Pride in Wine: Kelby James Russell
Kelby James Russell is the winemaker for Red Newt Cellars in the Finger Lakes of New York, as well as a small label under his own name there. He identifies as queer.
When did you know you were LGBTQ?
In retrospect there was no epiphany moment, it was something that was always a part of me. But like so many others I was afraid to consider it even privately for years, frankly until I had the incredible support of my spouse Julia Hoyle (winemaker at Hosmer Winery) starting in 2011.
How did you discover your love of wine?
I always loved food and cooking, whether watching nerdy shows on Food Network or attempting cooking feats around the house. In college I fell in love with microbrew beers; they were exploding at the time, easier to get ahold of, and far less cost prohibitive. Then, between my Junior and Senior year at college, I traveled to Tuscany and volunteered on an old castle/estate-winery in exchange for room and board. I was hooked. As soon as I graduated from college I jumped at trying a wine harvest and never looked back.
What challenges do you think are unique to LGBTQ people in wine?
On my end of the wine world - production - the challenges are closely tied to the community that surrounds you. Grape growing and winemaking are fundamentally agricultural processes, and farmers are as supportive of their community as they are quick to reinforce societal stereotypes of who is capable of doing various types of work (i.e. a physical job = a cisgender man). I think it is why you hear of so few out winemakers, compared to how many you might expect. It is like the number of openly out professional male athletes; out of tens of thousands of them does anyone actually believe only a tiny handful are part of our community?
If you had to choose just one, what would be your favorite wine so far?
As a consumer of wine, the 2015 Weingut Wittmann Morstein Riesling Grosses Gewachs. As a maker of wine, my Red Newt Cellars 2015 Dry Riesling. The former is a hopelessly geeky answer, but is useful insofar as all of Wittmann's wines are under-known and under-priced in the US. The latter is notably not the 'best wine' I've ever made from a scores or acclaim perspective, but I do think of it as the breakthrough for what I was trying to accomplish in the Finger Lakes and how to pursue it.
What is your go-to wine and food pairing?
Cabernet Franc and grilled Italian Sausage. I have no idea why this isn't quintessential yet; Cab Franc has the acidity to work with the fattiness of sausage and the herbal side to complement the fennel, plus the body to sing with grilling flavors. And both products have notable fanbases in Upstate New York!
What does the future of queer people in wine look like to you?
Being queer affords you a valuable perspective, one that can exist both inside and outside how the world is constructed. As we grapple with what 'sustainable' means in the wine world, more people are coming to understand that it isn't as simple as what yeast you use or don't use in the winery, what sprays or irrigation the vineyard requires. What about labor practices? Your place in the local community? Who gets to enjoy and learn about the wine? Queer people in wine are uniquely skilled at considering these questions, or realizing they need to be asked when no one else does. Wine is so often viewed as an exclusive realm, who better to help navigate us all out of that than queer wine folks who have already had to find their own way out in life?
As a queer person in wine, do you ever feel that your visibility leads to being treated like a token or being pigeon holed?
I've yet to feel that, but I've also only been visible as out for roughly 8 months. I think that is a reality that is coming for me soon enough, especially as the world begins to open back up. But I am not overly dismayed by that; in those interactions there is always the opportunity for growth and a lesson of humanity to be imparted.
Answers written by Kelby James Russell. Find out more about Kelby and his work as winemaker at Red Newt Cellars. Kelby is also co-organizer of a major international Riesling conference called FLXcursion!