[pic]
I stopped in at Crush last night hoping to find a reasonably priced bottle of something unusual, and I left a half hour and a half glass of wine later, with a bottle of a particularly “well-structured” malbec for $12.99. (I’m not opening it until later.)
I drink wine often enough to know what I’m tasting, but I’d definitely flunk a blind tasting. (Oh by the way, we did a blind tasting of 10, 15, and 18 year Glenmorangie scotch before I did the cinnamon trick during the Christmas vacation… flunked…) I walked around while a much more knowledgeable customer checked out and realized I recognized not a single bottle on the shelves. It was exciting and terrifying, because I wanted to get something I couldn’t find at Harris Teeter but I still felt like I had no business being there. After asking Gregg about the malbecs, I asked if I could taste whatever he had around. I would do that! Gregg happily poured me a generous taste of a South African red wine, and then I started asking about the business. I would do that too.
Like me, Gregg comes to Charlottesville after working in television production. He’s renovated the space over several months with help from friends and Belmont neighbors, and I was really impressed with their resourcefulness! The bar is the best example. Wine boxes make the base, fitted together with a triangular wooden piece from a nearby home. Floorboards from the same home (I think) front the storage section. The counter top is beautiful: many small cubes of pine wood fitted together in a matrix so that all of the arcs of the wood rings go in different directions, then cut to fit the base boards and sanded over. I hope I described that well. He has a great sense of humor about all of the quirky obstacles of the process, and walking in, I’d never suspect it. We didn’t talk wine too much, because it’s still terrifying to me, but I would definitely go to a tasting class to solve that little problem.
What I like about it more than the other downtown stores is that it doesn’t feel claustrophobic, with its high ceilings and ample aisle space between shelving. Te price distribution ranges from just below $10 to way up high, with a lot in “my” range.
I’m thirsty now.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Tagged as: Bars, Charlottesville, Restaurants, Restaurants/Bars, Reviews, Wine
Marry me
Gregg and Paul are great, very unpretentious and helpful. We’re so happy to have them as a neighbor.
Anyone have the phone number for Crush?
email it to karina at onlineo dot com
Where is this place?
Sounds like you had a better time than we had as Siips. Is `Greg’ Greg Jackson? I love that guy! Clearly I need to get in there…
The phone # is 434-972-9463 and is located west of mas across from la taza and saxx jazz….need to do a “private tasting” thing for all villains…take that elitist
I walked by today with my pup and they had dog bowls of water out front - probably means they are dog friendly and I could have gone in and browsed around, but my dog tends to “mark” new spaces so I decided not to risk it. From the outside, the build out looks great.
Tangent alert - so I was looking in the windows of the neighboring still undercontruction restaurant and their ABC license is now posted. It seems they plan to call themselves “The Local Restaurant” which I can only hope means they want to be the Staunton Grocery of Charlottesville… does anyone have any real dirt on this place? The bar is installed and the lighting looks nearly finished, so my guess is they have 1-2 months to go before opening.
Yupster, you need to be less afraid. You got it all going on. Repeat after me: “Its ok not to know things”.
Belmont’s blowing up. I suggest a summer villain party in my yard, which happens to be huge enough to hold all y’all.
Yeah, Yupster should grow one.
I’m going to edit this– I thought Gregg was spelled with two “g”s, and I’d hate to see someone do that to my real name.
Don’t edit on my account, I’ve never asked him how many ‘g’s are in his name? Could be 6 for all I know, or he may just be trying to out-do Siips? If you’re worried about it I’ll call him and ask?
Alright I am going to Crush tonight (Greg is there till 8PM), and beer run and siips and zinc, ok satisfied, I am being a damn good supervillain. BTB am I getting a commision if I sell advertisement to Greg, I already slammed him with the fact that this (cvillain) buzz is more efficient than advertising in both the hook, cville and the DP all at once?….(I read my media package thoroughly)
two0four, did that cell number I sent you work? Or did you use the one posted?
Why didn’t I receive a media package???
Checked out Crush. Gregg was cool (I saw a card with “Gregg Oxley” on it). Tasted some wine. Bought a few bottles. Saw a few chicks (one I knew). They have a modest (so far) but good selection of wine. Trying not to finish one of the bottles I got there (whole bottle = tipsy brutus + wasted Sunday), but it’s very tasty. Really amused by the Chateau Woof 2007 out on the sidewalk
[…] store has been described perfectly by Yupster in the Crush on Crush. I’d like to add that I was greeted like I was an old friend by Kelly and Gregg. The store is an […]
[…] the standard Friday wine tastings: Beer Run, Crush (with a “Screw Kappa Napa”, and Market […]