Salaries in the wine industry continue to grow, increasing by 2.6 percent in 2019, according to the 2019 Wine Business Monthly/Western Management Group Salary Survey Report. Chief executive officers in the wine industry—like in other fields—are the best compensated, with the weighted average salary of $373,754 a year, according to the survey. The weighted average salary for a vice president of marketing position was $211,105 and for a winemaking director, about $167,510. Weighted average salaries for other occupations were less generous. Cellar workers’ weighted average salary, for instance, was about $44,650 a year.

Rob McMillan, executive vice president and founder at Silicon Valley Bank Wine Division, said salary increases in the wine industry have stayed ahead of the changes in the cost of living.

Western Management Group, the Los Gatos-based firm that produced the survey with Wine Business Monthly, cautioned about relying solely on the latest year-to-year change.

“The year-to-year change in average pay for any particular job will often be subject to random variation, and so it isn’t wise to rely too heavily on any one of those figures as a definitive indicator of the overall market,” said Steve Treder, vice president of strategic development at Western Management Group. “We advise our clients to look not just at those individual data points, but also at a 2-to-3-year rolling average, as well as combining the figures for multiple jobs, to obtain a more reliable indication of broad market change.”

With that in mind, salaries increased by about 3 percent over the past 3 years.

Job Market Remains Tight

Amy Gardner, president at Wine Talent, said this has been a busy year for recruiting in the wine industry. “That didn’t surprise me, given the overall labor market and the critical need for talent within the wine industry,” Gardner said.

While she is concerned about a possible economic stall, the job market has remained strong and companies are adding staff positions, said Gardner, who has filled management and executive roles across the board.

Companies know how difficult it is to find “good people” in the current market and are willing to offer higher salaries and compensation packages than in the past, Gardner said. That includes signing bonuses, relocation deals and other one-time perks.

Most senior-level roles offer bonuses, “robust” time off, a 401(k) plan, as well as dental, vision and life insurance, according to Gardner. Other benefits include cell phones and car allowances, continuing education opportunities, and retention bonuses, she and other recruiters noted. In addition, companies offer flex time and/or telecommuting options.

Donna Parker, founder of WinePro Recruiters, said candidates are more concerned with company benefits than base salary. “I find candidates to be more open to a lower base salary if the whole package is competitive.”

Karen Alary, managing partner at The Personnel Perspective, said that, in general, “companies are more thoughtful with their hiring budgets this year, and they are highly selective with candidates, as they should be. The majority of qualified candidates remain actively employed, which can result in a slower recruiting process because it takes longer to identify, contact, and engage those people who are qualified for a particular position.”

However, companies are willing to spend more money than planned for a valuable candidate other businesses want to hire. Recruiter Tom Hill, president, Hill & Associates, which fills positions that pay more than $100,000 a year, said a client recently offered a bigger salary than originally planned to a chief executive officer simply because that candidate was being recruited by another company.

Yet, overall, he has not seen substantial increases in compensation and package benefits, Hill said.

According to Hank Teahen, CEO at Teahen Group, another executive recruiting firm, candidates are not leaving companies as easily as they have in prior years. “Candidates have invested in their current companies and they are not switching for a few thousand dollars,” he said. “Offers are forced to be higher than in the past and an excellent benefit package is critical to the final decision.”

Like Teahen, Julie Chuharski, founder and principal at Wine & Spirits Recruiting, said companies have to pay more to attract talent. The tight labor market makes attracting and hiring talented employees challenging for companies. Her firm has filled roles over the past year that include general managers, sales and e-commerce positions.

Momentary Pockets of Availability

“There are momentary pockets of availability when companies consolidate and re-structure, and we are seeing many of the displaced people landing in good roles. Several have used that transition to move into cannabis, despite the uncertainty and risk with regulations and viability of some hasty start-ups,” Chuharski said.

And, like other headhunters, Chuharski said most candidates are employed and consider the total compensation package before making a decision.

“We are fortunate in that our clients typically have something special to offer—a supportive culture, growing business, career growth opportunities, mission-driven, etc. Even so, to attract solid candidates in this environment, clients are either offering more attractive compensation packages or willing to consider high-performing candidates that may have a bit less experience and have to grow into their roles,” Chuharski said.

The 2017 fires in the Napa and Sonoma wine regions have affected tourism and visitor traffic to wineries, Chuharski said. That has put pressure on wineries to find creative ways to attract visitors, create compelling experiences and develop long-tail relationships with customers after their visits to keep them engaged and loyal to their brands, she added. Thus, there has been an increase desire in the wine industry for candidates with digital marketing and social media skills.

Winemakers and Viticulturists

Dawn Bardessono, managing partner at Benchmark Consulting, said companies in Canada, home to a fast-growing wine industry, are actively hiring viticulturists. However, compensation in Canada is lower for similar jobs than in the United States, she noted.

All the hiring trends for winemakers, Bardessono said, are “outside of the immediate Napa/Sonoma region.”

Parker said she received more than 30 résumés to fill one winemaker position. “I was amazed,” she said. Winemakers and general managers have approached her to move from Northern California to wine regions such as Washington state and Oregon, where the cost of living is not as high as in the Golden State.

However, one deal with a California-based winemaker fell apart when the Virginia winery doing the recruiting declined to extend health benefits to the entire family. “It means a lot to people to know that they have security,” Parker said.

The weighted average salary for a vineyard manager was $98,028 a year, according to the 2019 WMG Wine Industry Compensation Survey.

Direct-To-consumer

Direct-to-consumer wine sales represent 65 percent of an average winery’s wine revenues as the consolidation of distributors continues, according to the 2019 Wine Business Monthly/Silicon Valley Bank Insights to Successful Consumer Wine Sales Survey Report. According to the 2019 Salary Survey, a vice president of marketing’s weighted average salary in 2019 was $211,105 and a wine club manager’s, $69,296 a year.

“Direct-to-consumer continues to be an area of focus for wineries with changing visitation patterns, an aging demographic and the sheer number of amazing winery venues and experiences with which to compete,” Courtney Andrain, partner at The Cypress Group, said.

John Winkelhaus, executive vice president at V. Sattui, in St. Helena said V. Sattui – like other wineries – continues to look for personnel for the front of the house, including cashiers, wine pouring and sales personnel, to staff its tasting room and market. The challenges in filling the positions include a “fairly tight labor market” as well as a long commute in and out of the Napa Valley to surrounding counties.

In Mendocino County, Graziano Family of Wines operates a family-owned winery and vineyard, which produces 20,000 cases a year. The winery staffs 15 full-time and eight part-time employees, providing small raises each year, said Gregory Graziano, proprietor and winemaker.

It is challenging to compete with large, corporate-owned wineries, Graziano said. “It is very hard to compete for employees with large wineries who can offer higher wages and more benefits. The only thing I can really offer is a more family-like atmosphere (and) more flexible time-off schedule,” Graziano said.

Where Graduates…Graduate To

At Walla Walla Community College in Washington state, Tim Donahue, director of winemaking and chief executive officer at College Cellars and the Institute for Enology and Viticulture, said the vast majority of students who complete the community college’s enology and viticulture program either have jobs or transfer to a four-year school. The students include young men and women as well as retirees. Donahue’s current oldest student is a 79-year-old botany emeritus professor. “He’s doing great,” Donahue said.

Recent graduates have been hired as cellar assistants, assistant winemakers and assistant vineyard managers. “Our students are in pretty high demand,” said Donahue, who notes the wine industry’s contribution to the region.

The Walla Walla wine industry supported 2,484 wine and tourism jobs in 2018 – or nearly 10 percent of all employed residents, according to a study sponsored by Visit Wall Walla.

UC Davis’ Viticulture and Enology department, which graduated 28 undergraduates and seven graduates in 2018-2019, does not track its alumni. However, the school follows the general trends in the winey industry.

“In the last few years, and this is purely anecdotal, graduates have increasingly started out going into one or more internships, either because they have not found full-time employment straight out, or to widen their experience and take advantage of international opportunities before settling into a career,” said Nicole Rabaud, director of graduate academic programs for the College of Biological Sciences at UC Davis. “By the same token, I think the wine industry has been much more selective with their hires and are making use of internships to vet their full-time hires. Whatever the case, the first professional destinations of our graduates may not be very indicative of where they end up three to five years out.”

The Cypress Group’s Andrain said she would advise young people to work for a large company, where they can learn the business under mentors and have access to broad resources and training. Career changers should network. “It is a lot of hard work given the competitive climate but there are good challenges and a collegial nature to the business that is hard to replicate,” she said.

Do Unto Employees…

Carol Reber, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Duckhorn Wine Co, urges companies to invest in their employees.

“People say they put their employees first. And they really don’t,” she said. “That (means) paying a competitive wage, not trying to churn part-time people to get them off the benefits to save a few bucks. Invest in your people,” Reber said during the Impact Napa Valley conference this summer.

“Actually find out who they are. Make them part of your team. Care about their lives,” she said. “It couldn’t be more important. If you take care of your employees first, they will take care of all of your customers.

“Employees are critical,” she added. “One good employee is worth 10 mediocre ones. So find the good ones and do everything you can for them.”

What It All Means for the Industry

Salary continues to play a substantial role in recruiting and retaining employees. Salaries continue to increase in the wine industry, according to Western Management Group. Overall, 18.7 percent of the surveyed wine industry jobs decreased in pay while 66.2 percent increased. The average bonus employees received in 2019 was $13,234, according to the survey.