NEWSLETTER
600 Barrels... Count 'em
November 30, 2006One day before my 42nd birthday and someone drops an early present on my desk: next week's Fortune Magazine. It's an incredible story about us and is a great punctuation mark to what has been far and away our best harvest yet. Earlier this year I committed to everyone that we were going to stop making good wine and start making insanely great wine. With our winemaking team, vineyards, three times as much space for fermentation and three times as many people staffing the winery, I felt like we had no excuse not to. And with spectacular wine after wine we're seeing at the press I think we've delivered. I hope when you taste your wine, you'll agree. So here's what's up…
Harvest 2006 Grand Tasting - Jan 13th
We are pressing the last of the fermentations now and we still have hundreds of barrels that are working out the last bit of sugar and going through malolactic fermentation. We expect most stuff to be done by the end of December and thought it would be a great idea to have a customer-only event to taste through wines, compare different winemaking styles and results. If you're not in San Francisco then, we'll be sending out barrel samples to you in January. Note that you're always welcome to swing by the winery to taste by contacting Dave Gifford (dave@crushpadwine.com).
Welcome The Zitzlaffs
Many of you met our new winery general manager, Mike Zitzlaff during harvest. Between Mike, Kian, Tom, Kathy, Alex and Ty we've got a dedicated and very talented team. While it was always our intention that Mike would stay on full-time after harvest, there were a few details to work out… like what he was going to do with a wife, two kids, a house and a couple of cars in Melbourne. I'm happy to report that Mike (now known as “Z” around here) is back in Australia packing everybody up, selling cars with steering wheels on the wrong side and preparing for his permanent return in December with his awesome family in tow.
There's a Rat In The Winery
Crushpad's latest hire is none other than Alan Baker (AKA “The Cellar Rat”). You might have seen his Pinot 2.0 project, heard his podcasts (go to www.cellarrat.org) or even seen his ridiculous wireless helmet cam. We worked with Alan on his Pinot 2.0 project this year and were so impressed with his focus on providing media-rich experiences, we had to bring him on board. Alan will be driving the next version of Crushnet and generally pushing rich media within Crushpad.
Crushnet 2.0 In The Works
We learned a whole lot from the beta launch of Crushnet 1.0. Some things worked great, others looked better on paper. We're taking all of this into a redesign of Crushnet that will be launched early next year. We'll be adding active matching of people with similar wine interests, community wine reviews, tasting notes, video interviews, winemaking education, and a bunch more stuff that will really deliver on the online promise. More details in January.
Welcome Flying Wine Cellars - Our Latest Crushpad Commerce Winery
This time last year we had six wine brands that were members of Crushpad Commerce. I think we're right around 30 now. One of the latest is from one of our first customers, the much-loved Marilyn Sherman from San Diego. She and her husband Craig (a commercial pilot who also races in tiny 300+ mph planes) started their label this year with an awesome 2004 cabernet. If you like supporting great people and like drinking great cab, check out Flying Wine Cellars.
Pickup Your Wine For The Holidays
Are we storing your wine? Want some for the holidays? Well we can now access the wine that we stored away for the holidays. Contact Dave Gifford (dave@crushpadwine.com) if you want us to grab some for you.
Bottling Begins Again
The bottling line comes down next week and we're getting started again on 2005 syrahs, zins and the few remaining pinot noirs and white wines. If you have one of these wines and your label has not been designed you should be in contact with Jenny Doll (jenny@crushpadwine.com) asap. We should be calling you, but it wouldn't hurt for you to drop Jenny an email as well.
2006 Adopt A Barrel Begins
Each year we make extra barrels of wine so folks who come in after harvest can get a start on things or existing groups can add a barrel. We are just creating the final list of adopt a barrels for 2006. Please contact Dave Gifford if you'd like to get the latest/greatest list.
...Michael