The Wine Crush is a wine tasting venue that specializes in boutique wines from around the world. Located in the center of Long Beach on the Broadway Corridor, The Wine Crush features a relaxing garden setting, huge wine selection and friendly personnel ready to provide you with a fabulous wine tasting experience. Owner and proprietor Marcus Crenshaw took a few minutes out of his day recently to talk wine with Discovery Map of Greater Long Beach:

DMGLB: How long has The Wine Crush been operating in Long Beach?
Marcus: The Wine Crush was opened in July 2004 and we purchased it in Jan 2006. So, it’s been a little over 3 years, almost 2 years owned by us.

DMGLB: Wine is sold at warehouse stores, supermarkets and neighborhood liquor stores. How does The Wine Crush continue to stand out against these other retailers?
Marcus: Wine selection!!! We focus on smaller, estate quality wines and the wines we bring into the store are first tasted by us. In addition, we provide a nice environment, a tasting room and garden, for our customers to try our wine before they buy it. The quality of wine along with the ambience of The Wine Crush is a great combination and definitely helps us stand out from the competition.

DMGLB: Purchasing wine can be intimidating for novice wine drinkers. What advice do you have for folks who want to learn about wine, but don’t yet know how to “talk the talk?”
Marcus: Easy. They should visit a boutique wine store and talk to the staff there to learn about wines. You don’t have to necessarily buy there, but it is a great way to learn from people who most likely have tasted a lot of wine and should be able to put in the layman’s terms for you.

DMBLB: What’s the most unusual wine request you’ve ever received?
Marcus: It’s not too unusual but it’s always interesting to hear people’s response when you tell them Zinfandel is actually a red grape and White Zinfandel is made by removing the skins of the Zinfandel. What’s great is that EVERYONE at some point in their life thought the same thing. I know I did!

DMGLB: Let’s say I have $20 and I want to buy a bottle of lesser known red wine that will impress my friends at a party. What’s your best pick?
Marcus: Twenty Bench Cabernet Sauvignon. We are starting to see it in more and more places, but it’s a relatively unknown gem. I’ve seen this wine in fine steakhouses for over $50! That’s how well it’s appreciated.

DMGLB: What advice do you have for tourists to help them enjoy their stay in Long Beach?
Marcus: Once they check in to their hotel, ask the concierge where they can get some great wine. To which they should say “The Wine Crush.” And then as they visit all the great sites in Long Beach, they will have the option to bring along great wine with them. Or, they can just come and hangout in our wine tasting room and garden!! Cheers!!!!

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 4th, 2007 at 8:07 am by Catherine Brock and is filed under Business Spotlights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.