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Weekend Reading: The New York Times Rediscovers Wines of the Jura!

Since Crush has opened, we have become a haven for strange and obscure wines, always seeking out the best undiscovered bottlings from around the world.

Over the past year, I've quietly assembled the largest selection of Jura wines in New York, and maybe even the nation (we have 13).

Paolo Bea: Under the Radar Umbrian Superstar!

From the hills of Montefalco in Umbria, the Bea family has been quietly toiling to create one of the most distinctive red wines we've had this year.

Though they have their own specific formula dating back hundreds of years, the major focus of making this incredible wine is letting nature ta

Sancerrely Yours... Great Chavignol

Sancerre is the most elegant expression of Sauvignon Blanc, and its recent surge in prices reflect its growing popularity. That's why we're thrilled to offer you not just a Sa

2005 J.J. Pr�m: Epic Wines,

After our initial 2005 Riesling futures campaign lauded the incredible conditions in the middle-Mosel, we received a huge number of inquiries about our omission of some of the best vineyard sites for Riesling in the whole world; specifically the wines of the legendary Joh. Jos. Prüms

Clos Rougeard Cabernet Franc

Clos Rougeard is one of the oldest estates in the Loire Valley, and yet they are nearly anonymous in the US. Owned by the Foucault family since 1894, the Clos employs the usual recipe for absolute excellence: outstanding terroir, old vines, excruciatingly tiny yields, and incredible attention to

Under the Radar: The Best Cabernet Franc in the Loire

Today, we're pleased to offer some of the most outstanding under-the-radar wines at some of the best prices in the nation.

Clos Rougeard is one of the oldest estates in the Loire Valley, and yet they are nearly anonymous in the US. Owned by the Foucault family since 1894, the Clos employs

Under the Radar: The Best Cabernet Franc in the Loire

Clos Rougeard is one of the oldest estates in the Loire Valley, and yet they are nearly anonymous in the US. Owned by the Foucault family since 1894, the Clos employs the usual recipe for absolute excellence: outstanding terroir, old vines, excruciatingly tiny yields, and incredible attention to

2000 River Bend Pinot Noir

Excellent Pinot Noir is hard to find.

Finding excellent inexpensive Pinot can be nearly impossible (see sidebar), requiring a holy confluence of factors to get it right.

Northern Rhone Superstar Jean-Louis Chave

Chave is one of the most revered names in all of the wine world, as well as a personal favorite of Crush owner Bobby Schagrin.

Today we're offering wines purchased directly from Bobby's collection as well as two surprising recent vintages direct from the estate.

More on

1998 Eduardo Valentini Trebbiano D'Abbruzzo

Eduardo Valentini took the lowly Trebbiano grape and turned it into a wine that people scour the world for.

In his hands, Italy's most prolific (and usually insipid) grape became a world-class, refined, and ageworthy wine that is truly a cult favorite.

While Valentini produced a red

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