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Feature Article
Remi Cohen bucks a lot of traditions. She is one of the few female vineyard managers. She is young. And she is successfully innovative.
Merryvale’s Vineyard Guru Remi Cohen – She’s Young and Good*
*But don’t call her a farmer girl.
by
Alan Goldfarb
February 12, 2007
As an urban Jersey girl, Remi Cohen couldn’t have possibly known that she’d wind up in the dirt. Neither did her mom. But after taking her mother on what turned out to be a joy ride on the biggest tractor her daughter could find, and announcing that working in wine was her life’s ambition, Cohen’s mother said to her wistfully, “Maybe this way, you’ll meet a prince or a king.”
Well, as one of the youngest of the few women vineyard managers in California, the 30-year-old Remi Cohen hasn’t yet met royalty. But she’s operating in pretty heady climes in the Napa Valley. Before taking the job as vineyard operations manager a year ago at the revamping Merryvale Vineyards, Cohen, who had worked in the Carneros vineyards of Saintsbury and Bouchaine, was offered a job at one of the valley’s most high-profile luxury houses. Her friends told her she was crazy for passing it by to become vineyard manager at Bouchaine, which itself was undergoing a complete change.
Merryvale Vineyards’ vineyard manager, Remi Cohen, stands in the winery's new Carneros vineyards.
Over a bowl of spicy tomato soup on an exquisitely sunny winter afternoon across from Merryvale’s St. Helena facility, she explained to me how Bouchaine and now Merryvale suit her better. The partnerships which she has chosen since starting in the business in 2002, fit her personality as a hands-on, no frills manager sans hoopla and pomp.
Before and after lunch, Cohen took me on a tour of Merryvale’s new facility in the Stanly Ranch development in the Carneros , Merryvale’s St. Helena winery, and its Conn Valley vineyard in the eastern hills off the Silverado Trail.
It’s the first time that Cohen has worked in a vineyard other than one in the Carneros. Although Cohen has now inculcated the wind-swept Carneros appellation like the mud-caked vineyard boots which she sports everyday, she’s also laid down her imprint over the 25-acre site that sits above the Joseph Phelps Vineyard on Howell Mountain Road.
For instance, in consultation with vineyard-manager-to-the-stars and perceived Bad Boy of the Hillside, David Abreu, Cohen has modified the Conn Valley site’s trellis regimen, and put down an innovative irrigation system.
It’s all part of a Merryvale renaissance. The winery opened for business in 1983 and only recently has seen major transformations. First, longtime winemaker Steve Test left less than a year ago, replaced by Sean Foster. Then the Stanly Ranch facility called Starmont was opened in September; and at the old winery upvalley, they’re putting in new stainless steel tanks and destemmers and crushers. A year ago, Merryvale brought in Cohen.
Well, as one of the youngest of the few women vineyard managers in California, the 30-year-old Remi Cohen hasn’t yet met royalty. But she’s operating in pretty heady climes in the Napa Valley. Before taking the job as vineyard operations manager a year ago at the revamping Merryvale Vineyards, Cohen, who had worked in the Carneros vineyards of Saintsbury and Bouchaine, was offered a job at one of the valley’s most high-profile luxury houses. Her friends told her she was crazy for passing it by to become vineyard manager at Bouchaine, which itself was undergoing a complete change.
Merryvale Vineyards’ vineyard manager, Remi Cohen, stands in the winery's new Carneros vineyards.
Over a bowl of spicy tomato soup on an exquisitely sunny winter afternoon across from Merryvale’s St. Helena facility, she explained to me how Bouchaine and now Merryvale suit her better. The partnerships which she has chosen since starting in the business in 2002, fit her personality as a hands-on, no frills manager sans hoopla and pomp.
Before and after lunch, Cohen took me on a tour of Merryvale’s new facility in the Stanly Ranch development in the Carneros , Merryvale’s St. Helena winery, and its Conn Valley vineyard in the eastern hills off the Silverado Trail.
It’s the first time that Cohen has worked in a vineyard other than one in the Carneros. Although Cohen has now inculcated the wind-swept Carneros appellation like the mud-caked vineyard boots which she sports everyday, she’s also laid down her imprint over the 25-acre site that sits above the Joseph Phelps Vineyard on Howell Mountain Road.
For instance, in consultation with vineyard-manager-to-the-stars and perceived Bad Boy of the Hillside, David Abreu, Cohen has modified the Conn Valley site’s trellis regimen, and put down an innovative irrigation system.
It’s all part of a Merryvale renaissance. The winery opened for business in 1983 and only recently has seen major transformations. First, longtime winemaker Steve Test left less than a year ago, replaced by Sean Foster. Then the Stanly Ranch facility called Starmont was opened in September; and at the old winery upvalley, they’re putting in new stainless steel tanks and destemmers and crushers. A year ago, Merryvale brought in Cohen.
ALAN GOLDFARB (AG): Why all these changes?
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