Russell McCall is a great North Forker. Russ is an entrepreneur at heart – started Atlanta Foods in 1967, but always remained a loyal North Forker: his Great Grandfather Russell Walker already maintained a fishing cabin at the South End of Downs Creek in Mattituck.
McCall, member of the President’s Council of the Peconic Land Trust was instrumental in establishing the gift to the Town of Southold of Fort Corchaug Preserve, helping preserve one most precious ecologies in the Eastern US around Downs Creek in Mattituck. Anyone who has ever witnessed the Autumn and Spring Bird Migration along Downs Creek will agree. In 1999 McCall further helped the conservation of the North Fork farming tradition by planting 20 acres of Pinot Noir and Merlot, starting McCall Vineyards.
McCall recently opened his winery – in a beautifully restored barn “with woodworking skills as if the barn was a piece of furniture” in presence of a North Fork who’s who of friends and acquaintances who had been a part of Russ McCall’s entrepreneurial activities on the North Fork.
Towering above the vineyard is another example of McCall’s forward thinking mindset- a windmill, churning and producing green electricity for his farm – a project he started with Green Logic and LIPA. And along the way helping the Town of Southold set standards for windmills on the North Fork.
The “North Fork Sound Stage” where Russ and his son John did a jam session and thanked the crowd before digging into a Gaucho Style “Parrila” style barbeque – sorry if the image seems blurry – after a few glasses of Russ’s delicious Pinot Noir Rose.
McCall’s wines can be savored at Adam Lovett and Tom Chaudel’s “A MANO RESTAURANT” one of my favourite spots in Mattituck to taste local wines and eat local foods and hang out or get to know some local North Forkers or visting Manhattanites alike – a really great crowd.. Don’t forget to try the individual pizza’s, Truffles and Mushrooms are my favorite.
Some vineyards and farms are still for sale on the North Fork – with current interest rates at historical lows an interesting investment opportunity. Call Town and Country Real Estate to discuss the possibilities of investing in the North Fork and learn about the sale of development rights to help make a farm purchase feasible for buyers and save farmland for the North Fork in perpetuity.