At Danville’s new wine bar, Crush’d, one of the bartenders zoomed over to our table to chat about the non-alcoholic aperol spritz ($13) we’d ordered. Trilling with excitement, he brought over the bottle of Lyre’s Italian spritz to share his thoughts about the brand. He confidently asserted that among the various Lyre’s products—is the brand name a play on the word liar?—the Italian orange spritz is the best. Crush’d makes the mocktail by mixing in a sparkling NA Riesling and a strip of orange peel in the shape of an Emory board.
Directly behind a wall of dining room banquettes, Crush’d has installed a separate in-house kiosk where customers can peruse not only various flavors of Lyre’s, but plenty of full-fledged bottles of alcohol. But the Crush’d wine bar concept departs from other bars and kitchens in that the majority of wines are poured from taps and not bottles.
Jame Blackmon, the general manager and sommelier, said that most customers can’t taste the difference, even if they’re aware of the taps. “Some people come here for wine and education,” Blackmon said. “And other people are here on date night.” Sustainability also factors into the decision to pour from taps. Although Blackmon, previously the business manager at Tarpon Cellars, is quick to add that keg wine is not trying to displace bottles.
Not all wines are meant to age; they can be enjoyed when they’re younger. Blackmon said that for high-volume wine distribution, at bars and festivals, kegs win out. Unlike glass bottles, they don’t break or call for refrigeration. Kegs also have double walls, which add a protective layer between the environment and the wine inside.
People don’t have a bias against beer on tap, Blackmon noted, they prefer it. Crush’d doesn’t appear to be launching a crusade for wine on tap, but it’s a novel approach to carve out a niche in the marketplace. And some of the vintages are available to buy in bottles. I tasted both rosés, one from Las Positas Vineyards in Livermore and another from Sabine in Provence, France. Both landed on the dry side of my palate, without being suggestive of the promised notes of cherry, strawberry and peach.
Crush’d also has a robust food program that’s meant to be paired with any of the 24 varieties of wine on tap. Our server told us the chef that night, Charlotte De Bleecker, who formerly worked as a sous chef at Saratoga’s Plumed Horse, experimented with 13 iterations of a cauliflower dish before landing on the current version ($13). It’s still my least favorite vegetable on the planet, but my pro-cruciferous friend liked it and slathered a bright green goddess dressing across each little florette.
Another starter, baby gem lettuces ($11), fit the bill for me. It was the first time I’d eaten beets all summer, and I didn’t realize how much I’d missed them. These were Chioggia beets, an heirloom variety from Italy that are striped pink and white when cut open. DeBleecker made them al dente—they could have been cooked to soften more—but a slightly undercooked beet beats cauliflower any day in my book. This refreshing salad also contained croutons, radish and the inimitable seven-minute egg. The sherry dressing felt like an understudy for a tangy white one pungently made with roquefort or bleu cheese.
The menu includes prominent caviar ($15-$120) and tinned fish ($20-$22) sections. Funny that tiny fish eggs can cost more than the body of an entire fish. But I digress. We opted for something fresher—a tartine made on Firebrand sourdough topped with prosciutto, peas and pea shoots ($13). This fancy toast tasted like the last greens of a late-summer harvest.
The artisan meat-and-cheese board is all about choice: $6 per option, three items for $17 or five for $28. Bresaola, a thinly cut New York strip steak, I recognized from an episode of The Sopranos. We tried one of two types of salami. And the best cheese pun I’ve ever read: Central Coast Creamery’s “Ewenique,” a sweet creamy cheese made from sheep’s milk. The cutting board comes with crostini, piccalilli, mustard and, happily, preserves made from seasonally available apricots.
Crush’d, open Sun-Wed, 11am to 9pm, and Thu-Fri, 11am to 10pm; 312 Railroad Ave., Danville. 925.263.2189. crushddanville.com.
