looks like Vintage Wine Estates acquired them.
Lots of selling going on…
I wonder if they still make olive oils from the old trees on their property? And what will become of them?
Hopefully the new owners will continue on; the last time I purchased olive oil there was in 2011 (ish). Beautiful property. Does anyone know anything about Vintage Wine Estates?
http://www.vintagewineestates.com/wineries
On the smaller side, but acquiring BR Cohn seems like a boost in profile.
Their Olive Hill Vineyards are next door to Bedrock, Old Hill, and other awesome Sonoma Valley vineyards. I wonder what the plan is.
First, we take Manhattan… ![[diablo.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f627e009b8e3ab2f6a76c9424f1156a53afc0e3f.gif "diablo"){kind=small}
I suppose most are saying, “At least it wasn’t Gallo.” From what I’ve noticed so far Vintage Wine Estates comes in and replaces with their own staff, spruces the place up a bit, but doesn’t seem to be turning it into generic grocery store wines.
Lots of folks from the 80s wine boom at retirement age.
A bit more data here (he says he was forced to sell)
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/business/4240707-181/br-cohn-sold-to-vintage?page=0
Not really surprising - I’ve heard several rumors over the last few years that BR Cohn hasn’t been doing well. I was told that the business and assets were quietly being shopped around.
" he still had to hire four people at a cost of $1 million to help push his product into the retail market in 46 states."
Wine salesmen really make this much ($250,000/year)? Holy cow!
This article was more informative. Thank you, Eric, for adding it to the conversation.
I have to say, there sure seemed to be detectable bitterness in Bruce Cohn’s quotes. The bank is smart to not comment. There is no “win” for them in any comment.
A few years ago my financial advisor presented me with an offer to invest in a Napa Valley winery. He knows I enjoy wine and was quite surprised when I responded with, “Chris, the best way to make a little money in the wine industry is to start with a lot of money.”
The other comment from the P-D article that I thought was interesting was that Gallo and Foley had their own distribution companies. That sounds like an interesting work-around to the alcohol sales regulations. It does point to the fact, however, that if you want to be more than a niche participant, and, believe me, I am not denigrating niche participants, you have to bring a big pile of money to the table.
I’m told that at least one of these ‘salesmen’ were family - his son - and presume others might have been family or friends also, which might explain the gracious salary.
No doubt some non-family wine salespeople make all of that (and more). Bruce’s son was indeed the National Sales Director (and CEO more recently). The people who are good at it are often really, really good at it and of incredible value.
I would guess, though, that he is including the cost of putting those 4 on the road 180 days a year or more in that $1MM number.
If he was talking about the actual cost, that would mean fully loaded salaries plus T&E. Still nice work if you can get it, but not outrageous.
I was at a Doobie Brothers concert at winery a while back and witnessed an 80+ year old grandmother toking a doob in one hand and guzzling a bottle of Cohn cab in the other. I will always associate B.R.Cohn wines with this visual. Fun concert for sure.
Well actually more like 75k plus commission up to 125k and 125k in travel expenses.
More info on the new owner’s plans…