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| Custom Crush: Crushpad turned these homesteaders into top-shelf winemakers (Fall 2008) |
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By Steve Werblow
For generations, making fine wine has just been a pipe dream for anyone other than members of the jet set, a few visionary farmers, and the scions of old Bordeaux families. Until now.
Today, oenophiles can team up with winemakers
from some of the world’s best cellars to
create world-class wines with grapes from top
vineyards in Napa, Sonoma, and other leading
viticultural regions—one barrel at a time.
Crushpad, a winery in San Francisco,
Calif., buys grapes from more than 50 West
Coast vineyards and helps people around the
world craft those grapes into their dream vintages. From walking clients through the winemaking process to designing labels, Crushpad
has helped hundreds of wine lovers stock
their cellars or even launch businesses.
Chris and Yuliya Johnson of Willows,
Calif., signed on in 2007 to create a barrel of
Pinot Noir and one of Cabernet Sauvignon -
50 cases in total - just the way they wanted.
"We’d go to a restaurant and have a glass
of wine and say, 'gosh, if we could only make
our own wine,'" says Chris. "We wanted to
make the kind of quality that we’d be proud
to serve our family, neighbors, and friends."
The Johnsons worked with Crushpad to
craft wines with the classic, mineral profile
they love, and bottle them as Old Ways wines.
Obsession. Michael Brill started Crushpad after friends, neighbors, and even strangers flocked to his 500-square-foot backyard vineyard in San Francisco to help him make wine.
"I realized that there are a lot of people
interested in wine, with a huge passion for wine, who want to make wine, but who don’t
have the time to stay on top of it and don’t
know how," Brill explains.
"Ninety-five percent of our clients have
never made wine or even taken a winemaking
class," he notes. "But they have a passion for
wine. 'Obsession' is a word we hear a lot."
At $5,700 to $10,900 per barrel—$19 to
$36 per bottle—Crushpad is not for the jug
wine crowd. But the winery has connected
with wildly varying palates.
"If variety is the spice of life, then we’re
the chili dog," jokes chief winemaker Mike
Zitzlaff, who focuses on tailoring each barrel
to its owners’ tastes, not the winemaker’s.
Scanning the cellar, Brill notes, "Each one
of these barrels is someone’s self-expression."
Since the first Crushpad vintage in 2004,
clients have signed on from coast to coast, and even from as far away as Finland, Japan,
and Aruba. About two-thirds visit the winery
sometime during the process, whether it’s
to crush grapes or barrel-taste their wines.
Many join the Crushnet online chatroom.
And all stay in touch with the winemakers
by phone and e-mail as their wines mature.
Fun sharing. Brill says about half of Crushpad’s clients create wines to stock their cellars and share with friends - in fact, many form winemaking groups to share the fun, spread the costs, and split the results. The other half join Crushpad Commerce, which has helped launch 120 boutique wine labels for clients.
Carolyn and John Aver set their stakes
amid 5 acres of vineyards in the Uvas Valley,
a small hollow near Morgan Hill, Calif., that
has been in grapes since the 1850s. They combined their passion for Rhone-style
wines with their experience in finance and
business - his with Apple Inc., hers with a
number of tech companies large and small - to create Aver Family Vineyards.
Shopping for a facility to handle their
grapes, the Avers found kindred spirits at
Crushpad. "From the moment we met, all they
talked about was quality wine," says John.
Heritage and Blessings. Working with Crushpad’s Kian Tavakoli, a veteran of Napa's celebrated Opus One and Clos du Val, the
Avers have crafted a line of premium wines
under their Aver Family Vineyards label.
Celebrating the family and friends who
cheered them on as they pursued their dream,
the Avers dubbed their wines Blessings, Heritage,
and Homage. Through Crushpad Commerce,
they have production, bottling, storage,
and fulfillment capabilities that would have
been nearly impossible to handle themselves.
"We couldn’t reproduce what they do,"
says Carolyn. "We don’t have the bandwidth,
let alone the back office. We couldn’t afford
to do the whole range of services. And you
can't just hire one-fifth of 20 people."
Sampling from their barrels gives the Avers a chance to connect with Tavakoli, check
on their wines, and chat with fellow Crushpad clients. John Aver loves the camaraderie and thrives on comparing notes with fellow winemakers. And it’s just that sort of enthusiasm that Zitzlaff says pervades the whole operation.
"Everybody who walks through this door
has a smile on their face," he says. "They’re
walking into their winery—without the $20
million price tag of an estate in Napa."
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