Dreaming Tree Crush Red Blend

The Dreaming Tree "Crush" North Coast Red Blend 750ML is a premium, rich, and remarkably smooth California red wine typically bottled at 13.5% to 14.0% ABV. Born from an eco-conscious collaboration between multi-platinum musician Dave Matthews and visionary winemaker Sean McKenzie, this expressive wine stands out as a highly approachable category favorite. Explicitly engineered to deliver a lush, fruit-forward style with soft, low-friction tannins, it masterfully harmonizes the dense dark fruit profiles of California's North Coast to create an incredibly versatile, crowd-pleasing red.

Quick Facts: ABV: ~13.5% (Vintage Dependent) | Origin: North Coast, California, USA | Style: Opulent, Smooth, and Juicy Dry Red | Grapes: Primarily Merlot and Zinfandel | Size: 750ML

Production & Heritage

• A Creative Collaboration: Launched in 2011, The Dreaming Tree is named after the track "The Dreaming Tree" from the Dave Matthews Band’s 1998 album Before These Crowded Streets. The project bridges Matthews' passion for creative expression with a deep commitment to environmental preservation.

• Uncompromising Eco-Sustained Design: What technically distinguishes this brand is its rigid adherence to sustainable packaging. The bottle is formed from lightweight glass to drastically lower shipping carbon footprints, utilizes 100% post-consumer recycled paper labels, and eliminates the traditional plastic or tin neck foil to prevent unnecessary landfill waste.

• The North Coast Mosaic: The liquid architecture draws from sun-drenched vineyards spanning California's premier North Coast appellations—including Mendocino, Sonoma, and Lake counties. This allows the winemaking team to layer the structural complexity of hillside fruit with the juicy richness of valley-floor berries.

• The Soft-Tannin Blend Strategy: The wine is strategically built on a core of Merlot, which injects a velvety texture and plush black cherry characteristics, and Zinfandel, which brings a bold layer of jammy raspberry and wild baking spices. The components are aged for several months in oak barrels to round out the edges and weave in soft vanilla accents.

Tasting Notes

• Aroma: Inviting, sweet-scented, and highly expressive. The bouquet opens with a prominent wave of ripe black cherries, raspberry jam, and dark plums, beautifully framed by secondary top notes of sweet vanilla bean, toasted caramel, and a subtle hint of warm baking spice.

• Taste: Medium-to-full-bodied, satiny, and remarkably smooth on the entry. The palate is treated to an immediate coating of juicy mixed berry compote and brown sugar. Across the mid-palate, it shows its approachable architecture; the tannins are incredibly soft and fine-grained, allowing complex dimensions of dark chocolate, berry tea, and a delicate touch of smoky oak to glide across the tongue without a drying grip.

• Finish: Long, balanced, and refreshingly clean. The rich confectionery notes and dark jams withdraw gracefully from the tongue, leaving behind a persistent, warming signature of spiced plum, vanilla cream, and a smooth, velvety trail.

How to Drink Dreaming Tree Crush

• Proper Temperature Control: Serving this wine at a cool room or cellar temperature between 60°F and 65°F (15°C to 18°C) is highly recommended. Giving the bottle a brief 15-minute chill before pulling the cork focuses the lush berry fruit profiles and ensures the alcohol volume remains tightly integrated with the oak aromatics.

• Glassware Presentation: Pouring the liquid into a standard, large-bowled red wine glass maximizes oxygen contact, rapidly opening up the jammy Zinfandel spices and vanilla notes while enhancing the wine's exceptionally smooth mouthfeel.

Best For

• Casual backyard barbecues, summer patio hostings, weeknight dinners, and movie nights.

• Stocking a home bar or collection with an exceptional, crowd-pleasing "house red" that easily transitions from a standalone sipper into a food companion.

• Gifting eco-conscious consumers, music lovers, and Dave Matthews Band fans who appreciate sustainable design values.

• Introducing white wine or light Pinot Noir enthusiasts into the deeper, richer world of California red blends.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What does Dreaming Tree Crush taste like? It features an incredibly smooth, fruit-driven profile that leads with upfront aromas of black cherry and warm vanilla, transitions into a velvety middle of jammy raspberry and dark chocolate, and concludes with a clean finish marked by spiced plum and soft oak.

• Is this wine sweet or dry? Technically, this is a dry red wine. However, the intense California sun naturally supercharges the grapes with highly concentrated, ripe fruit flavors. This intensity, combined with the low natural acidity and the extraction of sweet wood compounds (vanillin) from oak barrel aging, creates a powerful impression of confectionery sweetness on the palate.

• What grape varieties make up the blend? While the precise percentages shift subtly by vintage to capture the character of the growing season, the blend is consistently anchored by a dominant core of Merlot and Zinfandel, occasionally supported by small portions of other bold red varietals like Syrah or Petite Sirah.

• Where are the grapes cultivated? Every grape utilized is sustainably harvested from premier coastal and valley vineyards stretching across the North Coast AVA of California, running through the highly acclaimed growing zones of Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake counties.

• What foods pair well with this wine? The wine's soft tannins and juicy fruit profile make it a magnificent companion to slow-cooked barbecue pulled pork sliders, sweet-glazed baby back ribs, grilled burgers, or wood-fired pizza. On a lighter menu, it pairs spectacularly next to roasted chicken with a dark berry glaze or a plate of mild, creamy cheeses like Gouda and Fontina.

Why Dreaming Tree Crush?

The primary technical advantage of The Dreaming Tree Crush lies in its precise Merlot-and-Zinfandel architecture combined with a disciplined oak maturation program, providing a structural harmony, unctuous texturing, and vibrant fruit fidelity that flatland, bulk-processed commercial table wines cannot match. It stands securely as a legendary lifestyle benchmark, universally respected by consumers for proving that an affordable, celebrity-collaborative project can deliver high winemaking integrity alongside real-world environmental change. Delivering an incredibly rich, deeply satisfying palate experience in a classic presentation, it offers exceptional value for any modern collection.

Specifications

• Varietal/Type: California North Coast Red Blend (Merlot / Zinfandel Base)

• Product of: United States (North Coast, California)

• Size: 750ML

• ABV: ~13.5% Vintage dependent

• Brand: The Dreaming Tree Wines (In Collaboration with Constellation Brands)