We’ve got a job for you – and you won’t be clockwatching with this one. A Healdsburg, California winery is hiring someone to live on the premises, work their way through a year’s supply of wine, get paid $120k, and just… chill. As reported by Travel + Leisure, it’s the Murphy Goode winery (established 1985) which avows, ‘If excited when called a wine geek, we want to hire you.’
Healdsburg might not be as recognizable a name as Napa, but it’s a town smack-dab in the middle of wine country in Sonoma County. It’s where three famous wine valleys meet: the Alexander Valley (Cabernet Sauvignon), the Russian River Valley (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay), and Dry Creek Valley (Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc).
Back to the taxing work you’ll be performing. You’ll shadow winemaker Dave Ready, Jr. throughout all aspects of harvest. And then you’ll strategize with the Murphy Goode folks to plan your future in the wine industry. It’s rough, we know. What a grind.
There’s a little more to it (but not much!); you’ll be networking and promoting the wines through events and social media channels – maybe that’s why the application process really is nothing more than a short online form and a video in which you explain your passion for wine. You can watch 17 of last year’s video applications from finalists and winners to get inspired (there were 5,000 applicants in 2021, and the videos include movie parodies, original songs and raps, and a heartfelt expression of love for the grape that’s been put through its paces). Our favorite is this one by Matthew H. where he raps about the winery and his background and swigs straight from the bottle (reapply this year?)
Last year’s winners were Lindsay Perry and Veronica Hebbard, and we’re sure that after their year of labor, they’re pretty relaxed.