Guest blogger Jessica with her Dad.
Crush is a busy time for us and every so often we get some crazies who want to try a hand at it. But for Rob King, a long time Tom Eddy loyalist, making his way up here to Napa Valley each October is an annual pilgrimage. And this year he also brought his lovely daughter, Jessica. Here’s her take on the whole madness.
“Seven years ago, my dad harassed his way into the Tom Eddy Wines harvest. Much to the Tom Eddy staff’s surprise, he showed up ready and willing to work the long days of picking, sorting, and crushing the grapes and—even more surprisingly—was eager to return for the following year’s harvest. Six years later, I decided to join him and pick Kerry’s Vineyard.
Jessica checking the grapes in Kerry's Vineyard.
Unfortunately, the weather disregarded our plans and forced Tom to push the harvest of Kerry’s Vineyard to Tuesday. I was somewhat dismayed and wondered what there would be left for my dad and I to do. As it turns out, there was a lot to do.
Contrary to my belief that once the grapes are crushed the wine just sits in the barrel for a period of time, the wine has to be constantly tested and 
“fed”. First, we went through all the tanks and tasted all the wine, which—being only a few days old—can hardly be called wine; it is more like fizzy grape juice. It is very sweet and contains no alcohol because the yeast has not yet consumed the sugar from the grapes and, according to Jason, “pooped” out alcohol.
Assistant winemaker, Jason, taking Cabernet samples.
After tasting the wine in large metal tanks, Jason and Tom informed us that in a few days the CO2 in the tank would be so strong that if a person was to fall into the tank, they would die in seconds because the CO2 would take up all of the oxygen not only in the air, but also from the person’s body.
Rob & Jessica showing us how it's done.
Next, my dad and I were put to the task of standing on a wet plank above such a tank to punch down the grapes..luckily we did not fall in. We then went to the task of inoculating one of the tanks, which is Jason’s area of expertise. Inoculating involves rehydrating freeze-dried yeast and gradually incorporating it into the grape mixture. Jason likes to think of the yeast as “his babies” and takes a great deal of care to make sure “the babies are happy”. The yeast is re-hydrated in 95-104 degree water, similar to bath water temp, and juice from the tanks is gradually added to this mixture as to lower the temperature in such a way that it kills as little of the yeast as possible.
Jessica measuring ingredients.
After the inoculation process was complete, we mixed buckets of tartaric acid (which I had to taste after finding out that it’s what used to coat Sour Patch Kids), with DAP (diamonia phosphate: i.e.food for the babies), and a combination of dead yeast and vitamins called superfood. These three solutions are “fed” to the wine every few days in the first stages of fermentation.
Tom and Rob checking tanks.
After this, the hard work was done for the day and the only remaining task was going to several other wineries to taste the wines of some other clients that Tom Eddy Wines oversees. At the end of the day, we retired to the office and relaxed with some bread, cheese, and a glass of Tom Eddy Wine, of course. I hope to return for harvest next year!” (Dear Jessica: absolutely! Especially if you continue to share your experiences with us. We love reading your take and think others will too . KE).
Guest blogger, Jessica King.