When it comes to combining elegance, sustainability, and artistic innovation in outdoor design, few can rival HGTV’s favorite Garden Artisan, Scott Cohen. As a renowned landscape and pool designer based in Southern California, Cohen’s work is celebrated on television and graces the pages of numerous books and magazines. His innate ability to create custom projects that resonate with his clients’ personal tastes and hobbies sets him apart in the world of high-end landscape design.
Wine: A Personal and Professional Passion
Cohen’s passion for wine is deeply personal, and it often finds its way into his professional projects. “I proposed to my wife Lisa in a hot air balloon over the vineyards of Temecula three decades ago,” Cohen reminisces. “Wine has always been a part of our life.” As native Californians, the Cohens frequently explore the wine regions of Paso Robles, Los Olivos, Napa, and Sonoma. Their Tuscan-style home even boasts a dining room ceiling adorned with over 36,000 wine corks, a testament to their long-standing love for wine.
Incorporating Wine into Design
Cohen’s expertise in integrating clients’ hobbies into their outdoor spaces shines through in his thematic designs, especially when it comes to wine. “These days, with aging baby boomers valuing food, wine, and high-end spirits, I’ve focused on thematic approaches that emphasize living the good life,” he explains.
One of Cohen’s standout projects in Thousand Oaks, California, showcases his innovative use of recycled wine bottles. The client, a vegan chef with a passion for the environment and wine, inspired Cohen to create an outdoor kitchen that utilized repurposed wine bottles and crushed glass. The result was a stunning setup where concrete mixed with recycled glass was cast into molds, ground, honed, and polished to a smooth, glass-like finish.
Cohen melted wine bottles in his home ceramic studio to create wine bottle tiles that were set into the raised bar-top table.
Creative Highlights and Trade Secrets
Cohen’s creativity knows no bounds. In his home ceramic studio, he melted wine bottles to create custom tiles for a raised bar-top table, enhancing it further with fiber-optic lighting cables that highlight the glass work at night. His whimsical touch is evident in projects like a spa waterfall made from 480 wine bottles, backlit with 500 fiber-optic cables, and flanked by ceramic portraits sculpted by Cohen himself.
One of his trade secrets involves flash-dipping some wine bottle glass in silver, which, when polished, reveals sparkling miniature mirrors within the colored glass. His innovative use of materials extends to the main kitchen countertops, which are cast in place with coral pebbles and recycled glass, then polished to perfection.
A Vision for the Right Winery
Cohen dreams of collaborating with a high-end upscale winery, his vision is clear: to create a unique, wine-themed outdoor space that blends artistry with functionality. Whether it’s constructing a center island with cast concrete and recycled wine bottle glass or designing windows made from 1,500 wine bottles illuminated by 3,000 fiber-optic cables, Cohen’s potential contributions promise to be both breathtaking and eco-friendly. I just haven’t found the right winery yet.
A Touch of Humor and Whimsy
Cohen’s sense of humor and whimsy are evident not only in his designs but also in his interactions with clients. He shares a favorite joke: “I was sitting on the porch with my wife of 30 years, enjoying a fine bottle of Allegretto Cabernet. My wife says, ‘I love you, and I couldn’t live without you.’ I asked, ‘Is that you talking, or the wine?’ She replied, ‘That’s me talking to the wine!’”
I’d Rather Have a Bottle in Front of Me, Then to Have a Frontal Lobotomy.
Scott Cohen’s work with recycled wine bottle glass not only showcases his artistic prowess but also his commitment to sustainability and personalization in design. As he seeks to build something special for a winery like Allegretto, his unique blend of creativity, craftsmanship, and passion for wine positions him as the ideal artisan to bring such a vision to life.
For more information on Scott Cohen’s work and to explore the potential for a bespoke winery project, contact The Green Scene Landscaping & Pools today. In the meantime, check out photos from some more wine bottle-inspired backyard projects below.
