Winemaker

Have you ever wanted to disrupt a $70bn industry and be a key member of a direct to consumer wine club? Do you fancy a deep-dive into the intricate details of winemaking while maintaining the nimbleness of a data-driven, digital company? Are you keen to help a young, fast-growing company continue to evolve into a world-class, employer of choice? Well, then, come say hi!

Firstleaf, celebrating its 10th year anniversary, is the most customer centric wine company. Collaborating with winemakers and wineries around the globe, our wines have won over a thousand awards, including multiple 95+ point scores, Best in Show, and Winery of the Years. As the world’s only data-first winery, we’re part of the wine business by making the wines as well as curating selections based on individual preferences and bringing the joy of wine exploration right to our members’ door and glass through our direct to consumer company.

Firstleaf is looking for an experienced Winemaker to lead our wine production through partnership with our Operations team to lead the sourcing to bottling lifecycle by sampling, selecting and collaborating with global producers to execute custom wine specifications and treatments, ensuring seamless integration with QC and final finishing at our local facilities. The Winemaker will work hand in glove with the Sr Enologist in this very hands-on and execution-focused role. The Winemaker will work within well-established wine styles, portfolio frameworks, and data systems, applying deep technical winemaking expertise, blending skill, and sensory judgment to deliver wines that consistently meet quality, style, and commercial targets. Based in Napa, California you will ensure we are producing the best quality wines, achieving the highest possible positive ratings and awards for our wines, ensuring diversity of wines in our direct to consumer wine club while minimizing the operating costs and providing the support needed to highlight our story and authenticity. The Winemaker holds a pivotal role encompassing four main categories of responsibilities: management, execution, and oversight of daily winemaking operations; maintaining quality, integrity, and market fit of wines produced; data and winemaking information accuracy and compliance; and operational excellence, leadership and collaboration.

The ideal candidate will combine winemaking expertise and artistic intuition with scientific rigor to ensure the production of world-class wines that reflect our brand's standards and vision.

This area ensures the product meets high sensory standards and aligns with commercial goals.

• Sensory Evaluation: Lead regular tasting panels and blending sessions; assess wine quality with a strong, calibrated palate, identify faults early, and make confident final blend decisions. Demonstrated blending track record required.
• Style Consistency: Ensure all wines produced adhere to the established "house style" while highlighting the unique characteristics of the vintage.
• Laboratory Oversight: Manage the winery laboratory (or liaise with external labs) to ensure precise chemical analysis guides all winemaking decisions.
• Market Alignment: Collaborate with leadership to understand current market trends and consumer/member preferences, adjusting wine styles or introducing new products (SKUs) where appropriate to maintain market fit.

This area focuses on the "hands-on" production cycle, from portfolio planning to final bottle.

• Cellar Create and communicate work orders with wineries and winemakers globally as well as tank storage facilities, transport and bottling partners in order to ensure accurate and consistent quality production from sample, blending, finishing and bottling.
• Bottling In collaboration with the Sr Enologist, oversee the preparation of wines for bottling, including final filtration decisions, stability testing, and supervising the bottling line to ensure package integrity.

This area focuses on compliance, record-keeping, and the administrative backbone of the winery.

• Record Keeping & Tracking: Maintain meticulous, audit-ready records of all winemaking activities, additives, and movement history using Vintrace and NetSuite. Guarantee 100% traceability of all wine lots from receipt to finished goods.
• Compliance & Reporting: Ensure all federal (TTB) and state regulations are met; assist in the preparation of the 702 report and ensure accurate labeling compliance as needed.
• SOP Documentation: Develop, update, and enforce Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all cellar and lab activities to ensure consistency and data integrity.

This area focuses on leadership and cross-functional collaboration

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with Biz Ops, Marketing, Data Science, and Technology teams to support overarching company goals and 
• Team Development: Mentor and train Sr Enologist and colleagues, fostering a collaborative and high-performance work environment in support of the organization and the individual’s career growth.

The ability to work daily in Napa, California, is required. Firstleaf will not be providing Visa sponsorships for this role.

• 5% bonus potential
• Unlimited paid time off
• Medical insurance - 100% company-funded options
• Dental and vision insurance
• Flexible spending accounts - Healthcare FSA and Dependent Care FSA
• Company-funded life insurance
• Company-funded Long-Term and Short-Term Disability insurance
• 401(k) with company matching
• New Parent Leave - 12 weeks, fully paid
• Firstleaf wine discounts and monthly allowance
• Attorney consultations offered by MetLaw 
• Employee Assistance Program
• Discounted pet insurance