B.R. Cohn Winery is a winery in Sonoma Valley, California in the United States.

History

Bruce Cohn, former manager of the California

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

, The Doobie Brothers, purchased the original area in 1974. He named the property the Olive Hill Estate Vineyards after the grove of 145-year-old

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

Picholine The Picholine is a French cultivar of olives. It is the most widely available cultivar in France. Though originally from Gard in southern France, it is today grown all over the world. The Picholine is best known as a cocktail olive, though it is ...

Olive trees, from which he continues to make ultra-premium

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

. After selling grapes to other wineries for several years, Cohn founded his own winery, B.R. Cohn, in 1984. His first winemaker was the now-famous Helen Turley. Like other wineries in the area it maintains a wine club and public tasting room, and hosts weddings and other events. In 2015, the winery was bought by Vintage Wine Estates.

Wines

The vineyards surrounding the winery are planted mostly in

cabernet sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

grapes, with some

pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

zinfandel Zinfandel (also known as Primitivo) is a variety of black-skinned wine grape. The variety is grown in over 10 percent of California vineyards. DNA analysis has revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grapes Crljenak Kaštel ...

, petite sirah,

cabernet franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being us ...

, petit verdot, and malbec.

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...

(sold only from the tasting room) and

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

is grown in the

carneros Los Carneros AVA (also known as Carneros AVA) is an American Viticultural Area which includes parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties in California, U.S.A. It is located north of San Pablo Bay. The proximity to the cool fog and breezes from th ...

region. The winery's flagship 1985 and 1986 Olive Hill Cabernets were ranked among the top ten in America and top 50 in the World by Wine Spectator, which gave each a rating of 94 out of 100. The 2003 vintage was rated 93. The North Coast Petit Syrah was one of two red "sweepstakes winners" at the prestigious 2007 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The winery also produces

merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact method. ...

, and port.

Oil and vinegar

Starting in the 1990s, B.R. Cohn was among the first companies involved in the re-emergence of artisan olive oil production in California. Today it produces flavored and unflavored oils, including an organic variety, balsamic vinegars and other unique gourmet foods. The company also produces vinegar on-site from cabernet, chardonnay, and sparkling wine (including pear chardonnay and a raspberry champagne flavors), using the French "Orleans" method whereby batches of vinegar are produced by adding a "mother" dose of old vinegar to fresh wine, then aging 18–22 months in oak barrels. It also bottles a 25, 15 and a 12-year-old balsamic vinegar imported from Modena, Italy. Cohn's oil and vinegar is widely available in premium grocery stores nationally, although some limited-production varieties are sold only directly.

References

External links

* {{coord, 38.34888, -122.50225, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title Wineries in Sonoma County Sonoma Valley

History

Wines

Oil and vinegar

See also

References

External links