system maintenance and monitoring

•        Planting, replanting, and vine establishment tasks

•        Weed management (mechanical and manual)

•        Frost protection equipment monitoring and operation

•        Erosion control and drainage maintenance

•        General property and grounds maintenance

Working Conditions

•        Work is performed both indoors (cellar) and outdoors (vineyard)

•        Exposure to wet, humid, and temperature-variable environments

•        Exposure to noise from equipment, machinery, and bottling operations

•        Contact with agricultural chemicals, cleaning solutions, and winemaking additives

•        Confined space entry may be required (tanks)

•        Work schedule varies by season; overtime and weekend work expected during harvest and bottling