Community Tasting Note

• bevetroppo Likes this wine: 91 points

  November 14, 2014 - Would it bother you if you bought a bottle at a retail store and it was shipped to you with a label on it saying "Obtained from a private cellar," and this was not previously disclosed? It bothers me that Crush in NYC operates this way. Provenance anyone? Chain of custody? The purer and more graceful the wine, presumably the more vulnerable to poor storage. Shame on you, Crush-your deceptive practices with fine wines are only exceeded by Premier Cru, scant comfort indeed. FYI, at Premier Cru, "pre-arrival" means when hell freezes over...
  
  That's the bad news. The good news is that this is great, and maybe its relative youth has insulated it from shoddy handling.
  
  Dark impenetrable purple to the rim. Sensational syrah nose of ripe blackberry, minerals and bacon fat. It's young but voluptuous too, and gets better and better by the minute in the glass. Ripe and round in the mouth, with the sweet fruit and savory notes fully engaged in a sexy pas de deux. It's entirely seductive.
  
  Will it be better in three, five, ten years? yes I said yes it will Yes

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8 Comments

• xwine commented:

  11/15/14, 6:56 AM - Hi. Regarding the stickers, did you contact Crush to ask about them? I had the same thing recently, and emailed them. In my case, Joe Salamone (with Crush) told me that some of my wines come from the distributor without back labels, and their warehouse guys are trained to put those stickers on in those instances. I can't tell you whether that's accurate, but it's worth knowing. You might try emailing them. But I'm glad to hear the wine is good!

• bevetroppo commented:

  11/15/14, 7:53 AM - Xwine-your comment is much more measured and unemotional than my tasting note and I appreciate the sentiment. I am guilty of ready, fire, aim. However, I didn't see the back label until after I had already opened the bottle-see, I don't carefully inspect a shipment from stem to stern perhaps the way I should.
  
  You're right, it could be a completely innocent warehouse practice. On the other hand, if you talk to some people in the trade, they will say Crush sometimes sources products on the gray market, whatever that means. Is it just a case of sour grapes?
  
  On the basis of the label I saw, it sounds like they buy private cellars. What do they gain by stating that it comes from a private collector if it's just a case of a missing back label from the distributor? There is an importer's name on the label (T. Elenteny) but who is the mysterious distributor you refer to? Why you would train your warehouse staff to automatically do this?
  
  Like you, I'm glad the bottle was sound. But I will ask first in the future before getting overly excited by one of Joe Salomone's frothy emails. Do I buy wines all the time that I HOPE were well stored, rather than knowing it for a fact? Absolutely. Guilty as charged. But I don't appreciate being blatantly deceived about it by an otherwise reputable company.

• RyanJames commented:

  12/18/14, 6:14 PM - I echo Bevetroppo. Crush has always been a solid store in the city for me, but they get a lot of stuff from the black/grey market - as a result I buy very little from them unless it's very clearly from a top distributor/importer. Sorry, but I'd rather pay for provenance, unless it's a $25 weeknight sipper.

• bevetroppo commented:

  12/18/14, 6:35 PM - Ryan-I have one word for you: transparency. Like me, I'm guessing you appreciate it in the wines you enjoy and expect it from the stores where you buy them. Cellartracker may not be the best platform for us to to preach about shoddy Crush business practices, but every little drop in the spit bucket helps, I figure.

• RyanJames commented:

  12/18/14, 6:50 PM - Well said - I left my old industry recently to run new a new store opening next week, in downtown Manhattan, and we value provenance more than anything (in addition to the transparency in our wines, of course).

• bevetroppo commented:

  12/18/14, 6:56 PM - Ryan-good luck! What's the store called? I'll stop by soon. -B

• RyanJames commented:

  12/18/14, 7:10 PM - Thanks - It's quite the (fun) departure from banking. We're called Some Good Wine, 13 East 8th St.

• bevetroppo commented:

  12/18/14, 7:26 PM - Modesty becomes you. Maybe this coming Monday, will be in the City for lunch and will give it my best shot.

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