NEWSLETTER
Harvest 2005 is Wrapped Up
November 30, 2005I was holding off on this update until I was sure we're done… and we're done! Yesterday the press was running from 7AM to 9PM to squeeze out every last drop from some botrytised, late harvest pinot blanc. (See the blog at www.crushpadwine.com/blog for a picture.) Today we finished pressing a few stragglers and we're doing a final cleanup of the equipment before the bottling line comes back down. Here are the big things that are happening:
Harvest Stats
We crushed over 200 tons of grapes that went into 450 barrels. Ultimately that will find its way into over 10,000 cases of wine. We ordered over 100 pizzas, had zero serious accidents, employed a dozen people, and entered over 30,000 pieces of data into MyCrushpad (and we're still behind). We were busy.
Lab is in Overdrive
Assistant Winemaker and Lab Head Kathy Nani is cranking day and night through barrels to get the post-press chemistries. It seems straightforward, but each of the major tests (TA, pH, VA, glucose-fructose, malic acid, alcohol) has its own apparatus: so that's about 3,000 tests and takes a full 2 months to complete! If you swing by, give her a hug.
Adopt A Barrel Program in Full Swing
2005 was the best harvest in years, resulting in excellent yields and quality (the best vintages tend to come with higher than average yields). Since many of our contracts are per-acre contracts, we ended up with more fruit than expected and happily created extra barrels that can be adopted… include cult cabs. If you missed 2005 and don't want to wait a whole year, check out http://www.crushpadwine.com/makewine_adoptbarrel.php.
Winter Bottling Begins
Our creative director Jenny Doll has been back in label design mode in preparation for winter bottling. She's up in Napa today at Tapp, getting the first round of labels printed. The next round gets printed in late December and then no more until March. If you are bottling this winter and you have not finished your label, contact jenny@crushpadwine.com asap. We are also updating the label gallery online: http://www.crushpadwine.com/makewine_finishedwines.php.
Congrats to Dain Wines
Our very first commercial customer, a huge supporter, and a generally great guy – David Dain Smith launched his label Dain Wines ( www.dainwines.com ) this year. Dain focuses on pinot and syrah and had nearly sold out before his wine was even in bottle! Although his production is large for us, it's small by most commercial winery standards so he only has a few bottles left. If you've wanted to see what the quality of wines made at Crushpad is like, this is a great opportunity.
MyCrushpad 2.0 in the Works
MyCrushpad was instrumental in helping us manage winemaking operations this year, but it has a long, long way to go before it achieves our goal of a “winemaking cockpit.” This is one of our major thrusts for 2006 – improving the experience for everyone whether they are local or remote. There will be more announced on MyCrushpad 2.0 in January, but if you have any ideas that you'd like to see implemented, please email me at michael@crushpadwine.com.
Preparing for Upcoming Financing
We quadrupled sales in 2005, bought lots of shiny equipment and have an aggressive growth plan for 2006… we're a startup that requires capital to grow. Earlier this year we decided to avoid the venture capital route and instead did a round of financing that was filled almost entirely by customers. This has been great as we've been able to tap into a wealth of experience and contacts. We're going to do another round of financing early next year in a similar vein. Many of you have asked about participating but during harvest I'm sure I missed a few, so please remind me. (Lawyerspeak: This announcement is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. The offer is made only by the Private Offering Memorandum and related Business Plan. Copies of the Private Offering Memorandum and related Business Plan may be obtained only in those States where the issuer may legally offer these securities in compliance with the securities laws of such State. )
Thanks again to everyone who helped make Harvest 2005 a success and feel free to drop by anytime.
...Michael