Jockey Hollow Owner Launches Wine Collection

[Editor’s note: Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen is currently closed.]

At Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen in Morristown, owner and oenophile Chris Cannon has assembled a collection of wines from small producers and lesser-known regions that has won accolades from Wine Spectator.

Now Cannon is introducing guests to off-the-beaten-path wines under his own label. In January, he launched Cannoncru, a brand he describes as “the vinous equivalent of Newman’s Own.” Cannon collaborates with makers around the world to bottle wines under his label that are sustainable, organic and/or biodynamic.

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“The idea is to support small wineries that need help,” he says, “and bring awareness to climate change.”

The pleasing, approachable wines—a white, a red and a bubbly—are available at the restaurant by the bottle or for $14–$17 a glass. Cannon says he will donate 80 percent of Cannoncru profits to the Coalition of Rainforest Nations, a nonprofit that provides assistance to more than 50 nations in their efforts to sustain rain forests and combat climate change.

The current Cannoncru lineup includes a dry German riesling from Rheingau producer Eva Fricke; a California cabernet sauvignon made by Ian Brand in the Santa Clara Valley; and a lively, refreshing prosecco from Cima di Conegliano in Italy. When those bottles run out, Cannon has lined up winemakers in Portugal, Greece, France, Oregon and Spain to work with next.