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2003 Edmond Vatan Sancerre "Clos de Neore"

A majority of European winemakers struggled during their attempts to make whites, and most had to resort to acidification and other winemaking "tricks" that give the palate a sense of unnatural manipulation.

While it's true that it was difficult to make great whites during 2003, before you

2002 Castell Roig Tempranillo-Merlot

While Penedès is best known for churning out gallons of bubbly Cava (Penedès produces more sparkling wine than any other region in the world besides Champagne), there are also some enterprising wineries who are experimenting with smaller plots of traditional red varietals like Ule de Llebre, Ca

Domaine Michelot Mere et Fille

The wines of Domaine Michelot Mere et Fille are sumptuous, concentrated and tailor made for mid-term drinking due to a fairly traditional style of winemaking. Aged in 1/3 new French oak with extended lees contact, they are then cellared for several years and released late from the Domaine.

2004 Chidaine Vouvray "Clos Baudoin Les Argiles" and "Le Clos Baudoin"

What do you get when you combine a brilliant biodynamic winemaker and the only vineyard in the Loire Valley to ever be called Grand Cru?

Some of the best Chenin Blanc we've tasted all year.

But the story gets more interesting when you find out how it all came to be. Here's the deal...

1999 Peter McCoy Chardonnay "Clos Marianne"

Of all the wines we tasted this month, none met our criteria for a great wine as well as this fastidiously crafted Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley.

It's also the most compelling cult-like bottling we've tried this year, and with good reason: Peter McCoy met John Kongsgaard at a Nap

2004 Pouilly-Fumés of Didier Dagueneau

Didier Dagueneau is a visionary: For the last 12 years, he has sought to improve the reputation of authentic Pouilly-Fumé throughout the world by breaking the rules.

A staunch critic of overproduction, he cultivates only 11.5 hectares (about 1.5x the size of Central Park's Great Lawn) biod

2005 Commanderie de Peyrassol Rosé

We are proud to announce that the winner of the Crush War of the Rosés (by total number of customer votes) is from an estate that shares our beliefs that good wine begins with good soil and that great wine is a magnification of terroir.

Luckily, they also understand that simply owning goo

2004 Jules Rosé

he story of Jules begins in the late '80s when Hugh and Jane Faulkner fell in love with the region and the wines of the Grand Cros estate. After some debate, the Canadian couple purchased the 60 acre Domaine.

Founded in the 17th century, Le Grand Cros has a long and storied tradition of win

Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon

We recently came upon a collector with a large caché of well stored verticals in multiple formats. The first in our series are the notoriously long-lived Cabernets of Dunn Vineyards. These dense, chewy, huge wines are tops in California, for lovers of intense, full-bodied style.

2005 Copain Printemps Rosé

California is best known for its blockbuster Cabernet, opulent Pinot Noir, and deep rich Chardonnay, not its pink wines ... unless you're talking about Cold Duck.

Unfortunate

2001 Zilliken Ockfener Bockstein

2001 was one of the greatest German Riesling vintages in recent memory and put German Rieslings back in the forefront of many wine-lovers minds.

The absolutely perfect weather

2004 Grosjean Pinot Noir

As you know, finding truly great Pinot under $30 a bottle can be quite difficult - there's simply not enough juice to satisfy worldwide cravings.

As the quality/price ratio de

Neal Rosenthal - 2002 Domaine de Montbourgeau and 2001 Hautes Terre de Comberousse

Neal Rosenthal is one of our favorite importers to work with beacause all of his wines are hand-selected and true to their respective terroirs.

They are "real wines" - generally not as fruit forward or oak influenced as some of the more popular and high-scoring New World bottlings, but I f

1999 Antonin Guyon Pernand-Vergelesses Blanc

We're always on the hunt for great values - one of the most frequent requests we receive is for reasonably priced domestic Chardonnay or White Burgundy. One of our favorite places to

2004 Thierry Puzelat "Pineau d'Aunis" and "Clos du Tue Boeuf"

Thierry Puzelat is easily one of our favorite winemakers in the Loire Valley for his ultra-conscientious production methods and complete commitment to natural wine.

Two Estates, One Vigneron

Based in Touraine (Loire Valley), Thierry bottles wine under two different

Giacomo Conterno Retrospective ('37-'97)

'93 Cascina Francia - Gorgeous nose of forest floor, roses, tar, hot rocks and some cherries. Some really dark burned wood character too. Lush and expansive on the palate showing lots of ripe fruit. Acidity is a touch low but this absolutely deliciosu today. Very impressive for '93. Seems the tra

Rebholz Weissburgunder

2004 Rebholz Im Sonnenschein Weissburgunder Spatlese Dry
This was such a revelation. I have always loved Rebholz's Rieslings but have heard through the grapevine that the Weissburgunder is what he was famous for and this wine was absolutely knock you on your ass stunning. Th

New Blog-Only Specials

Starting this week I will be choosing wines to deeply discount that I will post only on the Crush Blog. There will be several new wines a week, so make sure you check often!

Today's Specials:

2003 Boillot L. Gevrey-Chambertin 1er

2000 Chateau Mangot Grand Vin

When we tasted the 2000 Mangot we flipped — Not only because of the extremely high quality and aging potential from one of the best years in recent memory, but because it was not "internationalized". While many of its Bordeaux counterparts are over-manipulated, the Mangot classicly European in

Drink Wine. Not Soup.

"Ahhh, perfect temperature," my boyfriend and I said at the same time after tasting the slightly cool Côtes du Rhône the waiter brought to our table. Our friends, knowing we both work in the wine business, stopped talking and looked at us curiously. "So is that some sor

2004 Domaine Laurens Marcillac Rouge

Given the astounding support we received with our 20%-off sale, our first email back-in-the-saddle had to be a great value.

To reward everyone that came by the store last week, we found an unheralded wine of exceptional quality in the virtual treasure trove of Southwestern France.

Great Burgs at Cru from two weeks ago.

Hit Cru last night. Been a while and it did not dissapoint. Started off with the 1993 Carillon Bienvenue Batard Montrachet which was an incredible wines and really turns up the volume for me as to how good the '93 vintage can be for whites. Muted aromatically at first but with beautiful precision

2005 Scholium Project Naucratis Lost Slough

As you know, the crush motto is "The truth is in the bottle" and my primary focus is finding great, uncommon wines and bringing them to you, regardless of ratings, reviews or point scores.

The Scholium Project "Naucratis," a verdelho (!) from rebel winemaker Abe Schoner, is easily one of th

2004 Alvarez Y Diez "Mantel Blanco"

Over the years, I've tasted my share of wines from Rueda and listened to Spanish wine importers and enthusiasts rave about them. But, none of that marketing or talk ever convinced me. Sure, Spanish white is generally nice and crisp, perfect for sipping on the patio or by the pool. But no Rueda h