Jeff & Alexandra Cohn

Jeff Cohn received an associate degree in culinary arts from Johnson & Wales University, and a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from Florida International University. Jeff had always loved the hospitality industry, and as he worked through several high profile positions after college he found his passion for wine steadily growing. As an intern at Boordy Vineyards in Maryland, he drove an hour and half each way to prune vines in frigid weather, pick grapes in stifling heat, and scrub everything from barrels to floors. The job at Boordy was a deciding factor in the trajectory of his career. Jeff moved to California in 1993 to follow his dream. He earned his master’s degree in agriculture chemistry, with an emphasis on enology, from California State University, Fresno in 1996. It was here that Jeff discovered French winemaking techniques and the concept of terroir. Upon graduation, Jeff joined Rosenblum Cellars as an enologist. He rapidly moved beyond lab work and soon found himself in charge of the entire white wine program. In 2000, Jeff was officially promoted to winemaker, and in 2004 was named vice president of winemaking and production at Rosenblum. In January 2006 Jeff finally parted ways with Rosenblum to focus exclusively on his own winery, but not before crafting the 2003 Rockpile Road Zinfandel, which placed 3rd on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 list that year. This was a coup for not only Jeff but all of California’s winemaking industry, as no Zinfandel had ever appeared so high on the list before. In fact, no Zinfandel from California had ever even cracked the top ten.

Alexandra Cohn, an accountant and CFO by trade, is the other half of Jeff Cohn Cellars. She graduated from Florida International University in Miami, Florida in 1987 where she obtained a Masters of Science in Hospitality Management. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Scandinavian Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. She worked in the hospitality industry for 10 years as an accountant and a consultant prior to becoming a CPA in 1995. She was an auditor for Ernst & Young, specializing in audits of hotels, wineries and employee benefit plans.