Inside a modern-chic farmhouse in Healdsburg, 40 stylishly dressed guests were greeted with craft cocktails as a guitarist strummed flamenco tunes in the corner. While people sipped and mingled, chefs in the open kitchen topped rustic herb crackers with saffron cream and trout roe. Communal tables were laden with wineglasses, set for the multi-course feast to come.
While the scene could easily have been mistaken for a winemaker dinner — and indeed, Sonoma County wines were paired with each course — there was an important distinction: This event was all about weed.
The evening was organized by TSO Sonoma, a high-end cannabis company founded by Allison Kosta, former co-owner of Kosta Browne Winery in Sebastopol, and Devika Maskey, president of Ellipsis Wine Company in Napa. The duo applied their years of wine industry experience to the concept of a cannabis dinner, pairing featured wines and marijuana strains with elegant dishes such as foie gras tartlet and Sonoma County lamb loin.
To keep the event approachable and legal under the regulations in place at the time — which did not allow cannabis and alcohol to be served together at public events — the cannabis was “sampled” by smell only. Buds, also known collectively as flower, were passed around the tables for guests to sniff and discuss.
A Common Language of Aroma
Terpenes are among the volatile compounds that help shape the aroma of cannabis. They also occur in grapes and wine, giving cannabis growers and wine professionals a shared sensory language.
In cannabis, limonene can suggest citrus, while pinene contributes notes reminiscent of pine or fresh herbs. Linalool is associated with floral, lavender-like aromas, and beta-caryophyllene can evoke black pepper and cloves. Together with other aromatic compounds, a plant’s terpene profile helps create its distinctive bouquet and offers a useful starting point for pairing cannabis aromas with food and wine.
For wine professionals, the approach is familiar: smell closely, compare aromas and look for complementary or contrasting notes. Terpene profiles, however, do not by themselves predict how a cannabis product will affect an individual, and broader claims about an “entourage effect” remain under study. Terpenes are best treated as a guide to aroma and flavor rather than a promise of a particular mood, experience or medical benefit.
None of this would have been possible if California voters hadn’t given the thumbs-up to recreational cannabis in 2016, allowing legal adult-use sales to begin in 2018. As the new market took shape, many in the North Coast wine industry worried that cannabis businesses would compete for their market share, workers and customers — all legitimate concerns — while some savvy vintners began looking for ways to get involved.
In 2019, TSO Sonoma was one of a handful of Sonoma County-based cannabis ventures founded by wine-industry veterans. These adventurous entrepreneurs were offering everything from educational events and edibles to high-end cannabis flower.
Disrupting Themselves: The Grower’s Series by Francis Ford Coppola
A little over a year before this article was originally published, film director and Sonoma County vintner Francis Ford Coppola handed a papier-mâché box to Kathleen Murphy, his director of innovation. He’d made the container himself. Inside the wine-bottle-shaped box were three small Ziploc bags, each labeled with the name of a different location in Humboldt County. This was Coppola’s way of saying he wanted to create a cannabis brand. “That was the genesis of it,” Murphy said.
“He wanted to provide outdoor flower from different appellations to showcase the growers’ expertise and terroir.”
Coppola launched The Grower’s Series by Francis Ford Coppola at the end of 2018, with Murphy’s help. Packaged in a bottle-shaped tin instead of a paper box, the limited-edition offering included three different strains of organic cannabis flower from Humboldt County — the region Coppola believed was best for growing outdoor cannabis. The kit also included a pipe and rolling papers and sold through dispensaries for $99 at the time.
To avoid legal issues that could arise from associating Francis Ford Coppola Winery with a substance that remained illegal under federal law, Coppola set up a separate company for his cannabis business and hired a team of lawyers to ensure compliance with California regulations. He was not particularly worried about consumer perception, Murphy said, or about hurting his wine brand.
“The landscape is changing in the way the consumers enjoy their evenings,” Murphy noted. “Why not be the agent that is disrupting our own industry instead of letting the (cannabis) industry disrupt us? The key factor was to be ahead of the curve.”
At the time, Coppola said that if the Grower’s Series was successful, he would consider expanding the product line into cannabis-infused drinks — though not necessarily wine. “Obviously there would be a nice, tight link to beverages,” Murphy said, “so we’re beginning to explore that landscape.”
Wrangling the Tiger: Garden Society
Erin Gore, founder and CEO of the Garden Society cannabis confection company, had been immersed in wine since she left her corporate job in 2016 to run Gore Family Vineyards, the Healdsburg-based winery founded by her husband, Tom, the vineyard director for Constellation Brands. But as much as she loved the wine business, cannabis was her real passion.
“I had just recovered from two major hip surgeries, so I started to understand the medical value of cannabis,” Gore said. “I also had a really hard time sleeping, and wine kept me up. I was trying to find something that would make me feel good and let me relax, and I found that in cannabis.”
Despite her relief, she quickly became frustrated with weed offerings that were too potent or riddled with pesticides. “I would go to dispensaries, and I didn’t feel like there were products there for me,” she said. “I didn’t know where the cannabis came from, and I was tired of having a fingernail-sized piece of a gummy and being blasted. So I started making products myself.”
She began by hosting “high holiday” baking parties, inviting female friends to experiment with pot-laced cookies and candies. As word got around and her baking bashes grew, she realized that there were many women who wanted to try cannabis but hadn’t found the right products.
Garden Society launched in 2016 with low-dose chocolates and herb gelées made from sun-grown, biodynamically farmed cannabis. Gore introduced a line of mini pre-rolled joints in early 2019, followed by a spicy dark chocolate created in collaboration with Windsor’s Volo Chocolate.
At the time, Gore sold her products through local dispensaries and her own delivery service, tied to an in-home event program that was similar to a Tupperware party — only with a focus on cannabis education instead of food storage. “This is my purpose and my passion,” Gore said. “It’s the tiger I’m trying to wrangle by the tail.”
High on Education: TSO Sonoma
Winery veterans Allison Kosta and Devika Maskey founded TSO Sonoma — pronounced “so” — in 2017 as a luxury cannabis brand for women. “Coming from the events and hospitality side of the wine industry, I saw this need for products that appeal to a more sophisticated palate,” Kosta said.
The partners originally intended to focus on curated, organically farmed and sun-grown cannabis products, but expanded into educational pairing dinners and yoga wellness retreats while waiting for the city of Santa Rosa to approve their retail permit.
“There’s still a big need for education,” Maskey said at the time. “A lot of people aren’t sure what dose to take or what kinds of products they should use.”
Santa Rosa approved TSO’s permit in January 2019 after a nine-month processing bottleneck, setting in motion plans to open TSO Test Kitchen, a combination dispensary and lounge with a delivery service, later that year. The original plans did not allow cannabis consumption on the premises when the business first opened, though TSO expected to become eligible for a permit upgrade in 2020. In the meantime, the partners planned to offer retail sales, cooking classes and educational events on-site.
TSO’s planned product line included two strain-specific vapor pens, along with monthly subscription boxes — similar to a wine club — filled with cannabis products and wellness items. The company was also developing a nonalcoholic, cannabis-infused rosé that it hoped to release in early 2020 once the product had been perfected.
“We’re working with the flavor and mouthfeel to keep the integrity of the wine,” Kosta said.
“That’s obviously really important for Devika and me, coming from the wine business.”
Where to Partake
The following listings appeared with the original article in 2019 and are retained as a historical record. Offerings and availability may have changed.
TSO SONOMA
At the time, readers could sign up for a free membership and receive updates about upcoming events and the planned TSO Test Kitchen at tsosonoma.com.
THE GROWER’S SERIES
In 2019, Coppola’s cannabis was sold locally at Sparc dispensaries in Santa Rosa and Sebastopol. sparcsf.org
GARDEN SOCIETY
In 2019, Garden Society products could be found at Soulful in Sebastopol, through the Garden Society Delivery Service and at getsava.com. Readers interested in hosting a cannabis education party were directed to info@thegardensociety.com.
SONOMA WINE & WEED TOURS
In 2019, visitors could spend the day touring wineries and cannabis dispensaries with the Sonoma County Experience at thesonomacountyexperience.com or Wine Country Weed Trips at winecountryweedtrips.com
