“Behind the bottle” : Portrait of Mélanie BASSI, Cavist

Melanie, can you tell us about how you joined the Univitis winery?

“Ever since I was a little girl, my passion has been vines and wine. My father used to take part in the Univitis grape harvest through a group of employers for winegrowers in Les Leves.

I have always appreciated this environment, so I chose to focus my studies in this field.

After obtaining a BEPA (Brevet d’études professionnelles agricoles), I continued my studies towards a BAC Pro viticulture/oenology. And I didn’t get it!

However, I still wanted to work in this field and Univitis offered me the opportunity to start working as a seasonal employee.”

How long have you been at Univitis?

“I started my first harvest season at the age of 19. I have been working there for 18 years. I was employed as a seasonal worker during the grape harvest, and the rest of the time I worked in the vineyards. And, little by little, because of my desire to evolve, my sense of work and my experience, Univitis offered me a permanent position as a cellarman.”

What is your job as a cellarman?

“I work in close collaboration with Franck, our oenologist in charge of the LEVES site.

My work is transverse to the activity of UNIVITIS. It varies according to the season and starts with successive operations, from the reception of the harvest to the vinification, the maturation, the control, the filtration operations until the bottling of the wine.

There is always work to be done, the missions vary all the time; and that’s what I like. There is no typical day, we respond to the need of the volumes to be bottled.

I also do regular tastings to keep track of the wines, how they are evolving, and what adjustments need to be made.”

Why are you so attracted to this job?

“As I said, I’ve been in the wine industry since I was 14 years old.

I like to move around too, I spent 15 years in the vineyards and I wanted to be involved in every step of the process, to be in a responsible position.

I love manual work, working with grapes and wine itself. I also like to train others, I supervise my fellow assistant cellarers who I take care of full time, train them, teach them the job.”

For you, what are the necessary skills to be a cellarman?

“First of all, you have to be passionate. If you are not passionate about wine and grapes, it is complicated. There are short studies: BTS, BAC Pro, BEPA, to access this profession easily.

Otherwise, as I said before, you have to like to move, to be outside and manual work.”

Is the cellarman's job a solitary one?

“So it can change from cellar to cellar, but here we are always in a group.

There’s a lot of mutual aid; we help each other with physical tasks, for example, and we listen to each other and support each other with technical choices.

There are often two or three of us grouped in the same place.”

What are your favorite tasks as a cellarman?

“My favorite part is harvest time. It is the most intense season, we run around. It is the first stage of our work where we are in contact with the raw material: the grapes. It is a very important moment, where we can estimate the quality of a harvest and a vintage.

During the harvest, we welcome seasonal workers for our labor needs that we have to train. It is an intense and challenging moment that we approach in a pleasant way. We are nevertheless happy with the calm that we find when it stops.

Our pride: To be able to appreciate the fruit of our labor when we taste it.”

Do you have an anecdote to tell us about a moment in the cellar?

“Inevitably, at harvest time, there is a good atmosphere with our cooperators who come to bring us their grapes and the seasonal workers. Moreover, we are lucky enough to have the wife of one of our members who is a cook, so it’s always an opportunity to get together and relax over good food.

The harvest is really a time for sharing: we’re stressed, we have a lot of work to do, but there’s a good atmosphere.”

Wine professions are often occupied by men, did you feel left out when you joined the winery?

“Not at all. Since I’ve been here a long time, I’m almost part of the furniture. I have never had any problems integrating. We have been working as a team with my close colleagues Ludo and Pierre for years.

I have always enjoyed working with boys. Today, they help me, I help them, there is no difference. As they say, I am their “little boss”. I was able to impose myself through my work and my proximity to them.

Nevertheless, when I started about fifteen years ago, the answer I was given was that they didn’t take girls in the cellar. This period is over, “fortunately”. The job is certainly physical but mutual aid is permanent at Les Lèves. I respond to other qualities that are more technical, organizational, relational… We function as a team where everyone has their place.”

Do you have a favorite wine from the cellar?

“A favorite wine? I really like the Brennus, it’s the first wine my father made me taste from the cellar, I’ve known it for years.

I also like the Château Les Vergnes dry white!”