"Great Scotch!" - Collectible Rarities
A Must-See List for the Serious Scotch Collector
Bowmore - Caol Ila - Balvenie - Glenrothes - and more

Today, we take an unprecedented look at some seriously *cult* bottles of Scotch.

Ardent followers of Crush's spirits program will remember an offer during the peak of the holiday season - a collection of rare Scotchs from some of the biggest and best-known distilleries in Scotland.

That offer sold out before that snowy Saturday was spent.

J.L. Chave Hermitage Blanc: 1995-2000
Ideal Provenance - Unreal Prices - Surreal Wines

Luxurious, dizzying, quixotic, kaleidoscopic, even mysterious. Chave's great Hermitage Blancs need so much more time than you think, but when they finally reveal themselves...

...whoa.

We've confirmed this once again this week, popping corks on a pristine collection of back-vintage Chave as if it were the Fourth of July, corks from half-bottles, full bottles and magnums flying through the air instead of fireworks.

This email goes out today because if it didn't the parcel would disappear, through our own indulgence. (Seriously.)

Everyone who thinks they understand Rhône whites, think again. And think again seriously, because these are not just any Rhône Blancs; these are the flower-inspired monuments of the appellation, masterpieces from none other than Jean-Louis Chave.

For the most scholarly, enlightening essay on Moric, written by David Schildknecht for The World of Fine Wine, click here.

Austria's Burgenland is southeast of Vienna, pushing up against the border with Hungary. This is the home of Austria's reds, with Blaufränkisch ("Lemberger" in Germany and the U.S., "Kekfrankos" in Hungary) gaining more and more acclaim. Speaking with Velich it is obvious he has thought long and deep about Blaufränkisch, about Burgenland and about how to make wine.

The foundation of Moric is, as it should be, the vineyards. Velich focuses on parcels in the villages of Neckenmarkt and Lutzmannsberg. These vineyards have very high densities, old clonal selections and very old vines - up to and beyond 100 years. Yields are extremely low, vinifications take place in open-topped fermenters with natural yeasts and are allowed to progress at their own rate.

"Blaufrankisch" is not a word that drips elegantly off the tongue. (Most often, the wines made from the Blaufrankisch grape don't exactly glide across the palate either.) That said, this is arguably the most important red wine varietal in Austria. Its favorite spot in Austria is just south and east of Vienna, in a region known as the Burgenland. Known as Lemberger in Germany, and in the few places in the U.S. that it is grown, Blaufrankisch produces a wine of a dark, midnight blue hue and the wines can have immense depth and power to them with dark fruit, pepper and bramble notes.

 

Burgundy or Burgenland?
2007 Moric Blaufränkisch Elegance of Burgundy - Soul of Austria

"Wines in a style you will not encounter anywhere else in Austria: Blaufränkisch vinified as if it were Grand Cru Burgundy."
- David Schildknecht, Wine Advocate

Heed Schildknecht's words above: This is an offer for the Burgundy lover, for those who appreciate a seductive, balanced expression of fruit, mineral, flower, earth.

This is elegant Blaufränkisch. In most cases, that's a rather jarring phrase; if Blaufränkisch has a reputation at all for the American consumer, it'd likely be reduced to "juicy, rustic and rugged."

Roland Velich and his Moric project, however, are leading something like a revolution in Austria's Burgenland - going back to the fundamentals and in the process finding a pure, authentic expression of Blaufränkisch.

Burgundy 1989-2002
Angerville, de Montille, Drouhin, Gouges, Lafarge, Mommesin, Ponsot, Potel, Roumier and more...
Special Pricing on Sweet Spot Burgundy

This is the holy grail and we all know it.

Burgundy, approaching its apogee and well beyond inexpressive, precocious youth.

This is what we like to call the "sweet spot" and it's a fine place to be with great Burgundy.

Back Up the Truck: 2007 Numanthia Termes
Bask in the Spanish Sun at the
LOWEST PRICE IN THE WORLD
Special Case-Pricing as Low as $18.99!

Straight from the mouth of an unrepentant Burgundy fanatic: THIS IS GOOD!

I'm talking about the 2007 Numanthia Termes, a wine with enough warm, blanketing richness to comfort you all winter long, yet with enough glide to charm even the Burgundy lover.

I have to say, this wine genuinely shocked me.

Numanthia is most famous for their flagship Termanthia bottling, an epic wine with a "200% new oak treatment" that renders it larger than life and darker than night. The Termanthia soars in the $150+ range with the "perfect" 2004 checking in well above the $300 mark.

2005 G. Mascarello Barolo Monprivato 1.5L
A Rich Monprivato Echoing the Powerful 1999
Special Pricing on Rare Magnums!

Today a targeted offering featuring just about the coolest thing for a Monprivato fan: MAGNUMS

Giuseppe Mascarello's Barolo Monprivato is consistently one of our favorite traditional Barolos.

It is without a doubt one of the greatest expressions of Piedmont red; few achieve the Burgundy-like finesse that Mauro Mascarello coaxes from this prime real estate.

We offered regular 750ml bottles of the 2005 Monprivato in early December, writing: "While the 2005 is a powerful Monprivato, a wine that reminds Antonio Galloni of the 1999, it is also one of the greatest 'new release' deals to come around in a long time."

2008 Van Volxem: Ambition in the Saar
Special Pre-Arrival Pricing on the 2008 Collection
See Below for Details on "2008 Van Volxem Primer"

There is no denying that Van Volxem is one of the most important estates in Germany's historic Saar Valley

The fact is, Roman Niewodniczanski, the heir to the Bitburger Beer fortune, has been on a buying spree the last 10 years or so, securing some of the grandest, oldest-vine sites in the Saar.

For example, Roman's parcel in the famed Gottesfuss includes ungrafted, pre-phylloxera vines that are between 100 and 150 years old, though he also owns top parcels in the legendary Scharzhofberger (think Egon Müller), Altenberg and Braunfels, among others.

Chateauneuf in Top Form
2001 Solitude Chateauneuf-du-Pape "Barberini"
Luscious, Back-Vintage CDP Score
30% Below the Lowest Price in the World

"Over the last ten years, these wines have gone from strength to strength, and are now some of the finest of the appellation." - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate

With the young 2007 Chateauneufs falling deep into sleep, today we offer a luscious 2001 Chateauneuf in its prime, exuding all the sweet-cassis, smoke and flower-riddled perfumes of the sun-bathed Rhône.

Given the arctic temperatures we've been having and the daunting stretch of winter months ahead, we thought that something hedonistic, with a little belly-warming depth might be appropriate.

This is a targeted offering *only* for those of you who have supported our Rhône program. Still, with a mere 10 cases and a price 30% below the lowest price in the world, this will be gone quickly. (48 hours max!)

"A True Austrian Classic"
2008 F.X. Pichler Riesling Kellerberg Smaragd
"Few vintages are able to showcase the unique terroir of the Wachau with such impressive precision as 2008."
- Stephen Tanzer's IWC

This, we think, is the dry Riesling lover's holy trilogy:
- Trimbach's Clos St. Hune
- Keller's Abtserde GG
- F.X. Pichler's Kellerberg Smaragd

These are the flagship bottlings, the collectible "Grand Crus" that are as noble, as sophisticated and as ageworthy as dry Riesling ever gets.

In Austria, there is certainly no more dazzling, flashy, glossy, sleek (and slick) dry Rieslings than those fashioned at the estate of F.X. Pichler. No single producer in Austria has quite captured the attention of the American public as F.X Pichler has.

Yet for all this celebrity, this style, they also speak honestly of their terroir and THIS is what brings the collectors, wine geeks and scholars back year after year after year.