While the animal adoptions were occupying the front of the 7,000-square-foot building on Saturday, a surprise birthday celebration for 17-year-old Markayla Rose filled the back.
Justin Paul Russell is living his dream.This month, the former Birmingham resident will bottle his inaugural 2012 Jasper Sisco,
rather than viewing them as gateways, a pinot noir sourced from the Momtazi vineyard at Maysara Winery in Oregon. The wine is named for Russell s great grandfather.Russell became interested in wine after working at a bed-and-breakfast inn in Monteagle, Tenn. When he got ready to leave, owner Jim Harmon told him to choose three bottles from the cellar. I took an Austin Hope Paso Robles Syrah, says Russell. It changed my world, and wine became this obsession. Russell worked as wine buyer for Whole Foods in both Birmingham and Atlanta. While at the Birmingham store, he met Tahmiene Momtazi, winemaker for Maysara, who encouraged him to come to Oregon. Russell worked harvest at Maysara in 2010 and more trips followed. One trip included a visit to the Rogue Valley, where he talked with Ted Gerber of Foris Vineyards over salmon fillets and a bottle of Maple Ranch Pinot Noir. I decided, this is it, says Russell. This is what I want to do that started it all. In 2011, he moved to Oregon, where he works in a Portland Whole Foods, managing the department that includes wine, beer, chocolate, cheese and charcuterie,
police said, while pursuing his winemaking dream. An Indiegogo crowdsourcing campaign raised $3,645, enough for half the fruit for the Jasper Sisco. It was encouraging and it helped me get off the ground, says Russell. I had cleared out personal savings, so it definitely helped. Friends from Birmingham, Wesley Sloman and Lara Tucker from International Wines, flew out to help pick the first harvest. The friends started picking at 5 a.m. and watched the sunrise. I wouldn t have wanted to share that with any other people, Russell says.He had spent time hiking every parcel of the Demeter-certified biodynamic Momtazi Vineyard to understand and select his fruit and chose a western block that also supplies fruit for Maysara s Asha Pinot Noir. Eighty percent of the fruit is Clone 114, supplying a lot of aromatics cinnamon and violets according to Russell. Twenty percent is Pommard clone, which is richer and darker, giving the wine weight and heft. When I think of Momtazi, I think of cranberry, pomegranate, baking spices and menthol,
tory burch handbags, says Russell.Tahmiene Momtazi says the wine will be different in style from hers,
some of the items will again see the light of day, because Russell is doing a whole cluster fermentation, whereas almost all of her wines are made with fruit that is destemmed. The wine will spend some time in neutral oak. The McMinnville (American Viticultural Area) is one of the warmer AVAs in the area and you get a lot of tannins, Russell says. When you do whole cluster you get tannin from the seeds and stems. The neutral oak is a choice to make sure the wine will be softer in the bottle. This is not going to be some beast that will rip the enamel off your teeth, he says.Russell has also contracted with Bob and Irene Van Steenberg of Cherry Grove Vineyard to make a riesling that will be named Clara Estelle, after Wesley Sloman s great grandmother. It s a nod to Sloman, who spent two weeks of his vacation working for free, sometimes picking grapes in the rain. Russell also hopes to find some tempranillo later for a wine to be named Rufus Fowler, after Jasper s father.All the wines will be sourced from people Russell has come to know and whose methods of farming he respects. The Cherry Grove fruit is certified LIVE (Low Input Sustainable Viticulture). Without his network of people helping, Russell says his dream could not have been realized. How many people get a chance to live what they hoped, Russell asks. It s a lot of work, but it s idyllic.
* Monitor all your financial accounts every month, at least once a month, and review your credit report regularly. You can pull your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies once a year for free through . You can purchase a score for a small fee.
But growing frustration with city officials caused Carr to move herself and Irwin first to Claremore, then to her parents home in McAlester and, in March, to the zoo.
For more information on Big Papi, or other deserving animals, call Reducing Animal Euthanasia at Shelters through Commitment and Underlying Education at (480) 598-9410 or visit . The cost of adoption is $125 for cats and $150 for dogs, which includes spaying and neutering and some inoculations.
Chat Sentinela
