Cru & CellarAll the news that’s fit to sip.https://cruandcellar.com/en-usValley Agrees Not To Mention Augusthttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/valley-agrees-not-to-mention-august/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/valley-agrees-not-to-mention-august/Vintage summaries move directly from July 28 to September 4 in unspoken consensus.Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTVintageCarmen IturbeTasting Room Associate Delivers Full Estate History To Couple Who Just Needed The Bathroomhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/tasting-room-associate-delivers-full-estate-history/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/tasting-room-associate-delivers-full-estate-history/Fourteen-minute founding narrative proceeds uninterrupted despite repeated pointing.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTTasting RoomDana WhitlockWinery Announces Record Year, Quietly Cuts Six Positionshttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/record-year-quietly-cuts-six-positions/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/record-year-quietly-cuts-six-positions/Catered lunch celebrating strongest revenue year in company history held in room with six empty chairs.Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTBusinessSpencer HoytCritic Detects Note Of Crushed Rock, Has Never Crushed Rockhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/critic-detects-note-of-crushed-rock/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/critic-detects-note-of-crushed-rock/Graphite also detected; slate encountered once, at a restaurant, on a plate.Sun, 16 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTMediaRoz AdlerWinemaker Insists He Does Nothing, Proceeds To List 46 Things He Doeshttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/winemaker-insists-he-does-nothing/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/winemaker-insists-he-does-nothing/Fruit reportedly expresses itself through three sorting passes and a toast level specified in writing.Sat, 15 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTCellarMiles FerrandI'm Not Saying Block 7 Is Haunted, But Block 7 Is Hauntedhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/block-7-is-haunted/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/block-7-is-haunted/A practical person lays out what's happened; you can do with it what you want.Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTOpinionRuben Castellanos, Vineyard ManagerBuyer Says He'll Circle Back, Circles Back In 2031https://cruandcellar.com/articles/buyer-circles-back-in-2031/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/buyer-circles-back-in-2031/"Are these still available?" buyer asks winery that closed in 2029.Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTTradeFrank DelgadoWine Club Member Discovers 11 Unopened Shipmentshttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/wine-club-member-discovers-11-unopened-shipments/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/wine-club-member-discovers-11-unopened-shipments/Garage stack represents four and a half years of quarterly commitment and roughly $9,000.Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTDirect-to-ConsumerMaeve KilloranMan Selects Wine Based On Animalhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/man-selects-wine-based-on-animal/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/man-selects-wine-based-on-animal/Shopper returns for second bottle featuring a different, smaller fox.Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTConsumerLibby ChenWinery Adds Fourth Tasting Tier Solely To Make Third Tier Seem Reasonablehttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/winery-adds-fourth-tasting-tier/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/winery-adds-fourth-tasting-tier/New $495 Founder's Table experience is a fence post, not a product, executives confirm.Mon, 10 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTTasting RoomDana WhitlockNative Fermentation Achieved With Help Of Packethttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/native-fermentation-achieved-with-help-of-packet/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/native-fermentation-achieved-with-help-of-packet/Back label to read "spontaneous."Sun, 09 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTCellarMiles FerrandTech Exec Purchases Vineyard, Personalityhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/tech-exec-purchases-vineyard-personality/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/tech-exec-purchases-vineyard-personality/New proprietor has owned dirt for eleven weeks and now wears a vest.Sat, 08 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTBusinessSpencer HoytSomm Passes Blind Tasting By Simply Guessing Expensivehttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/somm-passes-blind-tasting-by-guessing-expensive/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/somm-passes-blind-tasting-by-guessing-expensive/System correct 31 consecutive times; "old world in structure, new world in fruit" never once challenged.Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTMediaRoz AdlerSmoke Taint Reframed As 'Savory Complexity'https://cruandcellar.com/articles/smoke-taint-reframed-as-savory-complexity/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/smoke-taint-reframed-as-savory-complexity/Ashy character in 2020 Cabernet reflects a quality engineered by a fire.Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTVintageCarmen IturbeBrand Ambassador Slowly Realizes She Is The Brandhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/brand-ambassador-realizes-she-is-the-brand/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/brand-ambassador-realizes-she-is-the-brand/Ambassador has hand-sold 94 percent of on-premise volume; concern noted as great ownership.Wed, 05 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTTradeFrank DelgadoPoint/Counterpoint: This Wine Is Flawed vs. This Wine Is Interestinghttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/point-counterpoint-flawed-vs-interesting/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/point-counterpoint-flawed-vs-interesting/Two winemakers, thirty years apart, taste the same glass.Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTOpinionMargaret Aldrich and Jesse Marchetti-PruittGuest Brings $14 Bottle To Winemaker's House, Is Correct Tohttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/guest-brings-14-dollar-bottle-is-correct-to/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/guest-brings-14-dollar-bottle-is-correct-to/Host, whose cellar contains 900 bottles of Cabernet, has since bought a case.Mon, 03 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTConsumerLibby ChenAllocation Offer Sent To 4,000 People Described As Extremely Limitedhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/allocation-offer-sent-to-4000-people/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/allocation-offer-sent-to-4000-people/Recipients warned they may be waitlisted, a status no one has ever been assigned.Sun, 02 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTDirect-to-ConsumerMaeve KilloranHarvest Intern Begins Fourth Consecutive Unpaid Careerhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/harvest-intern-fourth-unpaid-career/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/harvest-intern-fourth-unpaid-career/27-year-old brings two continents of experience and $1,900 to legendary house.Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTCellarMiles FerrandReservation-Only Policy Successfully Eliminates Everyone Who Would Have Bought Somethinghttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/reservation-only-policy-eliminates-buyers/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/reservation-only-policy-eliminates-buyers/Quarterly visitation data shows strict booking requirement performing exactly as designed.Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTTasting RoomDana Whitlock'Family-Owned' Technically Accurate Since Acquisition By Family Officehttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/family-owned-technically-accurate/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/family-owned-technically-accurate/Current owners are a family in the sense that they are related to one another; legal has signed off.Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTBusinessSpencer HoytTasting Note Author Runs Out Of Fruitshttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/tasting-note-author-runs-out-of-fruits/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/tasting-note-author-runs-out-of-fruits/Note for wine 361 reads, in its entirety, "fruit."Wed, 29 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTMediaRoz AdlerVintner Confident Vines Will Adapt To Whatever This Ishttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/vintner-confident-vines-will-adapt/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/vintner-confident-vines-will-adapt/Third-generation grower cites grandfather's experience with frost, says "frost" again more slowly.Tue, 28 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTVintageCarmen IturbeDistributor Adds Winery To Portfolio, Bookhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/distributor-adds-winery-to-portfolio-book/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/distributor-adds-winery-to-portfolio-book/Sales director can name nine of the book's 4,100 wines.Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTTradeFrank DelgadoAs A Fourth-Generation Farmer, I'd Like To Talk About My Podcasthttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/fourth-generation-farmer-podcast/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/fourth-generation-farmer-podcast/That legacy deserves a weekly 90-minute long-form conversational platform with a video component.Sun, 26 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTOpinionColton Weatherbee, ProprietorCouple's Napa Trip Yields Four Wineries, One Argumenthttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/couples-napa-trip-yields-four-wineries-one-argument/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/couples-napa-trip-yields-four-wineries-one-argument/Dispute begins in parking lot at Winery Three, resolves on Highway 12; couple has booked again for next year.Sat, 25 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTConsumerLibby ChenWinery Emails Customer 'We Miss You' Six Days After Purchasehttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/winery-emails-we-miss-you-six-days-after-purchase/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/winery-emails-we-miss-you-six-days-after-purchase/Re-engagement message arrives while box from winery hasn't arrived to customer's house.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTDirect-to-ConsumerMaeve KilloranPunchdown Performed Entirely For Photographerhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/punchdown-performed-entirely-for-photographer/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/punchdown-performed-entirely-for-photographer/Winemaker changes into clean flannel, holds plunger motionless for eleven seconds.Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTCellarMiles FerrandGuest Who Announced He Doesn't Really Like Chardonnay Handed Chardonnayhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/guest-who-doesnt-like-chardonnay-handed-chardonnay/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/guest-who-doesnt-like-chardonnay-handed-chardonnay/"This one's different," associate says for the 4,000th time in eleven months.Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTTasting RoomDana WhitlockSecond-Generation Owner Explains How He Built This From Nothing But A Vineyardhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/second-generation-owner-built-this-from-nothing/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/second-generation-owner-built-this-from-nothing/Proprietor started in the cellar owned by his father, whose name is on it.Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTBusinessSpencer HoytWine Writer Awards 98 Points To Wine He Was Flown Tohttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/wine-writer-awards-98-points-to-wine-he-was-flown-to/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/wine-writer-awards-98-points-to-wine-he-was-flown-to/Score reflects the wine alone, writer notes from helicopter.Mon, 20 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTMediaRoz AdlerRide-Along Consists Of Two Accounts And A Very Long Lunchhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/ride-along-two-accounts-very-long-lunch/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/ride-along-two-accounts-very-long-lunch/National sales manager to describe Portland as "a relationship town" in forthcoming recap deck.Sun, 19 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTTradeFrank DelgadoMinimal-Intervention Philosophy Requires Constant Interventionhttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/minimal-intervention-requires-constant-intervention/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/minimal-intervention-requires-constant-intervention/Producer checks on wine nine times a day to make sure he isn't doing anything to it.Sat, 18 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTCellarMiles FerrandI Sacrificed Everything For This Wine, Says Man Who Inherited Ithttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/i-sacrificed-everything-for-this-wine/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/i-sacrificed-everything-for-this-wine/Nobody sees the cost of walking away from a corner office into a functioning 200-acre estate.Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTOpinionPreston Halloway III, ProprietorGuy Who Visited Napa Once Now Explains Napahttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/guy-who-visited-napa-once-explains-napa/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/guy-who-visited-napa-once-explains-napa/Local man recommends Sonoma as more authentic, has not been to Sonoma.Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTConsumerLibby ChenHospitality Manager Assures Staff Tip Pool Will Be Sorted Out By Q3https://cruandcellar.com/articles/tip-pool-sorted-out-by-q3/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/tip-pool-sorted-out-by-q3/Quarter's year unspecified; tacos announced.Wed, 15 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTTasting RoomDana WhitlockEntire Lot Declassified Into Wine That Costs Morehttps://cruandcellar.com/articles/entire-lot-declassified-into-wine-that-costs-more/https://cruandcellar.com/articles/entire-lot-declassified-into-wine-that-costs-more/Fruit judged unworthy of $175 flagship lands in $215 small-batch project.Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTCellarMiles Ferrand