Jorge Ordonez
JORGE ORDONEZ • 46 • IMPORTER • FINE WINES of SPAIN • DEDHAM, MA PROFILE The human dynamo who imports Spain’s biggest, deepest wine portfolio to America is not your everyday importer. Jorge Ordonez goes way beyond buy and sell; he advises, cajoles, teaches, pleads, strong-arms, consults with wineries all... Read More
Desert Wine
That’s right, readers: thirsty devouts planted the first vineyards in New Mexico – possibly in the new world – in Socorro, New Mexico in 162O! These friars came from New Spain (now Mexico) with the first Spanish colonists in 1598 led by Don Juan de Onate. The friars ministered to... Read More
Gone Hunting
DAVID HUNT • 57 • Winemaker-Owner • Hunt Cellars • Paso Robles, CA Restless, confident and proud, David Hunt is an affable jokester and self-promoter, a lively, coaxing conversationalist with a Carolina drawl. He’s also a fanatic in the lab and crush-room, an inveterate tinkerer when blending. His Hunt Cellars... Read More
Paul Delios
PAUL DELLIOS • 4$ • Owner/Chef • Meze Estiatorio, Charlestown PROFILE Paul Delios and Bill Galatis are upholding the Greek Revival in New England. The all-Greek menu at Meze Estiatorio – their stunning 24O seat dining room in City Square Charlestown overlooking the Zakim Bridge – is itself a symbol... Read More
From Yeller to Cellar
LAURA DePASQUALE • 40+ • National Sales Director for Fine Wines, Palm Bay Imports • Miami, FL As a top sales director for a major wine import house, Laura DePasquale is a tad disarming. Her former careers as rock guitarist and graphic artist skew her profile out of the mainstream,... Read More
Profile: Slick Willie
WILLIE TAIT • 59 • Master Distiller and Single Malt Ambassador • Isle of Jura, Scotland Och, aye! The isles of Scotland are rich in history and religion. Iona is recognized as the cradle of Christianity from which St. Columba preached and roamed in the VI-century, CE. Jura, one of... Read More
1 Potatoe, 2 Potatoe, 3 Potatoe…Vodka!
Brothers Donnie and Lee Thibodeau (co-Chairmen) have joined forces with CEO Bob Harkins and distiller Chris Dowe* to launch Maine Distilleries, the Pine Tree State’s first commercial distillery. Their idea was to transform potatoes – that starchy tuber with somewhat tarnished acclaim among diet-crazed Americans – into premium vodka, a... Read More
Profile: Marcus Palmer
MARCUS PALMER • 38 • Sommelier & Wine Manager • Smith & Wollensky • Boston, MA How could such a terrific concept have borne such a sketchily conceived monicker? The story goes that the night before Alan Stillman launched his now-famous steakhouse chain, it still lacked a name. Alan and... Read More
Profile: Mary Myers Kauppila
MARY MYERS KAUPPILA • CEO & Co-Owner, Snows Lake Vineyard • Red Hills, Lake County AVA, CA Mary Myers Kauppila is CEO of a sizeable vineyard in the new Red Hills AVA. This blonde farmer’s daughter is Nordic through and through: both sides of her family are Scandinavian and she’s... Read More
Screwtops
Pro-Stelvin testimonials, trickling in from wineries worldwide, are raising voices against all corks, natural and plastic. We report the findings and learned commentaries of three respected wineries, Bonny Doon from Santa Rosa, California, Mitchell from Clare Valley, Australia, and Kim Crawford from Marlborough, New Zealand. But first, let’s begin with... Read More