Careers

Jost Vineyards is the largest and longest continuously operating winery in Nova Scotia.  We process grapes from all over the province for our Jost Vineyards wines as well as our sister wineries, Gaspereau and Mercator Vineyards. 

We are a large enough operation to expose a harvest intern to a large winery production but small enough allow an intern the opportunity to see an array of jobs. 

We are seeking enthusiastic individuals that will work closely with our cellar team and report to our winemakers, Dave Beardsall and Gina Haverstock. Dave has over 30 years of experience as the winemaker at Jost Vineyards.  Gina Haverstock is a CCOVI graduate and is the 2024 recipient of the Karl Kaiser Winemaker of the year award.

Position: Harvest Intern

Place: Jost Vineyards

Start Date: August/September through November/December, 2024

Reports to: Winemakers

Special Note: Ability to live in and/or commute to North Shore, Nova Scotia, required.

Qualifications:

Individuals who are:

• Highly motivated and have a strong work ethic
• Able to multitask and can work well in a team.
• Motivated and passionate about making high quality wine.
• Able to perform physical-demanding work on a regular basis.
• Able to lift 50 lbs. and are able to work at heights.
• Willing to work long hours, including weekends, often>60 hours/week during harvest.

Training in WHMIS, Confined Space and Forklift experience are all considered assets but are not mandatory; successful candidates will be trained.

Harvest tasks

• Work on the crush pad when grapes are received including helping to run the crusher/destemmer, grape hopper, must pump and juice pumps.
• Help fill, run and empty 2 x membrane presses (Bucher and Diemme).
• Clean grape bins, crush pad and all grape processing equipment on a regular basis
• Perform pump-overs/punch-downs, red fermentation tank dig outs and racking.
• Perform sugar and other additions to juice/wine
• Prepare yeast and inoculate juice
• Add nutrients to juice/fermenting tanks

Individuals interested in this position are asked to email their resume with cover letter to our Head winemaker, Gina Haverstock:  ginahaverstock@gmail.com

We are currently recruiting for a cellar worker to support our team in Malagash, located in Northern Nova Scotia. A cellar worker is responsible for general winery work that includes sanitizing tanks, hoses and other general cleaning.  Work assignments can include pumping wine, tank additions, barrel work and other wine related tasks.

We are seeking enthusiastic individuals that will work closely with our cellar team and report to our winemaker. This position is a full-time, year round, permanent position.

Position: Cellar Worker

Place: Jost Vineyards

Start Date: Immediately

Wage Rate: Dependent on experience

Working Hours: Full-time, year round, permanent position

Reports to: Winemaker

Special Note: Ability to live in and/or commute to North Shore, Nova Scotia, required.

Job Purpose:

The successful candidate will have a desire to work in an efficient and safe manner.  An interest in wine or agriculture is desirable.  Ability to live in rural, Nova Scotia or in commuting is necessary. Practical experience working in a wine cellar, food production, or manufacturing environment is desirable but not necessary; we will train suitable candidates.

Qualifications:

• Highly motivated and have a strong work ethic.
• Able to multitask and can work well in a team.
• Motivated and passionate about making high quality wine.
• Able to perform physical-demanding work on a regular basis.
• Able to lift 50 lbs. and are able to work at heights.
• Willing to work long hours, may include weekends, often>60 hours/week during harvest.
• Supervisory experience would be considered an asset
• WHMIS training, a forklift certificate and confined space training is an asset but not mandatory-successful candidates will be trained.

Job descriptions and responsibilities:

Daily/year-round tasks

• Ability to work within the standard operating procedures established in our cellar, crush pad and bottling line
• Follow a written list of cellar tasks accurately and complete in a time- effective manner.
• Clean/sanitize and sterilize winery equipment and tanks.
• Maintain an organized, clean and safe cellar environment.
• Perform wine movements such as racking with different types of pumps
• Filter wines with various types of filters (plate and frame, Cross flow, DE).

Harvest tasks

• Work on the crush pad when grapes are received. Tasks include weighing bins of grapes, running crusher/de-stemmer, grape elevator and operating the presses.
• Fill, empty and thoroughly clean presses (Membrane presses).
• Clean grape bins, crush pad and all grape processing equipment on a regular basis
• Perform pump-overs/punch-downs, red fermentation tank dig outs and racking.
• Perform sugar and other additions to juice/wine
• Prepare yeast and inoculate juice
• Add nutrients to juice/fermenting tanks
• Work bottling line.

Interested applicants may apply by submitting a cover letter and resumé in confidence to our Head Winemaker, Gina Haverstock: opportunity@devoniancoast.ca with a subject title of Cellar Worker