Joel Cohen

Joel Cohen

2020-01-06T15:09:15-05:00
joel cohen cfo grapevine

Joel Cohen

CFO

A Member of Grapevine’s Family since January, 2006

Joel Cohen grew up in the Bronx, New York. He was in school at Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service, when he met Betty Cranford, who was working at the CIA, in Langley, Virginia. Not long after meeting, Joel and Betty got married, and had two children. Betty Cohen stayed at home raising their children while Joel worked many different jobs, such as pool table salesman, traveling tool salesmen and an RC Cola route and sales driver.

Joel received a job opportunity back in New York, from a friend of his fathers’, working for Schenley Industries; in their management training program. Schenley Industries was the importer for many brands such as Dewers, Cruzan Rum, George Dickle, Charles Heidsick, Krug, and Mateus. Joel later moved into the advertising department where he was eventually the head of advertising for a number of wine and liquor brands. Joel has received Popeye and Cleo Awards for his work in advertising and promotions.

Betty and Joel later moved to New Jersey where they had a third son, and he commuted into New York for many years. In order to be closer to his wife’s family, Joel moved his family to Charlotte, North Carolina and took a position as the Vice President of the Southern Division for Dreyfus Ashby.

While working for Dreyfus Ashby Joel toured the Southeast educating people about imported wines. He was considered one of the most knowledgeable people in the country about the region of Burgundy and was even the official speaker at Epcot in Disney World during their annual Wines Around the World event.

Joel worked for Schenley and Dreyfus Ashby for a total of 36 years. He worked many odd jobs in the beginning of his professional life, but once he entered into the liquor and wine business he truly found his passion. Joel mentored Betty while she founded Grapevine Distributors.

After retiring from Dreyfus Ashby, Joel’s passion was still strong for the wine industry so he began working for Grapevine and is currently the CFO of the company.

Traveled To

  • Napa, Sonoma Valley, Carneros, California
  • Willamette Valley, Umpqua and Rogue Valley, Oregon
  • Burgundy, Bordeaux, Alsace, Rhone, and Champagne, France
  • Piedmont, Tuscany, Umbria and Vento, Italy
  • La Mancha, Jerez-Xeres, Sevilla and Penedes, Spain
  • Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl, South Africa
  • Geneva, Lausanne, Neuchatel and Zermatt, Switzerland
  • Mosel, Rheingau and Friesland, Germany
  • Baja California de Nord, Mexico

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Leonetti Cellars

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Grapevine's reputation as the best distributor in the Carolinas for Northwest wines made it possible for us to get some Leonetti Cellars wines for distribution.  No longer do you [...]