Winery of the Month: CRŪ Winery
Founded in 2003 by two wine-loving friends, CRŪ Winery started small, producing just enough wine to share locally with family and friends. In those early years, the team experimented with fruit from appellations throughout California, gradually finding their home amongst the vineyards of the Central Coast.
More than 20 years later, CRŪ wines can be found well beyond their original Central California community, but that early spirit still sits at the heart of the winery: good vineyards, good people and wines meant to actually be enjoyed.
photo provided by CRŪ Winery
Following the fruit
Rather than defining CRŪ by one estate vineyard, the winery has built its identity around relationships with growers and exceptional vineyard sites throughout California's Central Coast.
That means looking across regions like the Santa Lucia Highlands, Santa Maria Valley, Edna Valley and Paso Robles and choosing vineyards suited to the varieties they want to grow there. Across those sites, CRŪ focuses heavily on Burgundian and Rhône varieties, including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah, while wines like its Paso Robles GSM bring Grenache and Mourvèdre into the mix.
It also gives CRŪ the opportunity to tell the story of California wine through individual vineyards. Their portfolio has included fruit from celebrated sites like Bien Nacido, Sierra Madre, Solomon Hills, Sarmento, Regan and French Camp - each bringing its own place and personality to the bottle.
For us, that's part of what makes exploring CRŪ so much fun. One winery can take you from fog-cooled Chardonnay and Pinot Noir near the coast to the richer Rhône varieties grown farther inland.
photo provided by CRŪ Winery
The winemaker behind the wines
At the center of that exploration is longtime winemaker Jose Reyes, who has been part of CRŪ since 2009.
Originally from Sinaloa, Mexico, Jose's path into wine began on California's Central Coast 30 years ago. As a young man, he would pass the historic Bargetto Winery on his way to work. Curiosity eventually led him through the door—and he began working there the very next day.
He learned winemaking from the ground up: working in the cellar, helping with bottling and harvest, and absorbing as much as he could along the way. That first experience didn't just give Jose a career; it introduced him to vineyards and varieties that would continue to influence his work decades later.
Today, his approach at CRŪ remains centered on letting the fruit and vineyard speak for themselves rather than overwhelming them in the cellar. It's a fitting philosophy for a winery whose identity depends so heavily on the places its grapes come from.
And wine isn't the only thing that brings Jose around the table - CRŪ has shared stories of his family's holiday tradition of gathering together to make tamales, pozole and ponche.
photo provided by CRŪ Winery
Wine for the table, not the pedestal
For all of the acclaimed vineyards and single-vineyard bottlings in CRŪ's portfolio, there is something refreshingly unpretentious about the winery's philosophy.
CRŪ talks about making wines for both special occasions and quality everyday drinking - and that idea feels closely connected to the way the winery began more than two decades ago.
These are wines with a sense of place and plenty to explore, but they're also meant to be opened, shared and enjoyed around a table with other people.
And that's exactly why we're honored to feature CRŪ Winery as our Winery of the Month at Cork & Stem. We'll be pouring their GSM all month long, so come in, grab a glass, and see why we're so excited about their wines! You can learn more about the winery - and check out some of their other bottles! - by clicking here.
Want to explore new wines each month? Join our Bottle Club! You can get all the details here.
