“Marissa Ross was in search of a wine that could make her ‘loins tingle,’ one that could excite her like ‘the brush of a crush’s hand.’ As Bon Appétit’s wine editor from 2016 through 2020, she gave ringing endorsements of magnums, ice cubes in wine, and chugging straight from the bottle, a technique she called ‘The Ross Test.’
She advised readers which bottles paired well ‘with Sex & The City and an entire box of Rice Krispy Treats stolen from your parents’ pantry’ and confessed that, yes, if it came down to choosing two similar Chinons from the Loire, she was ‘going to pick the one with the sicker font.’
Her writing style was anathema to the industry’s gatekeepers — the (mostly male) vintners and sommeliers who prized tradition, hierarchy, and scholarship above all else. But it was catnip for an emerging class of wine drinkers who used descriptors like ‘funky’ and ‘barnyardy’ and paired their Susucarus and piquettes with tacos and tinned fish.
Ross wasn’t the first influential female wine writer, but she was arguably the first to harness the power of social media to make wine — ahem, natural wine — accessible and cool for a mainstream, digital-native female audience. By 2019 Ross had about 50,000 followers on Instagram, making her an important voice in the insular wine world.
‘At the risk of sounding totally egomaniacal, I think I was extremely pivotal,’ Ross told me of her role in shaping the natural-wine boom.
When we chatted for the first time over Zoom last fall, she was perched at a desk in her sunlit Silverlake apartment, wearing an oversize black hoodie and long acrylic nails with alternating red polish and sequins, her brown hair falling over her face in a messy bun. Behind her was a Beatles poster and a collection of Hunter S. Thompson books — homages to two of her heroes, Thompson and John Lennon.
‘I always idolized these men that were allowed to do and act however they wanted,’ Ross said, gesturing to the tomes. For a while, it seemed she’d found a way to do just that.But, as with so many social-media stars, Ross’ visibility was a double-edged sword. Her rise was tied to a period of reinvention for the wine world during which natural wine conquered millennial taste buds and became ubiquitous on menus across the US. It was also a period of reckoning, and Ross frequently found herself at the center of industry controversies.
In 2019, she attempted to draw attention to sexual assault in the wine community, playing a key role in a New York Times #MeToo story and later publicizing her own allegation of assault by a prominent winemaker. In 2020, she joined many of her peers in condemning Bon Appétit after Adam Rapoport stepped down as its editor in chief amid allegations that he had created a racist and hostile workplace. But she also struggled to pick her battles, regardless of the bridges she burned or the toll they took on her mental health. For Ross, taking sides always seemed preferable to remaining neutral. In the end, a lot of people questioned whether she’d chosen the right ones.
‘Marissa isn’t someone who’s afraid to butt heads. And I think that there’s a lot of power in that,’ said Tali MacAdams, who owns a natural-wine store called Heaven’s Market in Los Angeles and who was part of the city’s close-knit natural-wine scene. ‘But also there’s a lot of responsibility, and there’s repercussions.’
In summer 2020, Ross suddenly went dark. Her byline stopped appearing in wine publications; she took her Instagram down for almost a year. Her followers were left wondering what the hell was happening.
When she did start posting again, it was mostly to drink White Claw, shout out the LA Clippers, and post angry screeds, which reached a fever pitch this past fall. ‘I’m spiraling,’ she wrote late one night. ‘They say every dog has their day but you’ll never give it to this bitch. Keep pretending I didn’t don’t exist. Like your pockets weren’t fucking lined by my Instagram let alone my magazine coverage.’ ‘All you corny motherfuckers thank me privately for all the work I did but NO ONE EVER SAYS IT OUT PUBLICLY.’ ‘I could destroy everything I built tomorrow.’
I don’t think that this sub is a good fit for this content.
spencerr13
This is so scatterbrained it’s unreadable
daseonesgk
I challenge you to find a person more in love with their own voice/image than Marissa…so it’s ironically unironic that Business Insider is behind all of this.
ArtfulJack
She’s kind of a wanker
peeping___tom
A 40 something year-old calling people ‘corny’ while simultaneously staging a Beatles poster and Hunter S. Thompson books in her zoom background—incredible stuff
[deleted]
[deleted]
tunameltwithmustard
Kick rocks Ross 🙂
infinitebest
I get that you can find someone annoying and hate their personality. That doesn’t mean we have to ignore that this person championed wine makers who would normally be overlooked because they’re not the same age or demographic as most “traditional vintners”.
[deleted]
[deleted]
value1024
Natural wine is good and popular because we have been making it for several thousands of years.
It was good and popular pre-Instagram, and pre-Ross.
[deleted]
[deleted]
TreborDeadward
Marissa vs Alice is the ultimate “let them fight”
imappalling
comments section is high key embarrassing.
sidewaysalligator
Couldn’t finish it. She has always been a professional victim. She even managed to find a way to make Kobe Bryant’s death about herself & her perpetual victimhood. So very glad she is no longer working in wine.
heydre_yousure
wow lots of strong anti-ross feelings here. I feel like she imploded on herself for a variety of reasons, but I don’t think we can deny the influence she had in bridging natural wine movement to the masses in the US. Before her/BA, natural wine was really only known in the food & wine industry. I think she deserves recognition, even if you don’t like how she described wine.
This article was more about the way internet fame can destroy people, than wine (in my opinion). I watched her spiral online in real time and it was rough, I hope she finds some peace outside of wine.
I also think that line by Brent from Stagiere was wack af. super unnecessary.
BeerAndWineGuy
All the MAR hate is so transparent. Gatekeepers hate it when someone shows the world that their “knowledge” is mostly worthless.
seanrrwilkins
All this hate for MAR seems pretty hypocritical and ignorant.
What about all the kitschy shit Gary V did back in the day when he was coming up?
Jolly Rancher and Cereal pairing? Licking rocks on TV?
Come on now.
Did you shit on him? Or did you give him a pass b/c he’s a dude that wears Ts and beanies?
18 Comments
From Insider’s Anna Silman:
“Marissa Ross was in search of a wine that could make her ‘loins tingle,’ one that could excite her like ‘the brush of a crush’s hand.’ As Bon Appétit’s wine editor from 2016 through 2020, she gave ringing endorsements of magnums, ice cubes in wine, and chugging straight from the bottle, a technique she called ‘The Ross Test.’
She advised readers which bottles paired well ‘with Sex & The City and an entire box of Rice Krispy Treats stolen from your parents’ pantry’ and confessed that, yes, if it came down to choosing two similar Chinons from the Loire, she was ‘going to pick the one with the sicker font.’
Her writing style was anathema to the industry’s gatekeepers — the (mostly male) vintners and sommeliers who prized tradition, hierarchy, and scholarship above all else. But it was catnip for an emerging class of wine drinkers who used descriptors like ‘funky’ and ‘barnyardy’ and paired their Susucarus and piquettes with tacos and tinned fish.
Ross wasn’t the first influential female wine writer, but she was arguably the first to harness the power of social media to make wine — ahem, natural wine — accessible and cool for a mainstream, digital-native female audience. By 2019 Ross had about 50,000 followers on Instagram, making her an important voice in the insular wine world.
‘At the risk of sounding totally egomaniacal, I think I was extremely pivotal,’ Ross told me of her role in shaping the natural-wine boom.
When we chatted for the first time over Zoom last fall, she was perched at a desk in her sunlit Silverlake apartment, wearing an oversize black hoodie and long acrylic nails with alternating red polish and sequins, her brown hair falling over her face in a messy bun. Behind her was a Beatles poster and a collection of Hunter S. Thompson books — homages to two of her heroes, Thompson and John Lennon.
‘I always idolized these men that were allowed to do and act however they wanted,’ Ross said, gesturing to the tomes. For a while, it seemed she’d found a way to do just that.But, as with so many social-media stars, Ross’ visibility was a double-edged sword. Her rise was tied to a period of reinvention for the wine world during which natural wine conquered millennial taste buds and became ubiquitous on menus across the US. It was also a period of reckoning, and Ross frequently found herself at the center of industry controversies.
In 2019, she attempted to draw attention to sexual assault in the wine community, playing a key role in a New York Times #MeToo story and later publicizing her own allegation of assault by a prominent winemaker. In 2020, she joined many of her peers in condemning Bon Appétit after Adam Rapoport stepped down as its editor in chief amid allegations that he had created a racist and hostile workplace. But she also struggled to pick her battles, regardless of the bridges she burned or the toll they took on her mental health. For Ross, taking sides always seemed preferable to remaining neutral. In the end, a lot of people questioned whether she’d chosen the right ones.
‘Marissa isn’t someone who’s afraid to butt heads. And I think that there’s a lot of power in that,’ said Tali MacAdams, who owns a natural-wine store called Heaven’s Market in Los Angeles and who was part of the city’s close-knit natural-wine scene. ‘But also there’s a lot of responsibility, and there’s repercussions.’
In summer 2020, Ross suddenly went dark. Her byline stopped appearing in wine publications; she took her Instagram down for almost a year. Her followers were left wondering what the hell was happening.
When she did start posting again, it was mostly to drink White Claw, shout out the LA Clippers, and post angry screeds, which reached a fever pitch this past fall. ‘I’m spiraling,’ she wrote late one night. ‘They say every dog has their day but you’ll never give it to this bitch. Keep pretending I didn’t don’t exist. Like your pockets weren’t fucking lined by my Instagram let alone my magazine coverage.’ ‘All you corny motherfuckers thank me privately for all the work I did but NO ONE EVER SAYS IT OUT PUBLICLY.’ ‘I could destroy everything I built tomorrow.’
I decided to reach out.” Read more on Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/marissa-ross-bon-appetit-wine-editor-returns-after-drama-2023-2?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=naturalwine-post
I don’t think that this sub is a good fit for this content.
This is so scatterbrained it’s unreadable
I challenge you to find a person more in love with their own voice/image than Marissa…so it’s ironically unironic that Business Insider is behind all of this.
She’s kind of a wanker
A 40 something year-old calling people ‘corny’ while simultaneously staging a Beatles poster and Hunter S. Thompson books in her zoom background—incredible stuff
[deleted]
Kick rocks Ross 🙂
I get that you can find someone annoying and hate their personality. That doesn’t mean we have to ignore that this person championed wine makers who would normally be overlooked because they’re not the same age or demographic as most “traditional vintners”.
[deleted]
Natural wine is good and popular because we have been making it for several thousands of years.
It was good and popular pre-Instagram, and pre-Ross.
[deleted]
Marissa vs Alice is the ultimate “let them fight”
comments section is high key embarrassing.
Couldn’t finish it. She has always been a professional victim. She even managed to find a way to make Kobe Bryant’s death about herself & her perpetual victimhood. So very glad she is no longer working in wine.
wow lots of strong anti-ross feelings here. I feel like she imploded on herself for a variety of reasons, but I don’t think we can deny the influence she had in bridging natural wine movement to the masses in the US. Before her/BA, natural wine was really only known in the food & wine industry. I think she deserves recognition, even if you don’t like how she described wine.
This article was more about the way internet fame can destroy people, than wine (in my opinion). I watched her spiral online in real time and it was rough, I hope she finds some peace outside of wine.
I also think that line by Brent from Stagiere was wack af. super unnecessary.
All the MAR hate is so transparent. Gatekeepers hate it when someone shows the world that their “knowledge” is mostly worthless.
All this hate for MAR seems pretty hypocritical and ignorant.
What about all the kitschy shit Gary V did back in the day when he was coming up?
Jolly Rancher and Cereal pairing? Licking rocks on TV?
Come on now.
Did you shit on him? Or did you give him a pass b/c he’s a dude that wears Ts and beanies?