Cohn, but not forgotten

Many of you have read or heard that the Bruce Cohn family has sold B.R. Cohn Winery to Vintage Wine Estates headquartered in Santa Rosa, which also owns Viansa, the latter started by then-married Vicki and Sam Sebastiani with help from some friends and Sylvia Sebastiani. Other wineries in Vintage’s portfolio include Clos Pegase, Girard, Windsor Vineyards, Wine Sisterhood, Cosentino, Cartlidge & Browne, Sonoma Coast Vineyards and Ray’s Station.

It must be known that, as a result of his charity golf tournaments and concerts, Bruce Cohn has given millions of dollars to Sonoma County nonprofits, including the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, as well as to his favorite veterans’ organizations.

We might also remember that this is a family that has been through a lot.

Cohn had some financial problems and kept out of bankruptcy by retiring from the wine business and turning the operation over to his children, led by son Dan. Dan tried his best to work magic and create a miracle with the clever re-designation of their wines as all estate-grown, meaning using only grapes from their own vineyards, partly due to difficult relations with some outside growers.

But Cohn is not the first to sell to a larger group. Remember the sales of Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery to the Foley Wine Group, Viansa’s repeated sales, the recent Benziger Family Winery and Imagery Estate to the Wine Group, Ravenswood’s sale to Constellation Brands, as well as past sales of Arrowood, St. Frances, Landmark and Kunde.

Bruce Cohn was quoted in the Index-Tribune as believing that almost none of his staff or family will be retained by the new owners. But Pat Roney, president of Vintage Estates, was also quoted in the Index-Tribune as saying that about three-quarters of the staff will stay, but that no Cohn family members will be retained. Actually, daughter Vallerie Cohn has landed on her feet as manager of the Anthropologie store in Corte Madera, and ex-wife Sharon Cohn has her own very successful sparkling wine business called Breathless.

Cohn will apparently devote the part of his time that he and current wife Laurie will spend in Sonoma Valley focusing on his longtime client, the Doobie Brothers, and to organizing and promoting his renamed Sonoma Music Festival, this year relocated from the B.R. Cohn facility in Glen Ellen to Sonoma’s Field of Dreams on First Street West across from Arnold Field. Hopefully the fast-selling three-day music fest will raise more money for his favorite charities.