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5218 Lawton Avenue
Oakland, CA 94114

510-654-9159

Oliver McCrum Wines has been importing small production Italian wine and distributing to fine retail and restaurant establishes throughout California since 1994. Over time, our portfolio of producers has steadily grown to over 45 producers from 15 different regions of Italy. We look for typical Italian wines with clarity and freshness, usually made from indigenous Italian grape varieties using clean, transparent winemaking techniques and no obvious use of oak. 

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We Now Carry Champagne (Really, Really Good Champagne)

Michele Boscia

Even though we specialize in Italian wine, we love drinking Champagne. So much so that we had long been dreaming of importing a selection of Champagne ourselves because—outside of Italian wine types—it is the wine type we drink and enjoy most. Hence, we’re excited to announce our new partnership with Cage Imports, a specialty Champagne importer.

When we met Garth and Cat from Cage, we immediately noticed the alignment between our approach to wine and our portfolios. Our ideas about what makes great wine are very similar: we both believe great wine starts in the vineyard, and we both gravitate towards wines of terroir, made with minimal intervention, that are classically-styled. Cage also specializes in Champagne with no intention of expanding outside of the region, just as we specialize in importing Italian wine. Tasting through the selections, we were absolutely blown away by the quality. It was a perfect match.

It also should be said that there is nothing more Italian than drinking Champagne. Italians love Champagne; all over the country. Even in the most unlikely places. We will be drinking quite a bit of these ourselves, but we hope there will be some left over for our customers. No guarantees!

Last week, the entire California team met up in the East Bay to taste through the full selection of wines and we were all breathless by the end of the meeting. Champagne Agrapart from Avize was the big name on the tasting sheet (and we were all amply impressed with the incredible grace and intricacy of those wines), but every single selection was impressive in its own right.

The Domaine Rousseaux-Batteux wines were dynamic and nuanced, showcasing the Grand Cru fruit of Verzenay. The 100% Pinot Meunier “Les Echaudées” was a mic drop of a wine, equal parts savory and saline. Champagne Brice Allouchery was also a standout, particularly the Pinots Noirs, composed of all-organic Premier Cru Pinot Noir from Ecueil. It was hard to pick a favorite when every subsequent pour sent your palate into complete splendor.

You can tell we’re excited about this!

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