The World’s Greatest Vineyards

J.J. Cohn Ranch, Rutherford, Napa Valley

Joe Cohn was just looking for a quiet vacation home. The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Cohn had risen to become one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, as MGM’s vice president and head of production during the golden age of motion pictures, the 1920s through the 1950s, overseeing blockbusters like Ben Hur, Gigi and The Wizard of Oz. In 1942, he bought an estate in Rutherford, in the Napa Valley, with a Victorian mansion and a plum orchard. But the property was next to one of the valley’s most famed wine estates, Inglenook. And Cohn’s new neighbor, proprietor John Daniel Jr., convinced him to tear out the trees and plant some vines. Daniel promised to buy all the fruit.

Over the next 50 years, Cohn sold his J.J. Cohn Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to Inglenook, Opus One, Duckhorn, Etude, Joseph Phelps and Robert Mondavi Winery. When most of the valley replanted to AxR rootstock in the 1960s, Cohn kept his on St. George. Those vines were spared the phylloxera that devastated Napa in the years to come.
After Cohn’s death, at age 100, his three grandchildren put the property up for sale. Francis Ford Coppola partnered with Cohn’s grandson Bret Lopez and his wife, Mimi DeBlasio, to buy the property for $33.6 million. Coppola took 60 planted acres and incorporated them into his revitalized Inglenook estate. Lopez took just under 25 acres, including the 1.4-acre “Old Men” block, some of the original vines Cohn had planted in 1945.

Covered in lichen, with thick, gnarled trunks, they’re believed to be the oldest Cabernet left in Napa. Lopez and DeBlasio founded their Scarecrow label in 2003.

The Ranch is on Rutherford’s western bench, sloping down from the Mayacamas, with elevations ranging from 300 to 225 feet. At the top of the slope, the soils are gravelly loam. Down toward the bottom, there are portions of Bale clay loam and Pleasanton.

The vines that grow in the “Old Men” parcel of J.J. Cohn have thick trunks and rough-barked exteriors, a testament to their age. (Adrian Gregorutti)

Facts & Stats

• Vines first planted: 1945
• Vine age: Varies; the “Old Men” parcel dates to 1945
• Size: 24.85 acres
• Soils: Gravelly loam, clay and loam
• Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon
• Owner: Scarecrow

Recent Vintages

SCARECROW
Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford 2021 | 97 | $600

SCARECROW
M. Étain Rutherford 2021 | 93 | $250