ABOUT US
Who is Crushpad anyway? Well, we're a combination of wine industry veterans and technology industry refugees that want to liberate winemaking from the stereotype of the 5th generation wine family living on the chateau with the Golden Retriever. By bringing winemaking to the city, augmenting it with education and support, and taking care of the time-consuming parts, we want to enable anyone with a serious interest in wine to participate in the magic of winemaking.And winemaking is magic. Although the process is somewhat understood, there is something very personal and very rewarding about squishing some grapes, turning it into wine, and then sharing this with the world. Until you've done it, it seems like some abstract thing that you could never do well. Once you've done it, you can't imagine not doing it. This is a warning – Winemaking is Addictive.
Some people want to make enough wine to create a full-time profession out of it, but most of you have day jobs. And that's our primary focus – enabling people with day jobs to make wine for both personal and economic reasons. Crushpad was created out of our own experiences – taking a two hour lunch to zoom up to Napa to check on sugar levels, staying up until midnight cleaning the press, waking up at 5AM to punch down and then speeding down to a sales call with grape skins under your nails – it's a bit much even for the diehards. So what if we provided a convenient facility and online tools that enabled people from all over the world to make wine and spend as much or as little time as they wanted without fear that the fermentation was going to get out of control? While we're at it, why not educate people and help them connect with folks with similar interests. Finally, if we're doing all this – why not help people from across the country that want to turn their passion for wine into a business.
Crushpad Management Team
Michael Brill
President & CEOIn 2002, Michael ripped up his San Francisco backyard and planted pinot noir. Soon after, Michael began hauling tons of fruit back from wine country to make wine in the city, showing up at his day job bleary-eyed and purple fingered. Vowing to add sanity to the lives of winemakers with day jobs, Michael formed Crushpad. Today, Michael has responsibility for the strategy and operations of Crushpad and with over 15 years experience founding and building start-up companies he is well equipped to turn his passion for wine into a thriving business.
Mike Zitzlaff
General Manager, Chief WinemakerMichael leads the Crushpad winemaking team. He brings 20 years of international winemaking experience to Crushpad, including his role as CEO and Chief Winemaker at Yarra Valley's Oakridge Estate – a company that he took public in 1996. Michael's wines have been recognized internationally with awards including the Warren Winiarski Stag's Leap Trophy for Best Cabernet Sauvignon of Show, the Wolf Blass Trophy for Best Australian Red Wine of Show at London's International Wine and Spirit Competition, and the award for Best New World Pinot Noir at the International Wine Challenge in London. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Oenology from Australia's Famed Roseworthy Agricultural College.
Stephen Bolger
General Manager, EuropeStephen has traveled from France to join Crushpad, with the objective of expanding our winemaking reach beyond the U.S. He brings significant international senior management and business development experience in industrial minerals and e-commerce, most recently as CEO of a technology firm jointly owned by Europe's four largest steel makers. Stephen holds a BA in history from Boston College and an MBA from the University of Chicago. His status as a citizen of both France and the United States explains why he always argues with himself.
Brandt Lincoln
Chief Financial OfficerBrandt oversees finance and accounting at Crushpad. He was previously CFO of two consumer companies; the first a privately-held fashion design firm for retailers such as Target and WalMart, the second at a venture-backed photo company that produced photo gifts and prints for major retailers and online affiliates. Brandt began his career in investment banking, focusing on M&A and leveraged buyouts. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College and can often be spotted skiing, trail running or mountain biking in the High Sierra when not analyzing numbers.
Thomas Bougetz
Vice President of EngineeringPrior to Crushpad, Mr. Bougetz had over 23 years experience in various high-tech engineering and development positions. He has held executive leadership of engineering at Haydrian Corporation, Action Engine Corporation and Sequel Technology as well as Chief Architect at Applied Microsystems. Mr. Bougetz has also held software development positions on the Space Shuttle program as well as with The Boeing Company.
Mr. Bougetz has an extensive technical background in software development, networking and mobile technologies with special emphasis in high availability and reliability.
Mr. Bougetz graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Computer Engineering. He has also studied winemaking at the Northwest Wine Academy in Seattle, WA.
Dan Lintz
Vice President, Crushpad CommerceDan Lintz manages the Commerce Division of Crushpad. Dan comes to Crushpad with 25 years of operations and business development experience, including ten years leading technology and consumer startup companies, most recently as CEO of Virtual Alert. Dan has extensive experience defining new brands and leverages this experience to help others form their own wine brands. He is an avid amateur winemaker and has studied winery finance, operations, marketing and vineyard management at University of California, Davis. Dan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the College of Business at San Diego State University.
Patrick Hurley
Vice President, MarketingPatrick is responsible for Crushpad marketing. He brings 23 years of consumer marketing and business development experience, with a special focus on renegade brands (Harley-Davidson and Salon.com ) and new product launches (Motorola, Sprint PCS and Energizer). He most recently served as Vice President of Marketing at web and mobile service, AirSet.com. Patrick holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Marquette University.
Paul Cattrone
Chief Technology OfficerPaul Cattrone brings over 13 years of bleeding edge technology experience to Crushpad, Inc. Paul was instrumental in developing and managing emerging technology companies in the areas of immersive military simulation, streaming media delivery, and digital document security. Paul additionally brings 9 years of award winning amateur winemaking experience. As the CTO of Crushpad, Paul is responsible for managing the development and deployment of Crushpad's Internet and software systems enabling Crushpad's winemakers, cellar crew and clients to exquisitely produce and monitor the vinification of personalized barrels of wine.
Jenny Doll
Creative DirectorJenny is responsible for design at Crushpad. Jenny's career in design, photography, film and video has spanned twenty years and she has held senior design positions in numerous corporations and global advertising agencies. Jenny is also responsible for customer packaging and coordination of external design and production resources.
Alan Baker
Crushnet Director of Product DevelopmentAs Crushnet Director of Product Development, Alan Baker brings twenty years of broadcast and new media production background to Crushpad, applying his new technology chops toward making the winemaking experience easier, richer and more fulfilling for our clients across the globe.
Alan left the safe haven of public radio in 2005 and worked as a vineyard laborer and winery cellar worker while documenting his experiences on his blog and NPR podcast series, "Ratcasts From the Cellar Rat." Prior to that, he was a contributor to NPR's "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition." He also created "The Composer's Voice" and was associate producer for "American Mavericks," both of them award-winning public radio series.
Dave Gifford
Head of Sales & Account ManagementAfter 15 years managing restaurants from NYC to Los Angeles, Dave was bitten by the wine making bug in 2004. The following year he worked harvest at Crushpad and hasn't looked back. With a passion for winemaking and his background in restaurant management he was the perfect fit to take over the role of sales and account management. Dave is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University and when he isn't thieving wine from barrels at Crushpad you'll find him playing in the wind at local windsurfing beaches.
Crushpad Winemakers
Mike Zitzlaff
General Manager, Chief WinemakerMichael brings 20 years of international winemaking experience to Crushpad, including his role as CEO and Chief Winemaker at Yarra Valley's Oakridge Estate – a company that he took public in 1996. Michael's wines have been recognized internationally with awards including the Warren Winiarski Stag's Leap Trophy for Best Cabernet Sauvignon of Show, the Wolf Blass Trophy for Best Australian Red Wine of Show at London's International Wine and Spirit Competition, and the award for Best New World Pinot Noir at the International Wine Challenge in London. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Oenology from Australia's Famed Roseworthy Agricultural College.
Kian Tavakoli
WinemakerKian joined Crushpad in 2005 to head up Crushpad's Bordeaux varietal winemaking. Kian most recently was the winemaker at Clos Du Val where he ran their red wine program – including their highly-acclaimed reserve bottling. Before joining Clos Du Val in 1996, Kian spent four years learning cabernet winemaking at Opus One. With over 10 years of winemaking, operations and viticultural experience, Kian brings a stellar combination of sensory and production skills to Crushpad.
Chris Nelson
WinemakerChris was fortunate to find winemaking in a circuitous route, having located to the West Coast in 2000. After enrolling at Fresno State in pursuit of his Master's degree in Enology, and building on his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Vanderbilt University, he was uniquely prepared for winemaking school. He found the perfect fit for his love of science in winemaking and has never looked back. He honed his winemaking skills while training with outstanding winemakers from Lynmar Winery in Russian River, Dry River Winery in Martinborough, New Zealand and Araujo Wines in Calistoga. Chris heads up the Pinot Noir program at Crushpad and continues the excellence of this fantastic grape.
Tom Leaf
WinemakerHalf teacher, half winemaker, Tom was the first consulting winemaker to Crushpad and helped build out the original winery in 2004. A self-taught winemaker with 15 vintages under his belt, Tom has been one of the industry's most generous sources of information. Before Crushpad, Tom operated his own winery, Grapeleaf Cellars in Berkeley, which served as the launching point for several successful commercial wine brands.
Camille Benitah
WinemakerCamille Benitah first started her career at the French National Institute of Agronomy, where she studied plants and soil interaction. Her work brought her around Europe, including laboratory research projects in the Netherlands. But her lifelong passion for wine brought her back to her native Bordeaux, where she learned viticulture and enology at Chateau La Tour Blanche in Bommes. During and upon graduating she worked as various capacities at several large and small wineries and vineyards in Bordeaux (Chateau Myrat, Chateau Chainchon).
She first came to Napa Valley in year 2000 and loved the wines produced. She stayed in the valley in order to further explore and understand the diversity of the region. Along with Erika Gottl, she has been instrumental in the making of Merus since 2004. In 2007, she started using her spare time consulting for Crushpad. When she is not working Camille enjoys playing gypsy jazz and baking.
Jonathan Borreson
WinemakerSince his days of chasing down the ice cream truck, Jonathan has spent time in his parents' backyard helping Dad with punchdowns and hand-filling bottles of Salute per Tutti, his family's home wine. Bitten very early by the wine bug, he hasn't strayed far from a vine since. Before joining Crushpad, he was part of the winemaking team at boutique Sonoma producer, Three Sticks Wines. Jonathan also worked at Artesa Winery in Napa before going overseas. He got an early taste of urban winemaking in Auckland, New Zealand, then made his way to the steep vineyard terraces of the Mosel in Germany to work for outstanding family producer, Weingut Reinhardt und Beate Knebel. Jonathan is thrilled to be back in his favorite city of San Francisco, and part of the winemaking crew at Crushpad.
Conor McCormack
Cellar MasterConor brings a solid background consisting of high-level cellar operations, amateur and commercial winemaking, wine sales, and harvest/fruit processing experience to drive operations on the floor at Crushpad. Previous stints at Rutherford Hill Winery, Brehm Vineyards, and Astor Wines and Spirits in NYC have supplied Conor with the necessary skills and knowledge of wine to aid in all aspects of the Crushpad winemaking experience.
Crushpad Directors
Michael Brill
President & CEOIn 2002, Michael ripped up his San Francisco backyard and planted pinot noir. Soon after, Michael began hauling tons of fruit back from wine country to make wine in the city, showing up at his day job bleary-eyed and purple fingered. Vowing to add sanity to the lives of winemakers with day jobs, Michael formed Crushpad. Today, Michael has responsibility for the strategy and operations of Crushpad and with over 15 years experience founding and building start-up companies he is well equipped to turn his passion for wine into a thriving business.
Nick Davidge
DirectorNick comes to Crushpad as an investor and strategic advisor after 30 years of building successful startups. Nick sits on a number of advisory boards ranging from venture capital to historical societies and provides guidance to Crushpad on corporate, legal and company culture issues.
Peter Engel
DirectorPeter is a Managing Director of Investment Banking at JPMorgan and is a member of the firm's California Operating Committee which oversees all JPMorgan Chase business in the Western United States. Peter also owns a small Sonoma County syrah vineyard. Peter provides a range of strategic and financial advice to Crushpad.