Author Archives: Michael Brill

About Michael Brill

Founder
In 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 in 2004. Today, Michael dedicates his time to new product initiatives, improving the quality of winemaking and client experience, and pursuing global expansion opportunities.

The Art and Science of Growing Grapes

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Michael Brill

Grape growing is certainly a bit of art and science… with a healthy dose of crapshoot thrown in by Mother Nature.  Because we’re looking at a later harvest this year, growers who are in more marginal (cooler or higher-elevation) sites … Continue reading →

Posted in Crushpad, Make Your Own Wine | Leave a comment

CRUSHPAD in Sonoma

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Michael Brill

Here are a few photos of where we’ll be making wine in Sonoma. Entrance to the Winery Entrance to the Visitor Center Our Production Space Barrel Room Our Office

Posted in Make Your Own Wine, Wine Passion | 1 Comment

Come to Friday (2/20) fundraiser for Australian Bushfire Victims @ Crushpad

Posted on February 15, 2009 by Michael Brill

Crushpad in conjunction with the Australian Trade Commission, the State Government of Victoria, Advance, the Australian American Chamber of Commerce and The Jug Shop, invite you to support the Australian Red Cross by attending a wine tasting fundraiser for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Crushpad | Leave a comment

Dude, Where’s My 401K?

Posted on December 9, 2008 by Michael Brill

A few weeks ago, after staring wide-eyed at the drooping Dow charts all day, we decided that it really wasn’t much fun worrying all the time about something beyond our control.  But watching the stock market bounce around has almost … Continue reading →

Posted in Wine Passion | Leave a comment

Connor | Brennan Pinot Noir in Chronicle Top 100 Wines

Posted on December 7, 2008 by Michael Brill

This morning while reading the San Francisco Chronicle that I stole from my neighbor, I came across its annual Top 100 wines in the magazine and there’s Connor | Brennan in the list… and Crushpad even got a bit of … Continue reading →

Posted in Crushpad | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wine Taxonomies – We’re bigger than Corks, Parker and Syrah

Posted on December 1, 2008 by Michael Brill

One of our favorite bloggers (and wine industry PR blackbelt), Tom Wark, recently published his 2×2 matrix that classified many things wine-related in terms of impact and permanence. Crushpad, the only winery listed on the Fermentations blog entry, ended up … Continue reading →

Posted in Crushpad | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Hiatus in Harvest – How We Know When Fruit is Ready To Pick

Posted on September 15, 2008 by Michael Brill

So far, harvest 2008 looks like a combination of 2004 and 2007 – a very good and awesome year.  2004 because of the intense run of heat we had in August/early September and 2007 becauase of the dry year that … Continue reading →

Posted in Crushpad | Tagged , | Leave a comment