Find Familiar and Adventurous Wines Abound at Crush Fine Wine

Finding the perfect holiday gift for someone can be a challenge, and if you’re thinking of giving that person wine it can be downright daunting. With all the varietals and regions to choose from, trying to select a wine can drive you to drink yourself. But the headaches are supposed to come after drinking, not before, and that’s where the staff at Crush Fine Wine in New Bedford seeks to carve their niche.

Located in the heart of historic downtown and celebrating their one-year anniversary this month, Crush has big-city style with small-town service. Resident Sommelier Kristian Vasilev – a native Bulgarian well-known in these parts with past stints at Cork, Airport Grille and several large liquor stores – describes the format: “Bigger, urban cities are headed in this direction – more of a boutique, less of a package store. This allows you to focus on the customer, gaining a personal understanding of them and learning their likes and dislikes. It’s about better service, information and knowledge… without being pretentious in personality and prices.”

The beautiful, cavernous brick-walled store is lined almost to its tall ceilings with wine bottles, but the inventory is not overwhelming. Vasilev explains how every product is carefully curated: “It’s teamwork… my staff (four total employees) and I taste everything. We may try 10 to 20 malbecs to pick the one that we like best. We look for wines that are food-friendly, and also that the varietal is correct – meaning that if you buy a malbec, it tastes like a malbec should.” Vasilev does not lower his standard just because a wine may “sell”: “I need to believe in the wine. I can give you a total description of each wine we carry, flavor by flavor.”

Crush’s focus on service facilitates thoughtful gift-giving for any occasion. For those who aren’t sure where to begin, Vasilev guides them through a casual interview process: “The first question is always, ‘Is the person a wine drinker?’ They will have a more discriminating palate as opposed to more cosmetic tastes. Then it’s, ‘What is the gift for?’ – holiday, wedding, anniversary, etc. Once we establish ‘why and for whom,’ we can discuss specific wines.”

While this Q&A will produce different results for different clients, I was curious where to find generally under- appreciated, “value” wines. Vasilev advised that many “labels” have competitive counterparts: “If you like a big, solid cabernet from California you can easily find one from Washington state with the same quality that’s 15-30% cheaper. Also, with the holidays coming, champagnes and sparkling wines are popular but many of these are over-priced. Many small producers are turning out quality… the label may not be ‘fashionable,’ but what’s in the bottle?”

So whether you need a gift for an aficionado or just the special-occasion drinker, add Crush to your holiday shopping list – it may just be the start of something more. “Over 80% of our customers are repeat business. My advice is for people to build a relationship with their wine vendor… hopefully it’s with us. We get to know who they are, what they like – all this is crucial. People need to trust us – our only interest is giving them the best experience.” Crush Fine Wine 801 Purchase Street New Bedford, MA 774-206-1855