Back in the wine game

Former owner of Toronto club tries his luck with an ‘unwine bar’

When it opened in 2002, Crush Wine Bar was a breath of fresh air, offering a chalkboard menu of fabulous wines by the glass at reasonable prices. Keen observers could spot echoes of the spirit of Willi’s Wine Bar in Paris, where Crush’s owner Jamieson Kerr worked during a spell in Europe.

Like Willi’s, Crush’s staff was passionate about wine but never pretentious. The wines by the glass used to come in one-ounce (30 mL), three-ounce (85 mL) or five-ounce (140 mL) pours.

The small tastes, Kerr said, where crucial for building trust with consumers back then. “If it wasn’t Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, people were really quite reluctant,” he said.

Kerr sold the business nine years ago. He and partner Andrew Carter’s Broadcloth Hospitality Inc. nurtured a successful trio of pub-inspired restaurants in Toronto, including The Queen & Beaver Public House.

People would continually ask if he missed running a wine bar. “I’m never doing that again,” Kerr would explain matter-offactly.

Standing behind the bar of the newly minted Mad Crush Wine Bar, Kerr smiles widely as he’s reminded of the adage never say never.

“I want to get people excited about wine,” Kerr said, explaining why he’s back in the business. “There’s so much going on in the city about beer. Let’s do that with wine. Make it a really fun place to come and try different things.”

Mad Crush is billed as “the un-wine bar.” Its wine list is divided by playful headings like Split Personality Wines, the category for rosés. White Wines with Zenlike Precision and Meaty, Beefy, Big & Bouncy Reds are other categories. “It’s to get people’s attention,” Kerr said.

Like the original Crush, the focus is on presenting wine in an approachable way, with something to please everyone at many price points.

Kerr said he’s shocked to still see so many restaurant wine programs that confuse and confound guests. It’s still the common scenario to be seated at a restaurant and summarily be handed a thick volume of wine selections.

Paralysis inevitably sets in, he explains. “You’ve got a list of 40 wines,” Kerr said, “more than half of which you’ve never heard of, indigenous Italian varietals and the like ...”

Mad Crush was designed to be different. The wines by the glass are clearly laid out.

This list is balanced, with lots of interesting selections.

Best of all, it’s backed up with extremely knowledgeable, non-pretentious people who want to ensure a fun experience.

Here’s hoping it inspires other restaurants and wine bars to follow suit.