Sonoma-Bodega Adventure 6: B.R. Cohn Winery

 

After piling our stuff back into the car trunk and having breakfast at Black Bear Diner, the wife and I headed out to Bodega Bay, expecting to stop at at least two wineries along the way. The first one that caught my eye was the B.R. Cohn Winery.

Bruce Cohn was the long-time manager of the rock band, The Doobie Brothers, before founding the B.R. Cohn Winery in Sonoma Valley in 1984. The winery itself is amidst 90 acres of grape vines, aptly named the Olive Hill Estate Vineyards after the Picholine olive tree grove.

The olive trees were imported from France in the mid-1800s; Cohn began producing extra-virgin olive oils in 1990, bringing oil production back to Sonoma Valley after an absence of nearly 100 years. According to their literature, the winery is one of the top olive oil producers in the United States.

In fact, the wine-tasting host told us not only do they cure and press their own olives, they collect olives from other wineries as well. Many wineries plant olive trees as “insectaries,” attracting certain insects (such as ladybugs) that feast on the bad buggies that savor grape leaves.

 

Adjacent to the parking lot is an unusual display of hand-crafted “sculptures” by local artist Patrick Amiot – mostly cars, using recycled material and inspired by Bruce Cohn’s own collection. I found these to be quite amusing and delightful.

Although we talked to the wine-tasting host, we declined his kind invitation to sample (we’re non-winos), and instead browsed around the gift shop and Doobie Brothers memorabilia, then wandered around the grounds a bit.

I ended up getting a small bottle of white truffle olive oil to use on whatever (sparingly, because that little bottle was expensive), and a small jar of miscellaneous Greek olives (also to be doled out one at a time because THAT jar was also expensive).

Here you go … pictures:

 

Next, I'll give you a little tour of the Benziger Family Winery, which we found after a little back-and-forth adventure.