laboratory technician

general worker

maintenance technician

intern

administrative assistant

The Wine Group

I was there 10 years and saw a lot of changes. The company pays a fair wage as an advanced machine operator. Starting out as a level 1, it is easy to progress through to level 3 and can be done in a year or two. They run 3 shifts 5 or 6 days a week. They try to give you 2 days off (Saturday and Sunday) but during busy times, Saturdays are often mandatory. Most of the bottling lines have poor climate control so it is hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Working outside in the tank farm is obviously not climate controlled. 
Training is on the fly and you have to be aware of what is going on around you and watch what others are doin to learn a lot of tricks of the trade. No one is going to hold your hand, you have to be able to work independently and also as a team. There are training programs in place but you need to be proactive in searching for them by asking supervisors. The job of advanced machine operator includes a variety of duties and you have to have the ability to multi task and prioritize the tasks keeping in mind  of the work that will be required in an hour, two hours or what ever is scheduled. You will be initially assigned to  a bottling line and are expected to learn all aspects of that line in about 6 months. The typical work flow of a bottling line starts with the work order. The type of wine specified and the storage tank  it is in, making sure the winemaker has approved the wine and a few other factors need to be verified before bringing the wine to the bottling line. If you are responsible for bringing the wine in, you will have to hook up the heavy hoses and sanitize the the line once the hoses are connected. Tis can be a confusing process as there are many hook ups and your line may be disconnected by another department while you laying your line. Hoses and connections are usually in short supply as well as the pumps. You will have to push the heavy pumps to your tank and find an electrical (440V) connection. Working in the tank farm is also hazardous as the concrete is usually wet and often slippery. 
so you brought the wine in to the fillers. Samples are taken to the lab and once approved the line begins bottling either glass bottles or bags. There are a variety of packaging machines ...Fillers, box formers, case packers, palletizers and various labeling and printer machines. Quality checks are performed every hour as well as certain sanitation procedures. Twice a week the line is shut down for deep sanitation and preventative maintenance. You have to be fast on PMs in order to get them done by the time the filler sanitation cycle is done. Once you have been qualified on your initial line, you will be moved to another line to learn that line and all the equipment. In recent years, the company has benn standardizing a lot of equipment so once you learn certain machines, it is an easy transition to another line. Over time is is often required and you will be notified within one hour before the end of your shift if you have to stay for another 4 hours. If you have child/elder/family care, this can be a problem you will have to deal with. Most positions are union and you need to be vocal to the union about contract and labor violations. The company has a very strict sick time policy. You get an infraction each time you call in sick and an infraction stays on your record for a rolling calendar year. It used to be 7 infractions in a rolling year, but I heard this has changed. Management is good and not so good. If you get on the wrong side of a supervisor, you will be treated differently and given assignments that are less desirable or harder or in a position you don't particularly care for. I have had good jobs and have had bad jobs (really bad jobs). Working at the Wine Group falls about in the middle. 

Be prepared to work long hours.... i started in september, everyone is very friendly, but don't let it fool you! The reason why im giving this review is because i don't anyone to go through what i did. If your being hired as an AMO or Advanced Machine Operator you are going to be put on a journey you'll never for get...The plant has been working six days a week since march of 2011. Yes they are busy, cause who doesn't drink wine? The employees in the AMO department were recruited within the planet because the company was forced to by the union contract. So your already thinking to yourself that people who have no mechanincal experience just had to pass a basic knowledge test to get a pay increase and work as a machine operator. Their were a few people that were knowledgeable about the machines, how they worked and how to fix them. Others.......well from their previous job at the plant they just liked to drive the forklifts and stock the line, and load product. So if you Apply don't be surprized to not get your 20day, 40day, and 60day review that your supose to have cause none of us had ours and it has been confirmed. As for the rest of the plant is great to work for i hear. Just not the AMO department because it has only been ran for the last year with non experienced individuals.

this placed had very skilled workers in the workplace at one time. the old timers are being pushed out but the young and un skilled worker. promotions are given to people that do not have the all skills in the job description but are still awarded the bid. so with that said new management is young un experienced and they do know the first thing on how to value great work if it hit them in their face.  the only thing that will have you coming back to work is literally the paycheck. this place is trying to change at this moment so the supervisors are un organized the work is distributed not in a timely fashion. also people in charge are wasting company time working overtime and on the weekends at the desk or looking at people work.  all in all if you cant find employment else where then I would  apply but if you can avoid this place I would. in my years that I worked here I never recommended any person I knew to go through this company that is so un organized. they do not appreciate loyal employees they gave forty employees a pink slip without notice

Overall, I didn’t experience a lot of micromanaging but the opportunity for advancement is very minimal. It will take years to have someone willing to talk about a promotion with you and that’s after they throw many “projects” at you to “prove yourself” instead of letting the work you’ve been doing daily speak for itself.  Management has a habit of asking you to do a lot of work to come to a recommendation on something then will do whatever they were going to do anyway. And if you do get promoted be expected to still do all your old tasks on top of new ones, instead of being back-filled. 

Not the worst place I worked at, as I do believe there were a lot of good people, but management is very unaware of what goes on in the day to day of their departments to make the business run and the actual people doing the work. 

And if you are not on one of the top 3 brands you may as well not work there. Be prepared to be told often by sales that the work you are doing “isn’t really as important.” 

Entrepreneurial work environment where management encourages ideas and suggestions for improvements. I've seen this across most departments, and have had many of my ideas implemented. Great people company wide who make coming to work everyday fun. Open door policy with communication with upper management. A lot of employee appreciation efforts. A truly great place to work!

former AMO , my experience was bad , you take some simple tests,really easy hands on test ,interview and you hire no experience necessary, then you start working ,first nice training at first then they tell you you have to be qualified on every piece of equipment very difficult to do you are on probation for a year , the union is a joke you pay union dues and get no representation , your always one mistake away from getting fire , my supervisor are quick to remind you how much money the pay you and why very unprofessional,when i worked there, we had 55 amo,  12 quit or got fire ,bottom line if you want to make money go there ,but stress of the job not worth it , if people call in sick ,they force you to work an additional four hour,make sure to bring food for a twelve hour shift ,every day is like box of chocolate you never know what you going to get 

If it weren't for MGMT, it would be a good company to work for....the actual workers who produce are great, not too bad in terms of work  environment, it is a winery/MFG plant but the MGMT are all judgmental, nosy, bully their employees and have no problem bringing the ax down on good workers if they don't like the person on a personal level or don't agree with their lifestyle even if it doesn't affect their job. A lot of the MGMT are family members or friends who all attend the same church...which is fine but really, cliques in the work place??! All in all, glad I'm no longer part of The Wine Group where there is no room for advancement if you aren't family or go to the same church and what's comical is they promote folks that aren't even qualified to assume the role. So long TWG!!

The Wine Group was only my job for such a long time because it was a good paying job and I needed to support my family. Even though I didn't really get to see my family that much because I was stuck on an off shift for over seven years. I put in my time and I was well deserved to be given the day shift position but they transformed the company to save money but then their production efficiency decreased and they blamed the employees when it was clearly managements fault. The company does what ever they want and the union doesn't protect your job and is totally for the company. Management chooses certain people to advance in the company that they hand choose due to doing certain things for them.

You start as a tech 1 and have to get each machine center signed off. Then after learning a glass line and box line you will have to walk with the supervisor who asks you questions about each machine. Be ready to get asked questions that you never learned and are not even in your training booklet. You miss 9 questions on the walk your fired. If your the lowest seniority then be ready to stay 12 hours everyday.. Yea its sad they can't hire enough people. The coworkers on your line report to the boss about your performance so your job also depends on your workers not the boss....bs. The older workers talk bad about all the new hires and most of them don't know about the machines. Avoid this place. Cause you will have to watch your back everyday there.

I loved working here and only left because I relocated temporarily to care for an aging parent. 

Days were usually busy so time passed quickly. I felt free to ask questions of my managers and teammates. I learned a ton about wine and sales and customer service. The workplace culture was caring and kind and fun. A day didn’t pass when I didn’t share a laugh with someone. The hardest part of the job was the occasional grumpy or entitled customer and the most enjoyable part of the job was the team, also those great customers who tipped well! 

This was not my main source of income - I did it for the experience and it far exceeded my expectations. This was 100% the result of the tasting room managers and leads. They were a great group to work with and learn from. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Laboratory technician 22 salaries reported	$24.57 per hour
General worker 15 salaries reported	$21.72 per hour
Maintenance technician 5 salaries reported	$34.09 per hour
Intern 1 salary reported	$23.00 per hour
Administrative assistant 6 salaries reported	$22.53 per hour

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