Company Background

Since its inception in 1993, Archery Summit has been devoted to crafting exceptional Pinot Noir, inspired by the remarkable growing conditions of the Willamette Valley and the Dundee Hills. Now a part of the Crimson Portfolio, Archery Summit continues to approach each step of the winemaking process with thoughtfulness and care, yielding one of the finest and most luxurious Pinot Noirs available.

Position Summary

At a high level, the Winemaker ensures that the two pillars of Archery Summit have solid foundations and that they are held with the highest standards. Specifically, the winemaker is expected to produce the best Dundee Hills Pinot Noir and among the best Pinot Noirs in the world and to optimize the use of our estate vineyards. On a daily basis the winemaker updates, oversees and executes all winemaking, vineyard sourcing and staffing operations to ensure the highest quality at the optimal cost. Over the long term, the winemaker also defines, maintains and, where possible, increases repeatable, scalable quality of all Archery Summit branded wines. The position will work closely with Sales (Wholesale and DTC) and Marketing to understand the market condition, the strategic direction of the estate, and can communicate clearly to all stakeholders.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

The following reflects management’s definition of essential functions for this job but does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned. Management may assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time due to reasonable accommodations or other reasons.

1. Responsible for the quality of Archery Summit’s wines with the objective of making the best Pinot Noir wines in the Willamette Valley (50%)

• Direction of all winemaking activities in conjunction with the winemaking staff especially focusing on:
• Viticulture practices yielding to outstanding wines made from grapes grown on the estate and on contracted vineyards. This should be supported by a detailed farming plan for each vineyard delivering the highest quality for each program. An affinity for environmentally friendly practices (organic, biodynamic, regenerative) is always preferred.
• Harvest dates decisions including a thoughtful sampling program to optimize picking dates.
• Grape processing, fermentation, and elevage SOPs and the execution of these SOPs.
• Timing of assembling/blending the wines. This should include a process to optimize blending decisions with an eye on quality, volume required and costs.
• Securing packaging in coordination with Marketing that balances costs, functionalities, and environmental concerns.
• Developing a bottling quality control process to ensure stable and healthy wines.
• SOPs: ensure implementation of all plans and SOP through creation of appropriate communications documents (such as work orders and work request forms) as well as staff training.
• Ensure that the estate has impeccable traceability for costing and wine quality: Provide well coded information for accounting, participate in budget and COGS review and utilize the data to make proper decisions minimizing costs.
• Engage the Production Team:
• Coordinate tastings of wine lots, experiments and blends
• Lead objective, comparative reviews of competitive sets of wines (the benchmark tasting process) on a yearly basis for the production team and the senior leadership team.
• Lead portfolio tasting with key stakeholders (DTC and wholesale leads, marketing, COO, winemaking and viticulture leads) to clearly gauge the positioning of each wine (quality, style, price, channel of sale, target consumer) within the portfolio.
• Act as coach and mentor to the critical role of assistant winemaker and cellar staff. Ensure that there is continuity and longevity in each of these roles and that someone can succeed you (have a documented succession plan).
• Organize regular weekly meetings with all winegrowing staff to communicate production goals, current activities and challenges for the business. Enlist this group to refine, improve and enhance winemaking guidelines such as SOP and farming plans.
• Adhere to safety programs and policies to safeguard personal safety, company property, environmental and team member safety.
• Stay on top of your winemaking craft:
• Seek out and capitalize on opportunities to advance winemaking knowledge including participation in outside tasting groups, seminars, wine region visit.
• Identify and develop resources to identify new and cutting-edge techniques/technologies to advance wine quality.

2. Optimize the utilization of our Dundee Hills’ Estate Vineyards (25%)

• Review farming plans with the objective of providing the best quality grapes for the winery.
• Direct the sourcing of all purchased grapes, ensuring that the quantity, type, quality and pricing of purchased grapes is optimized for each program. Consider setting up a grower review system to select the best sites and partners over time.
• Review all vineyard plantings on a yearly basis and update the five-year viticultural plan. Allocate our grapes supply in a manner that is congruent with the quality and cost of the final targeted product. Ensure that product quantity and cost goals can be achieved while providing a high level of estate fruit for our top wines and a large percentage of fruit purchased fruit for our entry level wines.
• Provide recommendations on replanting, grafting, and fallowing of the estate acreage.
• Ensure that grape growing balances a) the quality required, b) the cost of the final targeted product and c) our environmental goals.
• Optimize cost structure and ensure adherence to budget.

3. Plan forward, prepare and review the production operational and capital expenditure budgets (15%)

• Demonstrate a strong understanding of quality levers at your estate and advocate for activities that lead to the making of better wines. Demonstrate that you can balance quality needs with costs and environmental demands.
• Help with the sales of estate grapes and extra bulk wine. Complete monthly excess position reports
• Balance sales forecast and grape intake with input from CWOO to optimize inventory levels.
• Optimize the use of the company’s assets in Oregon with the objective of achieving our target margins of 50% for the wines sold through wholesale and 70% for the wines sold through DTC. Review costing and ensure protection of margins.
• Prepare and submit yearly operational and capital budgets.
• Justify capital expenditures based on the rate of return and positive impact on product quality.
• Review monthly variances to budget.
• Manage maintenance of the estate to ensure that our production assets stay fully operational. Collaborate and coordinate with the estate manager.
• Collaborate with CWOO, estate sales team, and Marketing to define brand standards and expectations for quality, style, packaging, price points, and product mix.

4. Leadership (10%)

• Communicate frequently with all estate stakeholders (production, DTC, marketing, executives) such as weekly updates. Lead the monthly estate meeting with the estate director.
• Collaborate with HRBP on HR initiatives, coaching and development of staff, employee relations or other staff related matters.
• Be a representative of the estate to outside parties when required.
• Ensure that all Crimson activities are executed locally (safety, DRP, etc.…) – this position is part of the Crimson Senior Leadership group.
• Participate in production discussion with other winemakers. Assist in companywide production decisions. Be able to put the group ahead of your individual winegrowing area of responsibilities.
• Participate in wholesale activities to extend the reach of the winery in the market.
• Participate in local association to raise the profile of the estate.
• Grow the professional capabilities and knowledge of our Oregon team.

Qualifications

• Education: A Bachelor’s degree in Enology and/or Viticulture, or related field. A Master’s degree is preferred. Additional educational backgrounds would include Business, Food Science or Agricultural Science, Engineering, and/or Supply Chain Management.
• Years of Experience: 10+ years of winery or related experience and is responsible for managing a team of eight or more people.
• Strong vision of brand positioning and understanding pf the sales and marketing requirements of an ultra-premium luxury wine. This person understands the current competition, competitive climate and has a keen understanding of where the market is headed.
• Thorough knowledge and understanding of vineyards and winemaking as it pertains to the required interactions with the sales force and managing capital projects.
• A demonstrated ability to deliver wines scoring comparably with the elite competitive group as defined by the Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast and Wine Advocate.
• Proficiency in using standard software applications, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Exceptional leadership qualities, with experience in guiding and developing a high-performing team.
• Commitment to fostering a culture of accountability, aligning with company values and contributing to a collaborative and high-performance work environment.

Crimson Wine Group is committed to creating a workplace and culture that celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion as part of what makes us a little different and a lot better. Our success is informed by the wide range of experiences and perspectives that our team brings to each of our wines – from vine to bottle and beyond. We encourage all applicants with a vision for creating a more equitable, inclusive and diverse wine industry to apply to join our team at Crimson Wine Group.