Crushpad – Make Wine in San Francisco

Crushpad - A Place Where Anyone Can Make Wine

The Crushpad is a winemaking facility in San Francisco where anyone can make wine. It is a unique one-stop shop for every step in the winemaking process, even including label design and for those interested, selling the finished wine.

The Crushpad held a harvest party this past Sunday. September 17th, at their facility located on Bryant Street in San Francisco. We heard about the Crushpad last year and have been interested ever since in finding out what goes on there. So, off we went to the harvest party in hopes of discovering the ins and outs of this interesting concept for the home winemaker.

At the event we got to sample various wines at different stages of winemaking. We tried wines recently fermented, wines aging in the barrel for a year, and finished wines in the bottle. The quality of the wines for the most part was very good, not like any amateur wines we have tasted in the past. After speaking with the Crushpad crew we learned this is a high-powered operation where the amateur winemaker can hardly miss.

Cost for a barrel of wine ranges from $4500 to $9000 depending on the grapes used, consultant time, and other factors. In the end, the winemaker walks away with 25 cases of wine, which makes the average cost of one bottle between $15 to $30.

The Crushpad is developing a new idea where folks can log on to a special Crushpad Web site where they can team up with others to make less than a barrel. The site works almost like a social community Web site.  Potential winemakers can match up with others of similar interest. If you only want to make say, five cases of wine, you look for others to combine resources. All in all, the whole idea of Crushpad is impressive.  It is great for someone who wants to make their own wine and has little time or expertise to be on top of all aspects of making wine. Your chances are good that you will be drinking a nice bottle of wine from your efforts.