Crushpad is a high-end San Francisco winery where you are the wine maker. Crushpad provides grapes from the West Coast's top vineyards, an industry-acclaimed wine making team and a state-of-the-art winery 100% focused on making wine in small lots. You choose your level of involvement and we do the rest. No matter where you live, you can now make your own wine. We also have a turnkey service to help you turn your passion for custom wine making into a wine business whether you are a wine enthusiast, retailer, or restaurant.

Questions That A Lot Of People Ask

Do you guys really crush grapes and do the winemaking in San Francisco?

We sure do. Remember that we're only an hour from Napa and Sonoma. We bring in the grapes at the same temperature they were picked in the morning. Once they arrive, we can process the fruit immediately or wait for you to come in to make your own wine on our state-of-the-art sorting line.

I don't have any winemaking experience. How can I make great wine?

Over 90% of our clients have never made wine before Crushpad so education is a key part of what we do. Our team is here to guide you, making sure things don't go wonky and your wine is the best it can be, but your level of involvement is up to you. And through the use of the Crushpad 30, we have a formal structure for you to follow that addresses every element of the wine making process.

When do things get started?

Harvest (when the fruit is picked) is in September and October, although you should get started with planning ahead of time - the earlier you start, the more choices you have for vineyards. If you miss harvest or want to accelerate things, you can always look into our Adopt a Barrel program.

How much of my time is this going to take?

As much or as little as you want. We have clients who are physically involved in every step of the wine making process and those that just say 'make me the best barrel of cab you can and call me when it's ready.' But there are 4-6 really important and fun events that you, the wine enthusiast, can participate in— even if you're doing it all remotely over the Internet.

25 cases seems like a lot of wine, isn't it?

For some clients, 25 cases goes in a blink of the eye. But most of our clients form or join a group or two to get smaller amounts of wine but still share in the experience. As a wine enthusiast, you can create your own group yourself or go to crushnet.com and find like-minded wine enthusiasts.

How long does it take until I get my wine?

White wines are generally bottled the spring or summer after harvest (although more oaked wines can age longer). Pinot Noir is usually good to go around August, after around 10 months in barrel. But more extracted versions can take longer to soften up tannins. Cabernet takes the longest and is typically bottled in summer after 20+ months in barrel. Syrah and Zinfandel are somewhere in between.

How do you get such great grapes?

There is no reason to go through all this unless you can make great wine from great vineyards. We have had tremendous response from some of the best vineyards in the country because we're connecting them directly to wine enthusiasts and are ensuring that terrific wines are consistently being made. Frankly, we believe that most growers are underpaid for what they do and we aim to change that and continue to provide great value.

How much does this cost, really?

Our simple barrel pricing covers everything including grapes, barrel, wine making, custom wine labels and packaging. Some clients upgrade to really heavy bottles or multiple labels per barrel (where there is a surcharge), but most wines fit into the standard wine pricing. Pricing is $5,700 to $10,900 per barrel ($19 to $36 per bottle) based on vineyard and packaging.

You can pay in installments - 1/3 at reservation to start your wine making plan, 1/3 in October when you begin making wine and 1/3 next February.

Can I sell my wine?

In order to sell wine legally, you must be licensed to do so. While licensing can be a complex process, Crushpad offers a service called Crushpad Commerce which effectively allows you to start a winery by doing the licensing and regulatory reporting work (and much more) for you.

Can I use the vineyard name on my label?

It depends. Each grower has different wine business policies on use of their trademarks, and these policies change over time. Please talk to your account manager for vineyard specifics.

I'm traveling in Wine Country, can I pop in to check on the vineyard?

Our goal is to provide a flexible and immersive experience, but most vineyards aren't open for you to visit by yourself. However, in many cases you are welcome to tag along during our frequent visits to certain vineyards.

When are you opening up a Crushpad in my city?

We make no secret that we believe that custom wine making in the US will be available in many urban areas and it's our intent to lead that. There are millions of people like us, with a passion for wine, a desire to learn more about how to make wine, and to express themselves through creating. But it's harder than it looks to do this at scale so we have been focusing on building our infrastructure (we have over 10 people developing software). 2008 will see our first expansions into other cities, so stay tuned.