Author Archives | Jonathan Russo
Jonathan Russo is the publisher of the Organic Wine Journal.
Shinn Estate Takes The Right Fork
New York’s Long Island breaks into two at Riverhead, some 80 miles from Manhattan. The South Fork encompasses the Hamptons, with its super-fabulous lifestyle astride the magnificent beaches of the Atlantic Ocean. The North Fork has always been quieter, more agricultural, with its bay front coves and more easy-going people. In the last decade, the [...]
Continue reading...Kuma Inn
January 15, 2010
The first week of the New Year is the slowest one for restaurants. We eat out then to show support and take advantage of the lower crowd levels. We also wanted to ring in the year with a toast to one of our all-time favorite wine makers Tony Coturri. We made our way to Kuma [...]
Continue reading...2009 – Thanks From The Organic Wine Journal
December 30, 2009
This last decade in wine has been one of polarization – two trains speeding down the rails with different destinations in mind. The world of branded image-driven corporate wine got bigger. The top brands consolidated their stranglehold at the distribution and retail level. Mega corporations with thousands of employees pressed and sold billions of gallons [...]
Continue reading...Tishbi Winery – Israel
December 7, 2009
To understand Israel’s Tishbi Winery, it helps to know the history of winemaking in Napa and Sonoma. California’s wineries were started in the last quarter of the 19th century by visionary European immigrants, hard-working farmers. They grew grapes they were familiar with in the “old country” and prospered slowly; enduring droughts, market disruptions (prohibition), changing [...]
Continue reading...Odeon Gets It Right
October 28, 2009
I love this restaurant. One of Keith McNally’s first successes, it’s been a fixture in New York’s Tribeca for 29 years. I lived four blocks away from 1975-1985 during a wild and crazy time in New York so it’s a real trip down memory lane just to step in the place. Odeon is now owned [...]
Continue reading...Send Monsato The Bill
October 4, 2009
According to the Associated Press, congress has granted $350 million in aid to struggling milk producers. It seems there is an oversupply of milk, and the price paid to farmers is so low they are losing money on every gallon sold, hence the needed rescue by taxpayers. What wasn’t written about is how the farmers got [...]
Continue reading...A Tale Of Three Rosés
September 9, 2009
A Tale Of Three Rosés One of life’s unfortunate characteristics is limited choices. In August one cannot lounge about in St. Tropez and hike Oregon’s Cascade Mountains at the same time. Bicyclists must choose to go touring or trail riding. People lucky enough to have a horse or a boat know that there are other [...]
Continue reading...Judging The Judges
August 10, 2009
The recent announcement that Wal-Mart will be evaluating the environmental impact of the products sold in its stores was more than a little weird. As the biggest of the big box stores worldwide, a merchant that made “we sell for less” the gold standard in retailing, this new obsession with “sustainability” and “traceability” gave [...]
Continue reading...Organic Sicily in Downtown New York
July 20, 2009
Organic grape grower and vintner Gunther Di Giovanna came to New York this week with his wines for a tasting at ‘inoteca Vino e Cucina in the Lower East Side. Articulate, and poised and clearly devoted to organic growing, Gunther shared six of his vintages. ‘inoteca brought out plates of Italian cheese, salami, spreads [...]
Continue reading...James Beard Awards – Dan Barber Wins Best Chef
May 5, 2009
History was made last night at the James Beard Awards Dinner Gala at Lincoln Center. A truly sustainable, organic-oriented chef and localvore Dan Barber was voted Best Chef in America. In an evening not always noted for its sustainability (the chef who won for Southwest region flies his fish in from the Mediterranean to Las [...]
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March 8, 2010
Editorials