by Sue Straight, The Wine Wench
Chris Russi is the kind of guy that everyone likes. He’s soft spoken, oozes capability, has a great sense of humor and dark, swashbuckling good looks. Oh, and he makes great wine, too!
Winemaking runs in his blood. Both of Chris’ grandfathers were home winemakers, so there was always wine around, although it wasn’t nearly the quality of wine that Chris now makes. “I learned how not to make wine from my grandfathers.” Chris tells me with a smile.
Even though he chose to filter the teachings of his grandfathers, Chris did learn about winemaking from some of the best in the business – he worked at Geyser Peak Winery and J Winery in California and he worked a harvest season at Peter Lehman Winery in the Barossa Valley in Australia. More on that later in the story…
Chris grew up in Northern California, where he developed a love for outdoors activities including snowboarding, golf, motorcycle riding and bird watching. He earned a Combined Science degree in Ornithology from Santa Clara University. While he was earning his degree, he worked on a 4,000 acre ranch studying scrub jays. It was lonely work and Chris longed for something different. Right around that time, Chris’ uncle invited him to come up to Healdsburg for a visit, and to discuss the possibility of Chris managing his ranch/vineyard. Chris rode up on his motorcycle and fell in love with the area. He moved north and settled in Healdsburg in 1992.
Chris managed his uncle’s ranch for a few years, and then the lure of Enology became too strong to resist. He started working in the lab and cellar at Geyser Peak Winery in 1995 and worked there until February of 1997, when he went to Australia to work a harvest at Peter Lehman Winery. Chris returned from Australia and applied for several assistant winemaker positions. At the same time, he applied and was accepted into the Enology program at UC Davis. During his education at UC Davis, Chris interned at J Winery. Chris graduated from UC Davis in 2000 with a Master’s Degree in Viticulture/Enology.
In 2000, Chris started working at Christopher Creek Winery as Assistant Winemaker. He was officially promoted to Winemaker in 2001.
Christopher Creek Winery is a small (only 5000 cases), ultra-premium winery that produces consistently excellent wines. Chris loves his role there. He tells me “I enjoy continually striving to make even better wines.” He also enjoys his flexible schedule, the people he works with, answering visitor’s questions and bringing his dog “Muki”, a delightful Pit Bull/Blue Heeler mix to work with him.
Visit Chris and Muki, taste some delicious wines, and ask a few questions. You’ll be glad you did!
Christopher Creek Winery is located at 641 Limerick Lane, Healdsburg, CA 95448. For more information, call (707) 431-8243 or visit www.christophercreek.com.