I have been on social media for over twelve years and I have met many people, and most have been interesting and a pleasure, and a small percentage that have not.  I became reacquainted with plenty of former classmates and people from the old neighborhood over the years which has been a bonus.  Another plus is that sometimes a friend of a friend starts following me, and vice-versa, and this is what happened with John Russo.

The Russo family can go back to the 1700’s for when they became part of the food and wine industry in Sicily.  In 1902 a member of the Russo family began a food kiosk catering to the food desires of the Italian tradesmen that had moved to Grand Rapids to work in the furniture industry that made the city famous.  They ended up with different locations over the years with restaurants (including the first pizzeria for the area), markets, wine, and a catering hall that not only did weddings, but also featured entertainers like Nat King Cole, Al Green, and the Supremes.  Demographics of the city changed and John representing the fourth generation, and his children the fifth generation opened a new market, bar, and restaurant at the Tanger mall in Byron Center.  My Bride and I decided to stop there on our way back home, after another stop and we ordered a Giovanni Deluxe pizza that had a blend of cheeses, tomato sauce, pepperoni, sausage, Salami, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers.

My Bride immediately went for a glass of bubbly, which was Academia Prosecco DOC NV by Societa’ Agricola Collina Del Sole.  The Bottega began as tenant farmers for the Counts of Collalto, back in 1635, eventually gaining their freedom to farm their own lands. Since, the 17^th Century the family has been growing grapes and their company has been creating wines and liqueurs and are now found in 160 countries. They have also open restaurants, Prosecco bars, and in 2014 opened their first bar on a Viking Line ship in Scandinavia.  The wine is made from the Prosecco (Glera) grape in the province of Treviso (Veneto) from the Conegliano hills to the foot of the Valdobbiadene hills known for the mild climate and the alluvial clay soils.  After harvest the grapes are cradled to prevent mechanical damages and premature oxidation, and the grapes are gently pressed, stems removed, the must is removed from the skins and cleaned.  The Initial Fermentation occurs in Stainless Steel tanks with the addition of selected yeasts.  Then the wine while in a closed cuvee undergoes a Second Fermentation using the Martinotti Method (Charmat Process), then cold stabilized, filtered and bottled and they used seven different bottle colors for the wine.  The straw-yellow colored wine had small bubbles and offered notes of tree fruit, mainly apple, peach, and pear followed by some notes of white florals.  On the palate a very easy drinking with good acidity offering tones of fruit and just a touch of sugar.  

John Russo came and sat with us off and on while we were there as he gave us a history of his family’s businesses since the early Grand Rapids days.  He was also pleased to let us know that he was and still is a negocient for the company’s house wines.  I had a glass of Russo Legacy Grillo Sicily 2023.  Grillo is a grape rather shaded by mystery as it appeared in writings in the mid-19^th Century as a native to Sicily, perhaps progeny of Catarratto and Muscat of Alexandria, while others have opined that it came from the Roman wine Mamertino or from Puglia.  It is well suited for the dry climate of Sicily, as it has high levels of sugar, a good option for fortification like Catarratto, which became the preferred choice for Marsala wines.  Originally grown for quantity, it is now being grown for quality in Sicily.  The grape has also been called Riddu, Rossese Bianco, Ariddu, and Volpicello.  The wine is a deep straw-yellow color that offered notes of apples, lemons, and nuts.  On the palate this was a bright and fresh wine with tones of apples, and citrus with good balance with a finish that reminded me of filberts.  We also were treated with a bottle of another negocient wine from John, his Amante Pinot Noir Russian River Valley 2019 and this wine will be mentioned in another article as we took home additional bottles after his largesse.