Olivia Ross

Background

About Olivia Ross

With twelve years of experience in the viticulture and wine industry and ten vintage experiences between two hemispheres, my key strengths are in wine operations management, team leadership, laboratory precision, and sensory analysis. In 2013, I threw out a net during my studies at Ohio State to work on sustainable vineyards in Napa Valley scouting and surveying for pest management. Following that summer, I committed to studying all aspects of the wine industry. In 2014, I took time from my degree in Environmental Science to make wine as a laboratory intern at Rutherford Hill winery in Napa, and then return to Ohio and apply that knowledge to a case study on vineyard soil analysis in the greater Cleveland area. Near graduation, I snuck into a biology class to hear a guest speaker on California grape breeding, then called him the next day. A month later I accepted a viticulture research intern position for E&J Gallo. Being on a research team felt very natural. An internal fire lit, next I worked harvest alongside co-workers from all over the globe at a large winery in New Zealand. I applied to graduate school at UC Davis, and then slipped in another apprenticeship at a winery in south Germany for my thesis on spontaneous fermentations. Post master's, I worked at Broc Cellars, a natural winery in the East Bay to further pursue harvest and laboratory work in spontaneous fermentations. Curious about global grape variation, in early in 2020 I traveled to Adelaide Hills in Australia to work at another small natural winery. The COVID-19 pandemic forced me to return to the Bay Area where I have since worked at Hammerling Wines-a bustling start-up making champagne method sparkling California wine. I was promoted from harvest intern to assistant winemaker within a year. I have poured long hours of physical labor and creative problem-solving into growing businesses who believe in nuanced wine made from traditional techniques. I thrive at a company whose focus is on scientific innovation and offers projects requiring individual concentration and team collaboration. I enjoy cultivating my laboratory skills in food and beverage science in an environment that supports growth, and values technological development.