A new Danville wine bar has just opened featuring 24 wines on tap, craft cocktails and a culinary menu that complements the vino. The new Crush’d Wine Bar + Kitchen is helmed by chef Francis Hogan, who also runs Pleasanton’s Sabio on Main.

The wine bar has ditched bottled wines for kegged ones — a step Hogan says curbs its carbon emissions by more than 90%, compared to the environmental impact of flying, shipping and storing bottles from as far away as Europe.

It took some convincing for some of the winemakers on the menu to make the change, but Sabio on Main’s reputation as a serial winner of Wine Spectator awards helped, Hogan says.

It’s not the first time he’s been a leader in pushing for sustainable restaurant practices in the Tri-Valley restaurant scene. Years ago, he says, when he was getting Sabio on Main started, Pleasanton didn’t offer compost services for businesses. So the restaurant started a pilot project with Pleasanton Garbage Services, and within two years, composting for businesses was made mandatory.

Wine served on tap can be poured more easily at its optimal temperature with little to no oxygen interaction, he says, than wine served from bottles.

“As soon as oxygen starts hitting, it starts changing the wine — often for the worse,” Hogan says.

Aperitivo culture — the casual late-afternoon snacking and low-ABV sipping so popular in countries like Spain, France and Italy — inspires much of the menu. The wine bar offers a special aperitivo-hour menu from 3 to 6 p.m. daily with discounted small bites and cocktails.

The 2,500-square-foot, 60-seat spot was designed by architectural firm Arcsine and features a lounge space, oak tables and a designated charcuterie station.

Alongside the half-whites, half-reds wine menu, the bar’s going all-in with its charcuterie and cheese board offerings. All the cheeses come from small dairy farms in California and the meats hail from small heritage breed-raised domestic farms. The menu also serves up a selection of four seasonal tartines, oysters on the half shell and juicy lamb meatballs that went through six recipe iterations while the recipe was under development.

“We’ve got them so dialed,” Hogan says.

Want to hang out at home instead? Crush’d has a small selection of retail food, drinks and comestibles to go, including tinned fish, olive oil and cheeses to build your own charcuterie board at home.

Details >> Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily at 312 Railroad Ave., Danville; crushddanville.com.