A Day in the Life of a Proprietor and General Manager at Crux Winery
A winery owner's day is highly seasonal, with harvest bringing "long days, early mornings, late nights" focused on vineyard checks and grape picking. Outside of harvest, Brian balances wine club management, marketing events, "lots of compliance related work" with government agencies, and the general business operations of running their own establishment.
Entrepreneurship, Agriculture, Business Management, Compliance and Regulations, Customer Relations
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
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Traits
Brian Callahan
Proprietor and General Manager
Crux Winery
Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo
N/A
History, Art History
Food, Beverages & Alcohol
Sales and Client Management
Worked 20+ Hours in School, Greek Life Member, Student Athlete
Video Highlights
1. During harvest season, the work is heavily influenced by nature, requiring long days and manual labor to ensure grapes are picked at the optimal time.
2. Throughout the year, there's a variety of tasks, including managing wine club releases, hosting tastings, and handling the compliance and reporting associated with alcohol production.
3. Owning a winery offers the benefit of setting priorities and constantly engaging in diverse activities, from vineyard work to marketing and customer interaction.
Transcript
What does a day in the life of a winery owner look like?
That really depends on the time of year. During harvest, it's all about checking in on the vineyards and watching the grapes to determine the absolute optimum time to pick those fruits and bring them into the winery. The schedule is based on Mother Nature, so it's long days, early mornings, and late nights.
It's a lot of manual labor. Outside of the harvest season, there's always something to do. We're either doing a club release, emailing customers to let them know what new wines are available and getting shipments packed up and shipped out.
We're also bringing folks into the winery to pick up their shipments if they live close by. We're always trying to meet new people, so we're scheduling wine tasting events in various places.
There's a lot of compliance-related work. We're making alcohol, so there are many bureaucracies involved at the federal level, the Tax and Trade Bureau, and the Alcohol and Beverage Control in the state. There's lots of reporting to do associated with that, along with bookkeeping and all the other aspects.
One of the benefits of having your own business is getting to prioritize what you're doing on a daily basis. There's really never a dull moment; there are always so many different things to do, which really keeps you engaged and interested.