Introducing the wines from the J.J. Cohn Estate

First planted in 1945, the Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from Scarecrow’s J.J. Cohn Estate went into Napa’s most esteemed wines for decades. When Cohn’s grandson, Bret Lopez, purchased the Rutherford property from his family in 2002, he and partner Mimi DeBlasio set out to make a wine that would live up to the history and reputation of these venerable vines. Working with a small team, including winemaker Celia Welch and viticulturist Michael Wolf, Scarecrow was created. Their efforts quickly resonated—Scarecrow has since earned six perfect 100-point scores from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and has built a loyal following. The wine is offered by invitation in the spring after a roughly 3-year waiting period.

A fortuitous event transpired during the blending of the 2008 Scarecrow vintage. The portion of juice not included in the final Scarecrow blend was so undeniably superb that we were inspired to bottle it.  While Monsieur Étain How to say M. Etain (plays audio) shares roots with Scarecrow, it’s very much its own character. Blending Cabernet with Merlot, Malbec, and Petite Verdot, all from the J.J. Cohn Estate, we created a wine that is something a little more Bordeaux-style, layered, bright, and utterly captivating. We release the M. Étain to the entire mailing list each fall, without a wait.

Toto’s Opium Dream, released in 2023, was made from a single barrel of what our winemaker, Celia Welch, deemed to be the highest quality fruit in the vineyard.  For the 2016 vintage, that was a barrel made exclusively from the ‘Old Men’, a block of Cabernet Sauvignon on St. George rootstock originally planted in 1945 by John Daniel, Jr., Cohn’s friend and neighbor.  These ancient icons are the backbone of Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon, but they are rarely showcased on their own. This 200-bottle, micro lot represented the purest expression of what could be produced from this exceptional estate in that same year. As exemplary vintages present themselves, more vintages may be available for release.

We welcome you to join our mailing list and would be pleased to include you in our M. Étain release this fall.