Wine isn’t media but consumers are generating it nonetheless.
Crushpad’s YouTube page is full of DIY info on the art of winemaking. And The New York Times is all over it.
Crushpad, a San Francisco company is tapping into a market in which people not only want to sip the goods but also live the experience up to their elbows.
Crush Camps are intensive lessons on such basics as sorting, destemming and punching down the grapes to extract the juice. Some participants plan ahead and tend their own grapes. Others fly in at a moment’s notice after their grapes have been delivered from the vineyards.
Tutorials are more detailed experiences for people who want to spend $4,500 to $9,000 on creating their own blend. The 30,000-square-foot Crushpad warehouse provides ambient and cold storage space for 40 tons of grapes during fermentation. The facility provides barrels, bottling stations, waxing to seal the tops, full-time winemakers and graphic designers to create custom labels.
Crushpad is expanding to Manhattan, Seattle and Bordeaux, France. Last August, the company started Crushpad Japan.
