Jeff Morgan (vintner)
Jeff Morgan | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 3, 1953 United States |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, author, winemaker |
| Known for | Co-founder of Covenant Wines, author of cookbooks |
Jeff Morgan (born October 3, 1953) is an American entrepreneur in the wine industry, author, cookbook creator, and co-founder of Covenant Wines.
Morgan served as the West Coast editor for Wine Spectator from 1992 until 1999. His journey into winemaking began in his mid-30s following a career in professional music across Europe and New York. In 2003, he helped establish Covenant Winery, which specializes in producing esteemed kosher Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon alongside various other grape varieties.
In the year 2000, Morgan took on the role of wine director at the specialty food retailer Dean & DeLuca. During this period, he released his debut cookbook, Dean & DeLuca, The Food and Wine Cookbook (2002). Since then, he has authored eight additional cookbooks, frequently partnering with his wife, Jodie Morgan, on projects related to wineries and restaurants such as Domaine Chandon and PlumpJack. Their collaborations also include works for Ruby Tuesday and Coopers Hawk. Among his other titles are The Working Parents Cookbook and Rosé, A Guide to the World’s Most Versatile Wine, both published by Chronicle Books. Their most recent publication is "The Covenant Kitchen: Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table" (2015).
In 2003, Leslie Rudd—who owns vineyard property in Napa and operates Dean & DeLuca—joined Morgan as a business partner in Covenant Wines.
Morgan moved the winery's operations to Berkeley, California in 2014. Starting in 2013, he expanded production to include Covenant Israel wines crafted in Tel Aviv, where his daughter Zoe Morgan oversees the Israeli division. Together, Covenant California and Covenant Israel produce approximately 10,000 cases each year. These wines are generally fermented with native yeasts and are neither fined nor filtered.
In addition to his roles as winemaker and author, Morgan has been an inaugural instructor at the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies at the Culinary Institute of America, Napa Valley campus since its inception in 2003.
His wines have received high praise from prominent critics such as Robert M. Parker, Jr., who described the 2005 Covenant Cabernet as among the “finest kosher wines on Planet Earth,” and Jancis Robinson, who called them "the best kosher wine I have ever tasted."