NEWSLETTER
Nine Months To Go
January 17, 2006A couple of days ago, someone ended an email with “Remember, there's only nine short months until harvest.” My heart jumped. That may seem like a long way off, but with all of the projects we have ahead of us this year (and unfinished projects from last year), it will be on us faster than we imagine. Here's what's up:
Welcome Kian Tavakoli
Our new head winemaker, Kian Tavakoli, joined us full time in December. Kian was a consulting winemaker for us last year, putting his fingerprint on over 100 barrels of cabernet, merlot and other Bordeaux varietals. Before joining Crushpad, Kian headed up the red wine program at Clos Du Val and began his career at Opus One. Scott Shapley has shifted into the role of a consulting winemaker and has become the full-time winemaker at Roessler Cellars – a phenomenal producer of pinot and chardonnay.
Schedule Some Time to Stop By
We're all back in the winery, so now's a great time to swing by and check out your 2005s (and 2004s for those of you who haven't bottled yet). The wine is still very, very young, but you'll be able to get a sense for where they're going and see the excellent extraction and aromatics that many of the wines are already showing. Shoot an email to Dave Gifford ( dave@crushpadwine.com ) or me ( michael@crushpadwine.com ) and we'll get you in.
The Lab is still in Overdrive
Kathy is still running the numbers for 2005 and pre-bottling workups for the 2004s. Last year we made the decision to bring in all of the analysis instead of outsourcing it to a lab. So we brought in a whole bunch of state-of-the-art equipment. But it's very sensitive stuff and it seems like we're always calibrating against lab samples. It looked good on paper. In any case, our focus is now on malic acid and glucose-fructose – we want to make sure that the 2005s are completely dry and can get under the protection of sulfur.
2006 Vineyards Being Finalized
With the grape demand swinging back into equilibrium with grape sources, we are getting out ahead of the curve this year to make sure we've got enough great fruit. Most of our 2005 vineyard sources will be back and we will be adding new cabernet, pinot, syrah and zin vineyards. We will be holding back a bit of capacity this year to accommodate any last minute opportunities. Last year there was fruit from once in a lifetime vineyards available at the last minute, but we couldn't take another grape.
2006 Allocations Begin In February
We will be opening up 2006 sales in a few weeks. Like last year, existing customers will have first access to vineyard sources and then we will open up vineyards to new customers. Many of you will remember Dave Gifford ( dave@crushpadwine.com ) who worked harvest in 2005. Dave is now helping with account management and he or I will notify you of the specifics shortly.
See Us at ZAP
The Zinfandel Advocates and Producers tasting is Saturday, January 28 th at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. We'll be there, pouring some 2004 zins. If you're planning on attending and would be willing to spread the gospel in a brand new 2006 Crushpad t-shirt (which are being printed now), let me know and I'll get you a t-shirt to wear. Or if you want to kick it old school style in a 2004 or 2005 t-shirt, that'd be most appreciated as well.
Check out San Sakana
Another one of our commercial customers, San Sakana ( www.sansakana.com ), is just about to launch their first wines – syrah and viognier from Sonoma County. If you purchased any of Dain's 2004 Sojourn syrah, you should also buy a bottle of San Sakana's Las Madres syrah. Made with similar fruit, San Sakana's is being aged in barrel for several more months and contains a bit of viognier as well. It will make a nice contrast.
MyCrushpad 2.0 Details Coming Soon
After being out of the software industry for two years now, I've forgotten that this stuff always takes longer than you think (the rule of thumb was to take the initial estimate and then multiply it by four). In any case, we'll be providing details about MyCrushpad 2.0 in March. But we're taking a lot of feedback – especially in the area of group management and incorporating it.
Adopt A Barrel Program Continues
The 2005 Adopt A Barrel program has been very successful and we're down to a handful of cab barrels. We still have an excellent selection of syrah and Rhone whites though. If you missed 2005 and don't want to wait a whole year, check out http://www.crushpadwine.com/makewine_adoptbarrel.php .
...Michael