As regular readers know, I spent last week in Napa Valley doing a five-day harvest immersion with the Stags Leap District Winegrowers. Over the next few days, I’ll be detailing my activities. (The first installment was published on Wednesday.)

Day two began just before 7:00 am at Silverado Vineyards. When I arrived, veteran winemaker Jon Emmerich asked if I was ready to work.

I had a feeling Jon was going to work me pretty hard — he had called the night before to see if I was interested in joining a night pick. (I declined, thinking that Jon was asking me to pull an all-nighter.)

So when Jon  introduced me to Elena Franceschi, his assistant winemaker, and told me it was time to do tank samples, I was a bit disappointed. By that point, I was ready to start sweating — where were the punch downs? Couldn’t I help out by grabbing a rake or a shovel, or just lifting something heavy?

Once the tasting began, however, I realized how fortunate I was. Jon and Elena have been making wine together at Silverado for nearly 20 years — so watching them work together was a bit like watching Bruce Springsteen and Clarence Clemons share a stage. The teamwork was truly impressive. And as a spectator, it was tremendously educational to watch them talk and taste.

When the samples finished, Jon told me to grab my rubber boots — as it was time to shovel out a tank. Twenty-three tons of Silverado’s Mt. George Merlot had recently finished fermenting, so it was time to drain the tank, shovel out the pomace, and press out the juice.

Once the tank finished draining, we opened it up and started shoveling. And once there was enough room for me to hop inside, Jon’s team sprayed my boots with alcohol to sanitize them and sent me inside.

Shoveling out the tank. The smile quickly vanished.

Jon suggested I give it a try for just a few minutes. If I was feeling particularly ambitious, he said I might have the energy to shovel out half the tank. I saw this as a challenge, and pledged to myself that I’d finish the entire thing.

It was absolutely grueling. By the time I exited the tank, I was absolutely drenched in sweat, short on breath, and a bit light-headed. It took just over 20 minutes, but it felt like I was in there for hours!

After catching my breath, Jon and I hopped in his pickup to visit the Mt. George Vineyard in Coombsville, where Cabernet Sauvignon was still on the vine. We pulled some grapes to bring back to the lab, but it was clear that all the fruit was in excellent shape and just a few days away from coming off. Upon our return, Jon sent me to the lab with the grapes, where we crushed out some juice and tested for brix and acid.

Cabernet Sauvignon at Silverado's Mt. George Vineyard.

Working in the lab at Silverado.

We finished up around 12:30 and headed to lunch at Redd Wood with Russ Weis, the general manager at Silverado. It was a wonderful break — and I got to taste some of Silverado’s Mt. George Merlot. It was one of the most electrifying wines of the trip — while I was certainly influenced by the fact that I’d just shoveled out a tank of the same wine, it was heartening to see that some folks are, indeed, making delicious Merlot in Napa Valley.

After lunch, I headed to Regusci Winery, where I met Jim Regusci, the owner, and Bertus Van Zyl, a South African winemaker who is helping with harvest at Regusci and T-Vine Cellars.

Bertus and Jim got me started with some basic cleaning (about 90 percent of winemaking, from what I can tell) and then taught me how to operate a forklift. There were dozens of bins (some full, some empty) to move and they needed an extra forklift operator.

Regusci Winery's Destemmer.

After getting the hang of things, it was a blast!

At about 5:30, we headed to the property’s former slaughterhouse (which is now a kitchen/dining room), where the winery’s chef, Angel Perez, had a delicious dinner waiting for us. Several members of Jim’s business team joined us for the meal, and we chatted about everything — winemaking trends, the three-tier system, etc.

It was another fantastic day!