What To Know About Working a Harvest in Blenheim

Trip Journal

I wish I had some basic knowledge on working a wine harvest in Blenheim before I arrived so hopefully this will find the right people!

Blenheim is a pretty mellow town until harvest roles around. Come February, the wineries in the area hire interns to help work the grape harvest. This is where I come in!

The first year I worked at a large scale winery that produced over 25,000 tons of Sauvignon Blanc. Coming from the wine industry I was able to secure an Assistant Winemaker position but you do not need to have any experience to work an international harvest. Wineries try to hire a mixture of people with a wide range of skill sets. Wineries will give all interns the proper training and tools before getting into the thick of it.

Most large scale wineries will run on two shifts; day and night. They will likely be from around 7am-7pm for day shift and 7pm-7am for night shift. This varies from winery to winery and also is based on your role. As a first time winery intern, the most common job will be Cellar Hand. This is the role that the majority of interns will have. You will have one rostered day off and you don't usually get to pick.

While you are working 12 hour shifts for 6 days a week, it is such an amazing experience. First off, you are in New Zealand!! I am biased but it is such a beautiful country. This industry also draws in like minded individuals that you will make lifelong connections with. It's cheesy but true.

I highly highly recommend budgeting time to travel before and/or after working. If it is your first time in NZ, you will mostly likely get a Working Holiday Visa. They last a whole year so take advantage of that time! Coming from the U.S., it was such a simple process and took 2 days to get my visa back. You can only get one NZ Working Holiday Visa in your life so use it wisely. If you travel after harvest, you will likely be able to go with people you worked with. It is also extremely easy to solo travel across both islands.

Based on the winery, they will provide an accommodation option for you. This varies greatly based on the company you work for but from my experience they will not leave you house-less so don't worry. This will also usually be your cheapest option. There are also multiple Facebook groups for harvest accommodation, which is how I found my housing the second year.

During my second harvest I was way more familiar with the process but did run into some issues with my visa. As I mentioned, you can only get one Working Holiday Visa. This seems to be the quickest and easier to get. If you are going back keep this in mind. Apply to your new visa with plenty of time before you plan on leaving. I decided to go back very last minute and my visa ended up taking almost 8 weeks to be processed. This can vary on country and type of visa. I also worked at a company that brought in 7 different varietals. Depending on what you are looking for, there are a lot of options!

Onto the fun stuff! The two main bars interns will go to are Marlborough Public House and The Yard Bar. The Yard Bar has a much younger crowd (especially since the drinking age is 18)and has a cover fee after 11:30pm. The Yard Bar will often have Latin Nights where you will find Spanish music and a majority of the Argentinian interns (there are a ton in Blenheim). Public house has plenty of outdoor seating and the DJ's change but this is where I tend to find music I can scream my heart out to. If you work on the night shift, The Yard Bar will have some early morning parties for those who get off work at 7am. Raupo cafe is also a popular place for night shift works to get food and grab a drink after work.

I have helped some younger kids from my college get to New Zealand to work a harvest and I have yet to hear a complaint! The work is hard but so rewarding when you see a finished bottle of wine that YOU helped make.