September 27, 2006

Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1990

One of the great champagnes of the 20th century is 1990 Dom Pérignon Oenothèque. This bottle absolutely blew me away the first time I had it, which was at the private vertical tasting Dom Pérignon held at Crush. Everyone agreed - even among other exceptional bottles, the 1990 Oenothèque had no peers. Though we also had to admit that the 1990 Rosé, served from magnum, was also outstanding - further testimony of the greatness of the 1990 vintage.

Posted by Bob Schagrin at 2:52 PM

September 26, 2006

Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Spatlese 1993

This find is not from '05, but comes directly from the cellars of the producer that made our 2005 "Spatlese of the Vintage" ... and along with the '05 is considered one of his best efforts in the last 25 years...

Posted by Tom Stephenson at 2:29 PM

Teobaldo Cappellano

When I first asked Teobaldo Cappellano about his winemaking process he shrugged his shoulders and looked at me with a soft sense of disappointment. In this scene, I was clearly Luke Skywalker and he was Yoda the Jedi Master. After a short pause, he said: "Son, when you make love, do you read the Karma Sutra?"

Posted by Stephen Bitterolf at 8:26 AM | TrackBack

September 21, 2006

Layer Cake Shiraz 2006 - at a Special Crush Price!

Layer Cake may be the most popular (and undervalued) Australian Shiraz ever.

We featured the 2005 vintage in an email about a year ago and the response was overwhelming. What was truly amazing was the incredible number of customers who must be called: Layer Cake Fanatics! While we are used to repeat orders, customers came back 3, 4 and 5 times to restock this Australian anomaly!

Posted by Bob Schagrin at 11:58 AM

September 14, 2006

German Steel: Willi Schaefer

We often talk of tiny productions, but let's put it in context with some numbers from 3 of the highest quality (and best known) producers in all of Germany:

Prum: 10,000 cases from 14.5 hectares
(36 acres or .056 square miles)
Donnhoff: 8,000 cases from 14.5 hectares (ditto)
Muller: 5,000 cases from 8 hectares
(19.8 acres or 0.03 square miles)*

And then there's Willi Schaefer ... who with his son Christof makes a mere 2,000 cases from the impossibly tiny, collective 3 hectares of vineyards (7.4 acres = .011 square miles) he owns in the Mittel Mosel towns of Graach and Wehelen. (c'mon! Central Park's Great Lawn is twice the size of his property!!)

Quietly lauded worldwide by those in the know, each year Schaefer's loyal cadre of followers surreptitiously snap up as many bottles of the gold-labeled nectar as they can get their hands on and squirrel them away without making a fuss about it, lest it become more difficult or expensive to find the wines the following year.

Posted by Tom Stephenson at 2:39 PM

September 13, 2006

Emidio Pepe: The Ballerina with Boxing Gloves

The handmade wines of Emidio Pepe are absolutely unique, combining the raw power of California reds, the elegant perfume of Barolo, the earthy complexity of Bordeaux and the finessed grace of Grand Cru Burgundy. Those who understand them soon become obsessed (like me), but be warned: these wines are not for everyone. For some, these wines are just too untamed, too expressive, too raw. One thing, however, is undeniable - these bottles truly redefine what Trebbiano and Montepulciano d'Abruzzo can be.

Like the man, the wines of Emidio Pepe are uncompromising individualists, celebrated by the initiated few, yet unknown to the larger public - at least for now. These wines gain in reputation every year, and they are slowly earning a loyal following. This means it's getting harder and harder to find the few bottles that this small family-run estate can produce. If you would like to try these wines, now is the time. We are proud to be able to offer you a number of outstanding bottles, all of impeccable provenance, coming directly from Emidio Pepe's cellars to you!

Posted by email offers at 12:17 PM

September 11, 2006

Test News

test

Posted by Tom Stephenson at 6:48 PM | TrackBack

September 7, 2006

Back up the Truck #2: Great White Burgundy

After the incredible support we received from our loyal customers during our 25% off "Color War" sale, our first offer back had to be top-notch

While many vintners espouse a "winemaking begins in the vineyard" philosophy, it is especially true with today's pick.

Winemaker Olivier Morin lets the terroir do the talking with his Cuvée Olympe - a selection of his absolute best hand-harvested grapes from the oldest Chardonnay vines on his property.

The extremely high quality of his vineyards and his attention to detail in all steps of the winemaking process create a wine that shows up much more expensive Chablis.
While Morin's wines have only been available in the US for 3 vintages, he is a best kept secret to French connoisseurs.

How does Morin do it?

Morin's vines are planted in kimmeridgian soil that in includes a large amount of Calcaire (sedimentary rocks made up almost entirely of calcium). The calcium in these rocks comes from "Exogira Virgulae," the tiny oyster fossils also found in the Grands Crus vineyards of Chablis.

To make the most of the incredible raw material, all vineyard work is done without machines so the vines can plunge deeply into the soil and give the most accurate sense of place.

Morin uses no chemicals in the field and vinifies with only natural yeasts and a minimum of SO2. The grapes are gently pressed and spend 12 months in barrel + 6 additional months on the lees in tank before the finished wine is bottled unfiltered.

Here are our tasting notes:

"A wine of incredible concentration that combines richness with excellent minerality. While the flavors are precise, there are almost too many of them to name - there's something different each time you go back to the glass. Shocking complexity for the price"

This is an excellent opportunity to stock your cellar with grossly undervalued White Burgundy from a small-scale producer making large-scaled wines.

We were so excited about the quality of the 2004 Cuvée Olympe that we bought all that remained for the vintage. However, there's just not that much wine to go around. We quietly put a bottle in the tasting room last week and demand was so brisk that we rushed this email out to reward our loyal supporters before none remains.

Formally established in 1549, the village of Chitry (pron. Shee-tree) is a tiny farming village of 350 people situated next to the village of Saint-Bris 5-10 miles southeast of Auxerre, southwest of Chablis.

Chitry resides in Yonne, one of the four communes of Burgundy, along with Côte-d'Or, Nièvre, and Saône-et-Loire.

The name Chitry also applies to the wine growing appellation whose vineyards encircle the village. After being classified as "Chablis Village" or "Bourgognedes environs de Chablis" for nearly 100 years, the AOC was formally established in the early 1990s.

While the village itself is in a valley, the vineyards are well exposed on a sort of elevated ring around the town and rest on calcium-rich kimiridgian soil.

20 growers make about 50,000 cases of red and white wine from the vineyards of Chitry, with production split equally in thirds between Aligoté, Chardonnay, and red grapes (Pinot Noir, Sacy, Gamay, etc.).

While 230 hectares (568 acres = .88 square miles) are eligible to be designated "Bourgogne Chitry" wine from only 140 hectares is bottled using the Chitry name — the rest is bottle under the "Bourgogne" appellation.

Back up the Truck?

When someone on the Crush team finds an especially good wine, we often go to Crush Managing Partner Bob Schagrin's for a second opinion. We can tell he is as excited as we are about the quality when he exclaims "Back up the truck!" after he tastes.

Posted by Tom Stephenson at 12:52 PM