Paula Kornell’s Life In Bubbles

Is there a more dramatic wine story?

Hanns Kornell was a third generation German winemaker imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp in 1938. After eight months there, he was released on the condition that he leave Germany within forty-eight hours. After fleeing to London, he set sail for the United States. En route, his ship survived torpedoes from a German U-boat. Hanns set foot safely in New York with two dollars to his name.

After hitchhiking across America, he arrived in California. He began working in wineries. By 1952 he had leased a winery in Sonoma. By 1958 he and his new bride had purchased the Larkmead Estate and launched Hanns Kornell Champagne Cellars in the Napa Valley. If that isn’t a Horatio Alger story, what is?

Count Hanns Kornell is among the pioneers in Napa. He rubbed shoulders with Robert and Peter Mondavi, Louis Martini, Joe Heitz, Eleanor McCrea, and others. These were small family vintners who were tied to agriculture. Things began to change in the early Eighties. Large Champagne houses began to invest in California sparkling wine. It was hard for Hanns Kornell to compete. By 1992 his business had closed its doors.

Happily, a new chapter is being written in the Kornell family. Paula Kornell is the daughter of Marilouise and Hanns Kornell. After growing up in her father’s winery and working there, she went on to run several wineries in Napa and Sonoma. She’s served as chair of the Napa Valley Wine Auction. She’s a past President of the Board of Directors of Napa Valley Vintners. In 2014 she established her own wine consulting company. She also found time to climb mountains to raise funds for breast cancer research, even reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro.

That’s a pretty full life, but she’s not done. In 2017 Paula partnered with Vintage Wine Estates on a sparkling wine venture called Paula Kornell Sparkling Wine. The acorn didn’t fall far from the tree. Enjoy our conversation with Paula about going full circle with bubbles.

The Wine Write: Is sparkling wine in your blood?

Paula: It sure is. My father always used to say that there was more sparkling Burgundy in his veins than there was blood. I’m beginning to think that, too.

The Wine Write: How was it growing up in Napa back then? Did you realize your father was a big deal?

Paula: Oh, my God. Hell, no! The winery itself was like our playground. We spent so much time there. My dad babysat my brother and me there. I played hide and seek there. I think I got kissed for the first time in there. I got high for the first time in that winery. It was such a fun place to be. It was an extension of our family.

At that time there were just a handful of vintners in Napa. At the table would be Louie Martini, Bob Mondavi, Peter Mondavi, Eleanor McCrea, one of the Trincheros, Joe Heitz, my dad, and a few others who are now long gone. It was a very small group. There wasn’t an attitude that one had more money than the other. Everyone was pretty much on equal ground. That started changing in the early Eighties.

Bob and Margie Mondavi, his first wife, would host a New Year’s Eve party every other year. My parents would rotate by hosting the next year. As a kid, all these vintners were just friends of my parents.

The Wine Write: At what point did you think about getting into the wine business yourself?

Paula: Because my dad was German, we learned the work ethic clearly and very quickly. My brother and I always worked in the winery. When I started my own brand, I went over to Rack & Riddle. The wine was being finished there using disgorging lines and automated equipment. I burst into tears after telling those guys that I had once done all that work by hand in my dad’s winery.

I have always been interested in wine, but I think the turning point for me was when I worked for Sherry-Lehmann in New York. I had been to wineries in France, Germany, and California by then. That job gave me the consumer’s perspective on wine. I got to see their love for wine. That sparked even more interest in me.

The Wine Write: You had a long, successful career on the business side of wine.

Paula: I had that work ethic instilled in me. I had a love for agriculture and a love for Napa Valley. That passion helped a lot. I also had begun appreciating and enjoying wines more by then. My label has a drawing of two men, the men of Canaan. They were on my family’s bubbles as well as on the bottles of my great grandparents in Germany. When I was thinking about my own label, I initially thought they wouldn’t be on there. That was hitting too close to home.

Then I found an old Hanns Kornell newsletter. In the Bible, men are sent over the mountain to make sure the land is fertile. They return with huge clusters of grapes, along with plums and other fruits. In that old copy of my dad’s newsletter, he said that California, especially Napa Valley, was his land of plenty. That statement put a big stamp of approval on that drawing for me.

When I came back here from New York and started being at the winery in 1982, there weren’t many young people involved in the business. When I was first on the Board of Directors for the Vintner’s Association, John Kongsgaard, Bob Pecota, and Bo Barrett were on there with me. They were trying to involve more young people. Those were exciting times. There was a lot of energy.

The Wine Write: Tell me about launching your consulting business.

Paula: Nancy Duckhorn is to blame for that! I put it all on her. After working with my dad, I went to Phelps for a couple of years. That was a great introduction to still wine. I then went to work for Mondavi and ran Vichon in Oakville. I left there and went to work for the Chalone Wine Group. I ran Carmenet there. Then I was General Manager at Oakville Ranch. I loved it there, but Nancy kept prodding me. She had her own very successful consulting career. She helped spark Scarecrow, Checkerboard, Pulido-Walker, and other top wineries.

She kept telling me that I knew where all the bodies were buried. I knew all the distributors. I was well connected in the wine business. I finally listened to her and jumped off that cliff to work for myself. I went for it and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve worked with a variety of brands that needed help with distribution or with trying to establish their own personality in a very crowded field.

The Wine Write: Do you think a lot of people now getting into the wine business underestimate the difficulty?

Paula: Many of them have no idea. My family and so many others way back when came in with nothing and through hard work made it work. We wanted to be in agriculture. Nowadays a lot of really great people come into the wine business after having been very successful in other endeavors. They think they can make wine work by throwing a lot of money at it. It doesn’t work like that.

The Wine Write: What prompted you to launch your own sparkling wine label?

Paula: I had wanted to get back in the bubbly business for a long time. I never thought I would be able to do it. When I was given the opportunity, it was a whirlwind. We had to first find good grape sources. Then we had to get a winemaker on board. We also needed to decide on the personalities of the wines.

It was fairly easy to source grapes in Napa. Mitsuko’s Vineyard is in Carneros. Our Napa Valley Blanc De Noirs uses Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from that site. Mitsuko herself was a good friend of my mother’s, so we’ve gone full circle here. The vineyard has a charming story. Jan Shrem owned Clos Pegase. He was married to Mitsuko. He gave this vineyard to her on Valentine’s Day. The story goes that he gave her a Tiffany’s box full of dirt. His note read that for the three hundred sixty-five days a year that he loved her, he was giving her three hundred sixty-five acres of land in the middle of Carneros. That present puts everyone else to shame, doesn’t it?

It was harder to find a source for the California Brut. We wanted a popular price point for that wine. It was going to sell for under twenty-five dollars. We found a source where the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers come together. It’s an AVA called River Junction. It’s a family owned vineyard and is sustainably farmed. That’s amazing. The family has been so nice to us. So grape sourcing wasn’t a big hurdle for us.

The Wine Write: How did you connect with winemaker Robin Akhurst?

Paula: I talked with a lot of people and was pointed in his direction. Robin wanted to make some sparkling wine. He now makes wine for Clos Pegase, Swanson, and his personal label, Apsara Cellars. We turned out to be a perfect match. My preferences for style were similar to his. He’s been great.

We collaborate on the production side. Robin is making the wine. We both get out in the vineyards. We work on the blends together. It’s nice teamwork. I knew I was going to be drinking copious amounts of these wines, especially the Brut. I wanted to love whatever I was putting my name on and consuming.

The Wine Write: So the plan was to sell what you don’t drink?

Paula: Exactly. I feel like that after being on the road for a while.

Our vision for the Brut was for it to be sold in chain stores. It’s also a good by the glass option for restaurants and bars. It’s on a lot of wine lists. I wanted it to have nice acidity. That was a big deal for me. A lot of times people get a glass of wine at that price point, take a sip and put it down. It’s too sweet. This Brut is at a price point where it could be used by a bartender to make a cocktail. It’s a good, everyday bottle of bubbles. We think the Brut really hits above its price.

The Napa Valley Blanc De Noirs can be found on wine lists and in fine wine stores. We also sell a lot of it directly to consumers.

The Wine Write: You’ve sold wine for others for a long time. Is it different selling a bottle with your name on it?

Paula: That’s so bizarre for me! I never really thought I’d put my name on the labels. It does make sense, given the family history. There’s no bad juju with my family’s winery closing. It just didn’t make it after the French champagne houses came to California. A small family bubble business just couldn’t compete.

After selling two hundred dollar Cabernets for my consulting clients, now I’m selling fifty dollar bottles of bubbles that are guaranteed to put a smile on your face. It’s been a wonderful experience. Not a week goes by without me getting a few emails from people who came to the winery way back when. They may have met my father, who gave them a tour. Those are great memories for them. It’s always great for me to talk about my family’s history when I introduce this brand. I’m really proud of that.

The Wine Write: Is selling still wine markedly different from selling sparkling?

Paula: I think it is. There are some people who will immediately tell you that they don’t like bubbles. Period. Sometimes I have to educate. When I got out of the bubble business in 1982, it was primarily a celebratory beverage. I remember that in my first year at Phelps, we had a Rose’ that we couldn’t give away. Now look at Rosé sales! I think bubbles are now an everyday wine. The other aspect of this is that sparkling wines are solid values when compared to so many still wines.

The Wine Write: Did Covid-19 impact the brand’s launch?

Paula: It was interesting. I introduced the Blanc De Noirs in September of 2019. The Brut was launched on Valentine’s Day, 2020. That was right in the middle of that first wave of Covid. I spent a lot of time on Zoom calls with a bunch of new distributors. It was hard for me to not be out there as much as I would have wanted. I did travel some during the pandemic. I also did some blind calls to distributors; some of them turned out to be people I had worked with when I was at Robert Mondavi. The world becomes very small. Covid-19 did make things challenging.

The Wine Write: The wines got solid critical reviews right off the bat. How helpful were they?

Paula: Those were great door openers for sure. It gave us a lot of momentum. I don’t love talking about scores. They’re so subjective. But those nice scores from Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast sure helped a new brand. The other thing that helped was that we had a real story. This was a family business with a lot of tradition. I’m trying to carry that on in a whole different manner. I think the story resonates with people.

The Wine Write: It’s a compelling narrative. It doesn’t get much more dramatic than fleeing Nazi Germany with two dollars in your pocket and becoming a renowned vintner in Napa.

Paula: Exactly. I thought about my dad a lot this past weekend as I attended an Arabian horse show in Phoenix. Other than his family and his wine business, horses were my father’s biggest love. I spent my weekend living vicariously. I was definitely channeling him.

The Wine Write: You were probably as prepared as anyone could be to launch a wine label. Did anything surprise you?

Paula: I think learning how important the chain business is was a bit eye opening. It’s needed and is important. I also ran into some issues trying to protect the name Kornell. I never realized how the bankruptcy of my dad’s business created roadblocks with the name. I’m glad that is behind me now. I own the name, but the trials in getting it were unexpected.

I partner in this venture with Vintage Wine Estates. We had to learn to work together. We are fifty/fifty partners in the business. Pat Roney, the Chief Executive Officer of Vintage Wine Estates, is one of my heroes. I so appreciate him giving me the opportunity to partner with them.

The Wine Write: What would your parents think of your bubbly business?

Paula: It’s so funny you asked that. Doug Shafer has a wine podcast. He asked me something similar recently, and we both wound up crying. I think they would be very proud. I really do. Of course, my father could be rolling over and saying, “Oh God no, honey.” That was a common comment from him. I think he would be proud that I’m doing this and that I’m doing it in a respectable fashion. I also think they’d love that we continue to tell the family story.

We loved learning about the family story. It’s history that resonates on so many levels. But let’s not downplay these wines.

Both the Brut and the Blanc De Noirs can stand on your table with almost any type of food. At twenty-two dollars the Brut is a screaming value. The Napa Valley Blanc De Noirs is a fairly priced wine that’s evocative of its Carneros origins. It’s the real deal.

While the pairing of Paula and winemaker Robin Akhurst was serendipitous, it’s been a match made in heaven. We’ve long been fans of Robin’s work with still wines. He’s hit a home run with his initial foray into sparklings.

Interested in purchasing bubbles from Paula Kornell Sparkling Wine? You should be. Look for the Brut at chain stores and restaurants. The Blanc De Noirs may be found at your local fine wine retailer. Both can be gotten online at paulakornell.com. They’re guaranteed to put a smile on your face without burning a hole in your wallet.

The Wine Write