Russ Johnson whose review of our Cab Franc on Instagram is a example of a young person with a passion for wine who can develop a point-of-view and convey it with confidence and clarity. When I met Russ eight years ago, for some reason, I took note of his interest in wine.
I remember meeting Russ Johnson at an event in Philadelphia in 2018-19. A group of wineries from the Finger Lakes held a tasting at a restaurant/wine bar in a hip neighborhood in that city. We set up our wines at small tables and interested guests came in to taste and learn about Finger Lakes wines.
One of these guests was a tall young man, Russ Johnson, who introduced himself as a new employee at one of the state-run, Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) stores. It happened to be one of the “Fine Wine and Good Spirits” stores in the PLCB family. He seemed enthusiastic and interested in our wine.
Over the years, we have met several thousand people at tastings like these—and it is hard to remember all of them. But I did remember Russ. He seemed to be paying attention to the wine that I poured for him and when I described it.
I believe he has stayed with the PLCB as one of its “wine educators.” The young person I met has stayed committed to learning about wine. His Instagram feed is full of knowledgeable and thoughtful reviews of wine. You can find more of his wine reviews on Instagram.
I met Emily Capiello at the first tasting event held by the Cab Franc Forward group in December, 2024. (See Substack #112.) Already, she had loads of experience writing about wine and food.
Her list of 13 American Cab Franc wines appeared this past week in Forbes. The list includes several Cab Francs from New York, along with Cab Francs from Virginia, Washington, Texas and California. Her description of ours seems spot on.
Trends come and go in the wine world, as they do in food, music and fashion. But people still eat, listen to music and wear fashionable clothes. With people like Russ and Emily writing with distinction about wines, I am not the least bit concerned about the future of wine among their generation or the next and the next.
While the amount of wine being consumed by younger drinkers may be lower than in the past, I think they are looking for better values and/or stories when they choose to drink. Of course, Boundary Breaks has one of the best value lineups around.
And, as Bruce knows, attendance at the Cab Franc Forward events in NYC shows a good number of those younger consumers and industry types are showing up.
I could not agree more with the reviews, by both young writers, of the BB Cab Franc. It’s one of my favorites among the BB portfolio. And, as The Beatles wrote and sang on Sargent Pepper’s, it’s “Getting better all the time.” We’ll be in upstate NY in a couple of weeks and are looking forward to our next visit to BB while there. It’s a must on our list.