Winemaker Job Description

Requirements to Make Wine

Hello, my name is Rick Hutchinson. I'm the owner and maker of Amphora winery, and I'm about ready to go into my 50th harvest. 

There's an artistic side, and there is a scientific side. Scientific side is, some people say it can be complicated, but it is pretty much fermenting, it does the same thing all the time. So just learning the basics. The artistic side, I think you have to have a sense of emotion and self-awareness to understand what you're making because wine is food.

What It’s Like

We get up, get ready for work. We work seven days a week. I come to the winery. There's always something to do here, whether it's doing cellar work, all kinds of different aspects of the business, selling,  maintenance. So it's a steady gig every day.

Why I Love Winemaking

Number one, it is not boring. It's never, never the same. Seasonally, yearly, wine is alive, and it's managing its birth and its youth and its aging. It’s never boring. Winemaking is always fun. It's fun. 

Pros and Cons

You get to meet a lot of cool people. My life is totally 100% associated with the aspect of food and wine and  that part of my life is really great. The con part is, we don't get to go away during harvest, and I love the mountains and the fall colors. We have this beautiful thing that happens here, it would be able to go and do that, but I'll never do that because I'll never retire. 

Advice for Getting Into Winemaking

I started from the ground up, packing boxes and sweeping the floors. I've always encouraged that with people. If you have the ability to go to a university and study fermentation science, that is a really good way. I like the aspect of starting from the ground up and mentoring. I've passed the torch. I was mentored from some really great guys, and I passed that torch too. People that have worked under me have their own wineries or their makers or viticulturists. So there's a couple ways of getting in. But it's a fun. 

If I Could Start Over

If I could do it all over again, I would do it all over again because coming out of high school and not really knowing what I was going to do, of course, I was going to be an actor and a musician. I had tried all kinds of things, things, construction and so on. And once I walked to the cellar into the fall,( it was just like, just like my mom's kitchen. So I knew I was home. It was perfect for me. So I wouldn't change any of that aspect at all. I'm home.