Cru it Yourself...Crushpad

Have you ever wanted to make your own luxury-class wine? This is now possible, thanks to the partner Crushpad. For the past 8 years, Crushpad has made premium wines on behalf of private clients throughout the world. Each customer decides on the style of wine they want to produce, selects the vineyards and grapes and decides on the final blend under the expert supervision of Crushpad's renowned wine makers.


Since the 2009 vintage, Crushpad has operated from Saint Emilion with access well-located parcels throughout Bordeaux (Margaux, Pauillac, St Emilion...). They've also hired one of the world's renowned wine making consultants, Eric Boissenot (wine consultant of Lafite, Latour, Margaux, Pichon Baron, Leoville Barton, Palmer and many others...) to oversee vineyard selection and management as well as winemaking and client blending support.


All wines are produced in Saint Emilion at Chateau Teyssier, under the winemaking supervision of Jonathan Maltus, producer of top rated wines (Le Dome, Les Asteries and Vieux Chateau Mazerat).

Crushpad is now proposing to do YOUR 2010 vintage:
How it works:
1) You select a barrel (minimum order, ie 300 bt) based on the style of Bordeaux you want to produce (fruity, strong, rounds, more or less tannins, a wine to age or to drink, etc...).

2) With the support of Crushpad's team, including Eric Boissenot, you will make the selection of grapes from specific varietals (cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc) and parcels. Most of these parcels are located within or next to prestigious chateau (Sociando Mallet, Le Tertre, Prieure Lichine, Pichon Baron, Tertre Daugay...) and were selected specifically for their quality and terroir. More details on the parcels are available in the attached document.


3) You choose a preliminary blend percentages (70% Cabernet, 30% Merlot....) to respond to your wine style.


4) You participate as much or as little as you like in the winemaking process. If you can't make it to Bordeaux, you monitor the wine process online and can contact Crushpad in Bordeaux at any time for changes or adjustments.


5) You adjust the blend to your taste while the wine is aging in barrel. You can do so at Crushpad's "Primeur" event in April 2011, where Eric Boissenot and Crushpad's winemaking team are on hand to finalize the blend directly with you. If you can not come, samples will be sent to you with suggestions for blend modification.


6) You design your own label, packaging, bottling. Crushpad has a team of four designers to respond to your specific label design requirements.


The whole process can take from 14 month to 24 months. Of course, should you want to travel to Bordeaux and visit your wine in progress, you can do so at any time. Best would be in April during the "En Primeurs" tastings, where you taste your barrel samples, meet the other owners and blend with Eric Boissenot and Crushpad's winemakers. (See enclosed South China Morning Post article with the popular HK Actress Bernice Liu and her 2009 vintage !)


You are the wine maker and you are assured to get a 100% excellent wine at the end thanks to the ideal location of each of the parcels (cf attach documents), the excellent advise from all the wine makers at Crushpad and of course Eric Boissenot.


As a reference point, Crushpad clients have produced a number of wines rated between 90 and 94 points by Robert Parker, The Wine Spectator and the Wine Enthusiast. Even further, one client was named by the Wine Spectator one of the 20 best 'newcomers', with a 92 point rating.


Act fast as the 2010 harvest is about to begin and barrels are limited. Prices start at HK$ 72,500 per barrel (equivalent 300 bt delivered in wooden case or HK$ 241 per bt) and depend on the vineyards selected.

Contact Simon Tai, Director of Connoisseur Wines [simon@connoisseur-wines.com.hk]

HK Snob