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B.R. Cohn to build new 3,000-seat outdoor venue

‘LONG BARN’ TO BECOME LARGER INDOOR EVENT SPACE; WINE WAREHOUSE TO BE ADDED

SONOMA – Winery proprietor and long-time Doobie Brothers manager Bruce Cohn has received approvals to rebuild the wine estate’s famed music venue as well as open an adjacent 2,500-square-foot indoor events center.

Mr. Cohn said his goal is to move smaller events indoors for the winter so that the outdoor space is more available for events such as summer weddings. The move will also allow him to expand his wine storage capacity by building a 12,000-square-foot warehouse on the former one-acre music site.

Mr. Cohn’s company, B.R. Cohn Winery, opened the original music space in the late ‘80s for its annual fall fundraising music festival. But since then, its schedule includes weddings, meetings and other events at the entertainment plot in the center of the 47-acre property.

Fifth Resource President Jim Ford, who is designing the new structures, said the facility will be located directly next to the old amphitheater and look very similar, but more permanent.

The hills will be graded for seating and acoustic structures will line the perimeter of the 3,000-seat space. The current site holds about 2,500. The plans also include surrounding VIP table seating with covering.

The former vintage wine cellar nearby, called the “long barn,” will also be doubled in size and converted into an indoor meeting space. Mr. Cohn said it will mostly be a large, open room that can be decorated for an event, but it will also house the winery’s first full-service catering kitchen.

“We have been trying to cram all the weddings and events in the summer when the weather is nice, and this will allow us to move some of the smaller events indoors at different times during the year,” Mr. Cohn said.

The new wine storage building will be devoted to Mr. Cohn’s vintage varieties and affixed to the current crush and fermentation facility.

Mr. Ford said final design review will likely occur later this month or in early March. Groundbreaking is scheduled for October after the fall fundraiser and regular winery operations will remain open through construction.

Also with the permit approval in January, the county modified the company’s allotted number of events from 48 special events per year with a limit of 150 people per event to 23 events with 125 people, 23 with 250 people and two weekend events with 3,000 people.

Mr. Cohn has owned the winery since 1984 after growing up in the Bay Area.