When Napa Valley winemaker Paula Kornell released her inaugural Brut Rosé in March, she was celebrating more than just a new addition to her small portfolio.
She was toasting her success in having any wine at all, after her partnership with Vintage Wine Estates collapsed the previous year (the partnership covered sales and distribution). The behemoth corporation suddenly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2024, leaving Kornell and some 30 other wine and spirits brands across California, Oregon and Washington unprepared and facing the auction block.
Some big names, like Sonoma County’s B.R. Cohn, Kunde and Viansa wineries, were quickly snatched up by new owners. But Paula Kornell Sparkling Wine, established just eight years ago and producing less than 20,000 cases annually across three wines, was a bit too boutique to be in the spotlight.
“It really was a shock to the whole wine community that it fell apart,” she said. “Vintage (Wine Estates) bought so many brands, and then I don’t think they put the love and care that all the brands needed. It shows that consolidation is not always for the best. These days, you need to have a great story to sell your wines and, in this marketplace, you really need to have the right (marketing and distribution) bandwidth behind it.”
Kornell tried not to panic during the transition.
“I will say that I was blessed with the fact that I had worked 10 years with Robert Mondavi, and they were a great marketing and sales organization,” she said. “I’m so glad I had that education there, because without that, I don’t know if I would have survived.”
Then, in November, Kornell found new partners, Mike and Jenny Farmer of Calistoga.
Mike Farmer, formerly the president of commercial operations at Builders FirstSource supplies and materials company, now serves on the board of directors for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
After nearly 20 years as a labor and delivery nurse, Jenny Farmer now serves on the board of Hope Scarves, an organization dedicated to raising funds for metastatic breast cancer research and patient support.
It was serendipity — the Farmers had been Kornell’s very first customers when she launched her inaugural vintage, a 2017 Napa Valley Blanc de Noir. The trio had bonded over their shared love of wine, dogs and commitment to charitable work. Kornell was the president of the board of directors for Napa Valley Vintners and served on the boards of Napa Humane and Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa.
“They (the Farmers) came to my home in St. Helena to drink bubbles with me,” she said. “I call my house Château Drool since I have three dogs. And they have bulldogs.”
The Farmers helped Kornell finish and launch her fourth sparkling, the California Brut Rosé.
A personal and professional turning point
Losing her affiliation with Vintage Wine Estates was as much a personal loss as it was a professional one. Kornell’s father, Hanns Kornell — a third-generation German winemaker and Dachau concentration camp survivor — moved to New York in 1939, then hitchhiked to California, eventually leasing a winery in Sonoma in 1952.
Seven years later, he and his new wife — opera singer and doctor Marilouise Rossini — purchased the historic 1895 Larkmead Winery Estate in Napa Valley. They renamed the sprawling property Hanns Kornell Champagne Cellars, where they showcased the Méthode Champenoise sparkling style. (In 1992, the estate was purchased by Frank Family Vineyards.)
Paula Kornell always knew she would be in the wine industry. Born in 1959, she got her first job at 10, selling prunes and walnuts from her grandmother’s orchard and feathers from the family’s peacocks in front of the Hanns Kornell tasting room.
Her career trajectory led her to numerous roles at her parents’ winery, traveling the world and further training at prestigious hotels and wineries. Along the way, she met Vintage Wine Estates co-founder Pat Roney.
In 2014, she established a consulting business, Kornell Wine Company, yet quietly dreamed of creating her own label to share the sparkling wines she loves.
“I’d known Pat since the Hanns Kornell days, and when he suggested we do something together, it seemed like a great opportunity,” she said. “And it was. I was given an incredible opportunity to start my own brand, thanks to the boost that Pat gave me. Vintage (Wine Estates) truly left me alone to design and create what Paula Kornell Sparkling is today. It’s just so sad that they went under.”
But Kornell now believes the change propelled her toward greater happiness.
“Mike and Jenny are such great friends and they were aware of all the trials and tribulations I was going through. They kept saying they wanted to help, and sure enough, now they are my new partners. So, I am really very, very lucky.”
Paula Kornell Sparkling Wines, paulakornell.com