the client is a leading Canadian wine producer with national operations and multiple wineries, including a major commercial facility in the Niagara region. the client is undergoing cultural and operational transformation, with emphasis on continuous improvement, cost efficiency, and consistent quality across high-volume brands. the director of winemaking leads commercial winemaking and cellar operations for an Ontario winery, managing significant tonnage and storage capacity to deliver quality, cost-effective wines at scale that align with brand and market expectations.
the role leads all aspects of winemaking for the Ontario winery, from grape intake and blending through cellar management and final quality sign-off. responsibilities include overseeing production of still and sparkling wines and adjacent categories where applicable, optimizing cellar assets and storage capacity across the annual production cycle, and ensuring consistency with brand standards. the director will also drive continuous improvement and cost management by improving yields, reducing waste, and lowering cost per liter, partnering with operations and finance to understand cost drivers and standardizing procedures, metrics, and reporting to improve predictability and control.
the director will lead and develop a salaried winemaking team and provide indirect oversight of a unionized hourly workforce, with a focus on safety and compliance and embedding best practices across winemaking and cellar operations. collaboration is central, strengthening alignment between winemaking, cellar, maintenance, packaging, planning, and marketing, and working with estate winemaking as needed for tastings, vintage assessments, and portfolio coherence. the ideal candidate is a senior winemaker or ready step-up from a large-scale, multi-brand environment with deep experience in high-volume production and tank farm management, ideally including Charmat sparkling and domestic or international blends, strong continuous improvement focus, and proven people leadership skills; a degree in oenology, viticulture, food science, or a related field is expected, and international candidates may be considered if they are able to relocate to Niagara.