Crushpad Blog
Syrah ? The Big Red Machine | Mark As Read |
Syrah is the reddest of reds. Think Betelgeuse red, hammer and sickle red, Cincinnati Reds red, and Lucille Ball?s hair red. Deep, bold and masculine it floods your senses with more flavor, spice and presence than all of its red … Continue reading →
Brand Building: Traditional Public Relations (Part 1) | Mark As Read |
If you?re making a barrel or two for yourself, family and friends, Public Relations/Media Relations is probably not your biggest concern. But if you are producing hundreds of cases of multiple wines, a traditional PR campaign is an effective and … Continue reading →
Dry Creek Zinfandel: the New Holy Grail | Mark As Read |
In a previous blog post (http://bit.ly/KFVMs7), we mentioned that Pinot Noir was no longer the Golden Child of California grapes. We?ve produced too many other successes over the last two decades to warrant that title anymore. So, if Pinot is … Continue reading →
Winemaker of the Month: J2 Winery | Mark As Read |
This, the beloved mantra of award-winning J2 Winery?s CEO Brad Jacobs, who believes that cultivating sunlight and expressing it in wine is at the core of how J2 Winery?s thoughtfully balanced portfolio of vibrant, classic and complex reds are crafted. So, it?s no wonder that, after getting started with Crushpad in 2009, he and partners Dianne Gorma...
The Many Faces of Pinot Noir | Mark As Read |
For years California winemakers referred to Pinot Noir as the Holy Grail of grapes. Examples with pure, accurate, exciting aromatics and flavors were as rare as parking spots in San Francisco. That all changed in the late 1970s when a … Continue reading →
Announcing: the Grand Prize Winners of The Crushpad Club Challenge! | Mark As Read |
When we launched our Crushpad Club Challenge back in January, we could not have guessed that it would inspire so many wine lovers to compete for the chance to win their own dream wine brand. By the end of the competition, we had a total of 380 Challengers, generating nearly 40,000 votes. Here are the Crushpad Club Challenge Grand Prize winners: Con...
Meet Our Crushpad Club Challenge Finalists | Mark As Read |
Two months ago, we launched the Crushpad Club Challenge, a contest that would inspire 380 wine lovers to compete for the chance to win their own dream wine brand and the illustrious title of "Winemaker." Meet our ten Finalists. Continue reading →
Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: Cool vs. Warm Climate | Mark As Read |
All varieties are governed by the Goldilocks Principle. Take Cabernet Sauvignon. Plant it in a location that?s too hot and you cook the flavor and structure out of the grape. Plant it in a location that?s too cold and you end up with something that?s under-ripe, thin and vegetal. But, plant it in a location that?s just right and you?ve got a good c...
150 Winemakers Descend on Sonoma for Mashup 2012 | Mark As Read |
More than 150 guests from 31 states and 16 countries got to taste their wines from the 2012 vintage in a weekend full of excitement, elegance, and education. Continue reading →
Pricing and Selling Tips for Small Wineries | Mark As Read |
If the Russian River weren?t already on the map, your wine would put it there. That was the easy part. Now you want to sell it. That means you need to price it and decide whether you want to go through the three-tier distribution system or sell your wine direct to your customers. For most small wineries the answer is obvious. Continue reading ͛...
Tips for promoting your wine brand online | Mark As Read |
Let?s face it, vote-based competitions are no time to be shy. As we enter the final month of voting, we wanted to help all of our contestants make the most of their favorite social channels. So, here are a few tips to help harness the social web in powerful ways to beat the odds: Continue reading →
The moment you fell in love with wine? | Mark As Read |
Through hard work and obsessive perseverance we earn our merit badges in ?wine geekery.? But for some of us, that?s still not enough. We?ve got the bug so bad we want to go all the way. Yes, we want to make our own wine or organize a group of friends to create our own brand. We want to experience the rush of determining the variety or blend, select...
How to Become a Sommelier | Mark As Read |
There are indeed many, many paths to becoming a sommelier. I feel old saying this, but ?in my day? I think the call to wine was almost more by accident than a deliberate career path. Most of my colleagues started … Continue reading →
Tips for Getting a Wine Retailer to Carry Your Wine | Mark As Read |
Getting your own wine label into a wine retailer or a ?retailer that sells wine? can be a hard thing to do if you are not prepared and have no written strategy. When I say wine retailer, I specifically mean … Continue reading →
What to Ask When Buying Pinot | Mark As Read |
Paul Giamatti lives in my neighborhood, and I often see him muttering to himself at City Bakery or trying unsuccessfully to get a cab at 4:30 in the afternoon. Some day I will get the courage to thank him for … Continue reading →
Sonoma Barrel Tasting Weekend | Mark As Read |
Sonoma County 34th Annual Barrel Tasting Get ready to spend March in Sonoma County with three wonderful barrel tasting weekends. Starting with the 34th Annual Barrel Tasting on the first two weekends ?March 2-4 and March 9-11, 2012. This is … Continue reading →
Five Great Wine Blogs You Shouldn?t Miss | Mark As Read |
Blogs are like favorite foods, everyone has one and everyone has an opinion on why it?s their favorite. Even those people who swear they don?t read blogs … are lying. Blogs are our society's newspapers. They're fun, funny, informative and … Continue reading →
10 Things to Know About Alexander Valley | Mark As Read |
Drive up Highway 101 east of the Russian River in northern California and you are in for a treat. It is quite possibly California?s best wine region kept secret. The Alexander Valley, named an American Viticulture Area in 1984, is … Continue reading →
A Guide to Alcohol Content in Wine | Mark As Read |
There's much controversy these days surrounding the alcohol content in wine. Sommeliers, retail buyers and consumers all seem to be obsessed about that little percentage point on the bottom of the wine bottle. Personally I think way too much attention … Continue reading →
How to Buy Wine Online | Mark As Read |
For many of us online shopping has become a big part of our lives. And while buying from Amazon has become the norm, you may still be hesitant about shifting your wine buying online ? after all, this is precious … Continue reading →
Cooking Schools in Wine Country: A Food-Lover?s Paradise | Mark As Read |
I?m a chef. That?s the ?day job,? so to speak, which is ironic, because it?s anything but just a day job. So the idea of getting behind a hot stove, on vacation, doesn?t initially strike my fancy. Tell me I?ll … Continue reading →
How to Work with Wine Brokers | Mark As Read |
There are many ways to run a successful wine distributorship. Depending on who you ask, wine brokers are either an indispensable part of the equation or an unnecessary middle man. I am a big fan of a balanced approach. I … Continue reading →
Biodynamic Winemaking Demystified | Mark As Read |
Of all the various philosophies and practices about how to grow grapes and make wine, biodynamics is by far, the most controversial and often maligned. So what is biodynamics? First of all, you can think of biodynamics as ?organic plus.? … Continue reading →
Crushpad Club Challenge ? Win your own wine brand! | Mark As Read |
Crushpad has launched a new contest that allows wine lovers the chance to make their own wine, create their own brand and in the process win one barrel (25 cases) of extraordinary, luxury-class wine. The total value of the prize … Continue reading →
Sonoma?s 20th Anniversary Winter Wineland | Mark As Read |
One of the greatest wine tasting and Sonoma County experiences is coming up on January 14-15, 2012 – Winter Wine Road. Winter Wine Road is actually not a road at all, rather it is an on the road event with … Continue reading →
Malolactic Fermentation | Mark As Read |
Simple grape juice is transformed into the enjoyable elixir we call wine by the work of invisible microscopic organisms. Primary alcoholic fermentation depends on yeast to convert the sweet sugar in grape juice to heat, bubbly carbon dioxide and alcohol. … Continue reading →
How to Get Your Wine Noticed By Reviewers | Mark As Read |
I could divide the world of wine into 17 groups, or 167,? but for the purpose of telling you how to get wine writers' attention, I'm going to narrow it to two. Group 1: You make wine that will retail … Continue reading →
Beer for Wine Lovers | Mark As Read |
We all know those people. The ones that say ?I only drink wine? or ?I only drink beer.? The people you buy the six-pack or glass of white for. Now, being realistic … in college do you think these friends … Continue reading →
Sparkling Wines and Champagnes for the Holidays | Mark As Read |
There is nothing more comforting and terrifying than that moment where you realize from whence you come. It might be when you find yourself obsessing over the color of your new bedroom and say to yourself ?oh my god I … Continue reading →
Great Wine Gifts Under $20 | Mark As Read |
With Christmas and New Year's right around the corner I?m sure many of you (like me) are scrambling to fill in those last holes on your gift giving list. If one of those holes is for a wine lover, you?ve … Continue reading →
5 Restaurants You Shouldn?t Miss in Sonoma County | Mark As Read |
(Photo Credit: Sante Restaurant) I love eating in Sonoma County. Unlike neighboring Napa County, which grows wine grapes and little else, Sonoma County is some of America's best farm country for vegetables and meat, and there's plenty of fresh fish … Continue reading →
The Components of Wine Quality | Mark As Read |
The distinction between subjective personal taste preferences (largely accidental), and objective wine ?quality? is an age-old puzzle. Just to show that this is an eternal question, I encourage you to visit ?Drink what YOU Like?, a blog post by Virginia-based … Continue reading →
The Art of Decanting: How to Decant and Why | Mark As Read |
Decanting takes 10 seconds, requires only a large, clean glass container, and can make your wine taste better. Yet most people don't decant often enough, and when they do, they decant the wrong wines for the wrong reasons. For example, … Continue reading →
The Relationship Between Wine and Quality | Mark As Read |
You may have wondered at some point, who gets to be the ones to say which wines are good, great or lousy? Are they just imposing their tastes on everyone else and assuming that?s the same as quality? Since people?s … Continue reading →
How to Store Wines | Mark As Read |
I get asked a lot about wine storage ? perhaps because I live in New York City where space is like Grand Cru Burgundy ? there is never enough and it?s expensive. Maybe it?s because wine service in restaurants confuses … Continue reading →
What Is Sonoma Cuisine? | Mark As Read |
Before I moved to Sonoma County, my experience was that Napa County was the place for great wine and elegant restaurants while Sonoma County offered old Italian restaurants, fruit bomb zinfandels and Russian River nude bathing. What a surprise it … Continue reading →
How to Host a Wine Tasting Party | Mark As Read |
There?s a better type of party … a wine tasting party!?Sounds intimidating right? All the sniffing, swirling, intellectual jargon … half of which you make up, attempting to impress friends with your wine wisdom. Don?t hold your breath. Relax, wine … Continue reading →
How to Get Your Wine Noticed by Local Sommeliers and Restaurants | Mark As Read |
If there is one thing I have been accused of in my six years of having my own wine distribution business, it?s that I have a portfolio that caters to restaurants more than wine retail stores. I have always taken … Continue reading →
Crushpad: Ryan Callahan of The Girl and the Fig | Mark As Read |
Ryan Callahan, General Manager of The Girl and the Fig in Sonoma, Stopped by to check on his fruit and had some nice words to say about his Crushpad wine making experience.
CRUSHPAD: Wine Maker Patrick Saboe on Sugar Levels | Mark As Read |
Wine Maker Patrick Saboe walks through Split Rock Vineyard checking sugar levels before harvest.
CRUSHPAD founder Michael Brill on Fox News | Mark As Read |
CRUSHPAD founder Michael Brill was on Fox News talking about CRUSHPAD and the democratizing of ?wine production. CRUSHPAD founder Michael Brill on Fox
2011Harvest Party | Mark As Read |
The 2011 Harvest Party was a great success. Held at our new Sonoma location, guests were treated to spectacular weather and delicious wines served from three tasting stations. In true CRUSHPAD style, a taco truck was parked outside of production serving up some of the most delicious tacos we?ve ever eaten, and they paired nicely
James Sucking Tasting Crushpad Cabernets | Mark As Read |
Recently James Suckling had some nice things to say about Cabernet Sauvignons coming out of Crushpad. Check out his VLOG to see what he had to say! http://www.jamessuckling.com/my-vlog-tasting-some-crushpad-2008-cabs.h tml
Weekly Wine Barrel Tasting: 2010 Tourmaline Merlot | Mark As Read |
Rodney Gagnon and Wine Maker Kian Tavakoli taste barrel samples and compare finished wines of the previous vintage. <iframe width="420″ height="315″ src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/A-Flr3Awur4″ frameborder="0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>
Weekly Wine Barrel Tasting-2010 Split Rock Vineyard Pinot Noir | Mark As Read |
Rodney Gagnon and Wine Maker Adam Smith taste and compare barrel samples to finished wines of the previous vintage. Weekly Wine Barrel Tasting Split Rock Vineyard
Barrel Tasting at Crushpad: 2010 Zinfandel from Grist Vineyard | Mark As Read |
Join Crushpad winemakers Patrick Saboe and Rodney Gagnon as they taste Zinfadel from Grist Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley. They'll also taste 2009 The Big Cat Zinfandel from 6 North to see what a finished wine from this area tastes like.
When The Cat?s Away? The Winemakers Play | Mark As Read |
For the last two weeks, Michael Brill, CEO of Crushpad, has been preoccupied with certain top secret German Riesling shenanigans. ?Word has it that top grade Riesling is difficult to craft in the warm and sunny "New World." ?As we go to press with this blog, we are not sure if one party is throwing
Crushpad Spotlight: Justin Rose: Resident Lab Genius | Mark As Read |
Every month we have one employee write a blog report about another employee so that our Crushpad community can get to know us as well as we strive to know our clients. ?This month Carol Griffin in Accounting writes about Justin Rose our Resident Lab Genius. Justin Rose came to Crushpad as an intern in
The art and science of growing grapes | Mark As Read |
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 need to be on top of their game. ?One of growers, Konrad Vineyard on Mt.
Terrior, La Bamba, and a PhD in Plant Biology | Mark As Read |
by: Daphne Feng You know what we're tasting (see Rodney's Wine Wednesdays Videos). ?Here is a look at what we are reading! Notwithstanding the innovative vinification practices I see here at Crushpad, when it comes to wine, I am a big believer in the romance of terrior.? Its the idea that every drop of wine is influenced
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