Tom was born in southern California and when his family moved to Northern California when he was 11 years old, he not only discovered the beauty and richness of the north state, including many magical trout streams, but he was profoundly fortunate to reside in the community of Davis, where the opportunity to attend UC Davis was there waiting for him to explore the fermentation science discipline.
Tom completed his enology degree at the University of California Davis in 1974. At the same time a group of talented grads also burst on to the scene to be credited for the meteoric rise in the quality of California wines in the 70’s. Before starting the eponymous Tom Eddy label as the family winery in 1991, Tom had been the winemaker for some of the largest and smallest wineries in California. As a recognized industry expert, and noteworthy writer about all things “Wine”, Tom left a personal stamp on many winery operations in Napa, Sonoma, Oregon and Washington, and even globally, and has had a direct influence on winery design and winemaking with a broad consulting client base.
Tom’s tenure in the wine industry is now well over 40 years young. During the past several decades, it just seems like he has made wine of every type, from every location and has met every winemaking challenge head on with enthusiasm, a quality perspective, and an artistic flair. Tom’s passion and dedication to excellence with wine is ongoing. He is always quick to point out that, when it comes to his favorite grape, Cabernet Sauvignon, his winemaking goal is to produce wine which is rich, flavorful, and elegant, from hillside vineyards that deliver intense fruit flavor and depth of structure to ensure complexity and richness.
One of the final career goals for Tom was to purchase the Calistoga ranch in 1999, provide an exciting landscape to live and explore nature on a daily basis, and plant a small vineyard and build a family winery on the back side of the mountain. True to his commitment to the passion of artistic winemaking, Tom and his wife Kerry brought together friends to help in the construction of a classically designed, efficient, yet small winery, along with a beautiful cave dug deep into the mountain Tom’s journey to produce elegant, age worthy wines will continue, and now he can do it from his back porch.