Crushpad “Fusebox”

Last night Diana and I went to Cellar-17 in H-town with our new friends Marc and Michelle, and enjoyed a tasting of the Fusebox wine blending kit from Crushpad. Crushpad is a high end San Francisco winery that provides grapes from across the West Coast’s top vineyards and allows you to participate in the wine making process. Fusebox is a great idea for a party, combining wine education, entertainment, and very good juice in a single 15 pound box. Each box contains six 375 mL bottles of blending wine. Cabernet Sauvignon (2 bottles), Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc

The kit also includes one 375 mL bottle of mystery wine where you try to guess the components, four pipettes, Graduatd cylinder, four wine evaluation cards, four tasting placemats, recipe cards, vinography aroma card, and a corkscrew. Overall I was very impressed with the quality of the wines in this kit. We used the recipe cards that come in the kit to simulate famous wine blends such as Chateau Margeaux, Opus One, Lafite Rothschild, and Insignia. Of course the wines don’t come out exactly like these famous blends because you cant simulate the yeast strain, water makeup, and terroir, of a certain winery, or the time the grapes spend with each other in a barrel, but the Fusebox still brings big value and entertainment for the price you spend. I bought a kit and plan to have a party soon with family and friends. Cellar-17 is the sole distrubutor of this product in the Houston area. Drop by there and speak to Sean, have a glass of wine, and take one home. JH