sales representative

accountant

retail sales associate

cellar worker

junior sales manager

Pelee Island Winery

The work itself is quite enjoyable; most tasks never really feel monotonous or dull. You learn a wide range of skills on the job, and learn the entire winemaking process through hands-on experience. When things work well, it feels like you're all part of a strong team, and it's something you really can enjoy.

The issue is that things often don't work well, and lots of it has to do with leadership. The wide range of things you'll be expected to do have no clear, written procedure you can refer to, and the two winemakers, who are also the two supervisors for the cellar hands, are often difficult to find. Lots of time is wasted trying to locate them to ask questions for things that ought to be written down somewhere, and there are cases where you will be treated negatively for not knowing something specific to the job that they've failed to teach you (or failed to give you the resources to teach yourself). Often they won't be in their offices, and there are many days where you rarely see one or both of them at all. 

There is no start-of-the-week team discussion, or much communication at all to convey the gameplan for the week, and things are usually given to you on a task-by-task basis. You'll be asked to set up for things that you don't know the end goal of, and when you need to learn the next step, the winemaker you need will be hard to find. The workplace feels more like atomized individuals wandering around instead of a cohesive team.

The winemakers also fail to communicate with each other shockingly often, and sometimes you will be given conflicting information from the two of them, with no clear way to understand who's commands to follow. They seem to always be busy with other things around the winery, rendering them unable to supervise and direct the workers where needed. If something breaks down or goes wrong, you'll be ping-ponged from person to person trying to find who you actually have to bring specific issues to in order to resolve them. 

Some co-workers don't seem to be treated equally as well. You may be fairly warned for using your phone on the work-floor, or using an earbud to listen to something, while some co-workers can be seen standing or sitting around on their phone for long periods of time, consistently showing up late, watching videos and even using earbuds as well. The winemakers see this and seem to ignore it, but only for certain workers. If you voice your complaints about this, nothing ever seems to be done.

There is also no actual incentive to do anything other than the bare-minimum. It genuinely feels like a line of work that you want to try your best with, but showing up on time consistently, trying to do your work safely and on schedule, and showing an eagerness to exceed expectations will only ever earn you an occasional pat on the back and a "good job," and a heavier workload than your peers, without any job advancement or tangible reward to aim for. Giving it your all gets you just as far as giving the bare minimum. There also appears to be no company ladder for you to climb; if you are hired as a cellar hand, you will only ever be a cellar hand, and raises are few, miniscule, and far-between. The people who work above you are kind, but look down on you.

There seems to be a quiet expectation that working fast comes before working safe. It's good if the forklifts and other machines are checked, but the time saved skipping that is more appreciated than the time spent doing that, and you'll see cases where co-workers or supervisors skip checking forklifts altogether if that means saving a few minutes, and reminding them to check the machines will get you a glance or a chuckle. The same expectation applies to PPE; if you aren't actively aware of what PPE to use and when, you won't be warned or reminded, and you'll be ping-ponged around the winery trying to find gloves or eye protection if you ask for it. There aren't walkways for all of the wine tanks, and some of them are quite unsafe to access, with no ladder hooks or tie-off points, and the only boom lift will often be in use elsewhere, or blocked off with hoses, unable to reach the tank you need. The only time the winemakers are actively interested in safety is when third-party trainers come to the winery and ask questions about workplace safety.

The physical labour is never overwhelming, and the hardest part of the job is bearing with the things mentioned above. You learn a lot of interesting things about the winemaking process. Harvest season can be very busy, but even then it's never really the physical part of the job that wears you out. The hours are always consistent even when things are in a slower part of the year. Office management genuinely seems to want to make it into a good workplace, but they do feel quite out of touch with the physical labour workers, and you often will never interact with them unless you pass them by the punch clock, and even then it's nothing more than a polite "hello."

The work on it's own is good, and enjoyable, but the other aspects of the job can make it into quite a stressful, soul-sucking line of work, with no real future to aim for.

Typicaly our day would consist of opening and closing duties(count floats, re-stocking shelves and general maintenance). As well as winery tours and guided tastings. We would offten have live music and our customer base was made up of wonderful tourists from all over the world. My co-workers were also my flat-mates and through that we became like siblings. Employment with Pelee was a great learning experience. The hardest part was dealing with large tour groups....trying to stay on time and organized as well as meeting any special needs along the way. The most rewarding was living on the island, experiencing the local culture, meeting different people from all walks of life. The managemnet was excellent, as well as, always caring and alwaqy on top of things.

In a typical day you will arrive at work at a lofty 10 am and open the Pavilion. This includes general cleaning, set up and merchandising. You will often work all three posts in a day including, tasting bar, retail, and deli hut. You will conduct on or two tours a day which finish with a tasting of wine. Tours run approximately 1.5 hours. Closing includes clean up and storing of equipment.

What is the best part of working at the company?
GREAT staff, great support, great wine that practically sells itself

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
BUSY days throughout the summer & fall

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
VERY supportive staff & fun working environment

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
stocking shelves, keeping areas clean & safe, addressing customers & knowledge of wine

What is the best part of working at the company?
Committed and dedicated staff who were resilient to change

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Management proved to be very predatorial and served very short termed interests. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Staff tried very hard to thrive in spite of unrelenting lack of appreciation for team member effort

Do you want to enjoy going to work everyday? Do you have a zest for life? Do you want to get a fair wage?  If you answered Yes to any of these questions, do not go anywhere near this place. It sucks the happiness out of you and at the end of the day you are left burnt out and exhausted, and hoping that if you're lucky enough you'll wrap your car around a tree on the way home so you don't ever have to go back.

Three different winemakers, three different agendas. 
Lots of he said she said. Management style reflects education levels.  Very low and basic. 
Skilled labour isn’t cheap, Cheap labour isn’t skilled.  Lots of cheap labour. 


Great location on the island, provided staff housing. Lots of hours at a good wage. The tours are really fun to do. The CEO actually comes down in person for events every now and then and is a very caring man.

Staff are attentive, but you are pretty much on your own yo do delivers all over various parts of the gta. Long hours and sometimes the deliveries can be over 2 hours away with a chance of getting stuck in a rural area in the winters

Pelee Island Winery is a great place to work. I have learned many things and have advanced 3 times since starting here in 2015. I enjoy working with the public, and meeting new people.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Sales representative 4 salaries reported	$45,625 per year
Accountant 1 salary reported	$17.60 per hour
Retail sales associate 3 salaries reported	$17.90 per hour
Cellar worker 2 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Junior sales manager 1 salary reported	$52,500 per year

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