Making our Own Cult Wine

Caren's cousin Barry (Laurie's husband) got us turned onto Crushpad. What a great startup business!

They purchase grapes from fantastic vineyard plots throughout California and Washington state. You "buy a barrel" from the vineyard plot you want and make your own premium, hand-crafted, cult wine. If you don't mind waiting while the wine ages in the barrel, 18-24 months after you contract for your grapes, you get to blend and bottle your wine however you want. It's like outsourcing your own premium winery.

Barry's going to sell me (I hope) some of the 1/2 barrel of Cab he has aging that will be ready in 2008, and we are buying a barrel of Pinot Noir with grapes from the harvest later this year.

Who thought up this business idea? Who else. A former computer industry guy that got filthy rich during the Internet boom and raised several million in venture capital to start this firm. Then he went out and hired a bunch of smart people that knew a lot about the wine business and created a compelling business proposition.

I think we'll call our wine "The Boys" and slap a picture of Winston and Spencer on the label. Caren says "not."