Who Is Behind Cobb Wines?

Cobb Wines is a family project on the far Sonoma Coast, built by two generations of the Cobb family. David and Diane Cobb planted Coastlands Vineyard with their son Ross in 1989, and in 2001 the family founded Cobb Wines around a shared passion for Pinot Noir. Ross Cobb, who had spent nearly a decade honing his winemaking skills before approaching his parents with the idea, makes the wines; his parents' work developing Coastlands Vineyard supplies the fruit and the site knowledge. The result is a winery designed so the family could guide every step, from farming the vineyard to crafting a style that celebrates the site.

The two generations

David and Diane Cobb: pioneers of the far Sonoma Coast

David and Diane were pioneers of the far Sonoma Coast when they planted Coastlands Vineyard with Ross in 1989. That vineyard is where Cobb Wines began, and it remains the anchor of the estate program.

Ross Cobb: the winemaker

Ross spent nearly a decade honing his winemaking skills before he approached his parents with the idea of founding Cobb Wines. His vision was a winery that would let the family guide every step of the process, from farming the vineyard to crafting a style that celebrated the site. The convergence of Ross's winemaking talents and his parents' development of Coastlands Vineyard led to the creation of the winery.

How the winery started

The first vintage of Coastlands Vineyard Pinot Noir was a mere 130 cases. The wine sold quickly, and Ross never looked back. That small first release set the pattern for the project: estate-grown fruit, a family-run process, and a focus on cool-climate sites.

What the family farms and makes

Cobb's ethos is centered around three Estate Vineyards, with a focus on cool-climate sites, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Riesling. The estate vineyards named on the site are:

Beyond the three estate vineyards, the site also lists Sonoma Coast sites including Emmaline Ann Vineyard, Monticue Vineyard, H. Klopp Vineyard, Mes Filles Vineyard, Rice-Spivak Vineyard, and Cole Ranch.

The idea behind the wines

Cobb describes its approach as wines that represent the places where they were grown. On the Sonoma Coast, the family talks about terroir as the influence of everything from the salty ocean breeze to the redwoods and conifers surrounding the vineyards — place shaping identity, rather than a single variable.

That philosophy shows up in the structure of the business: because the family farms the sites and makes the wine, the style is meant to follow the vineyard rather than a fixed house recipe.

If you want to follow the current release

The site points visitors to the current release, with Ross Cobb describing the 2023 vintage as "nothing short of remarkable" — a cool, wet winter followed by an extended, steady growing season and a temperate summer, with excellent fruit set, no disruptive heat events, and a smooth path to ripeness. In his words, the resulting wines are exceptional for drinking now but will reward patience as they age.