Special harvest: Who wants to taste the wine of Francis Ford Coppola?
Some wines have made their producers famous, but it can also be the other way around. The celebrity owners have made that of areas like that of Francis Ford Coppola
A family story
Produce wine seems to be a tradition in the Coppola family for several generations. The grandfather, Agostino Coppola, was already wine in the cellar of his building in New York. Today, the American director is awarded for his precious nectar. Moreover, his wine sparkling, baptized Sofia, as her darling daughter, is the most famous and the most rewarded of her wines. To believe that he does not collect only the oscars. For the record, it is with the recipes of the movie The godfather (released in 1972) that Francis Ford Coppola bought his first vines in the Napa Valley California.
A vineyard in California
In 1975 Francis Ford Coppola bought plots from Inglenook Vineyards, a well-known winery founded in 1879 by Finnish navigator and trader Gustave Niebaum. The director renames it Rubicon Estate, located in the Napa Valley. This estate is modeled on the Bordeaux farms and produces a first batch under the label Niebaum-Coppola. In 1995, he expanded the estate by acquiring additional land and Inglenook Castle. From there, Coppola takes the original name of the vineyard. There is cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel, cabernet franc, merlot and syrah.
Soon, he wants to honor the historic reputation of the vineyard, considered until 1960 as one of the most famous areas in California. From then on, it emerges White wine, the Blancaneaux and draws its Italian origins for its wine. He calls white "bianco" and red "rosso".
In 2006, Francis Ford Coppola created a second structure in the town of Geyserville, in the Sonoma region. Then in 2011, he debauched Château Margot's domain director, Philippe Bascaules, to develop the concept of wine of terroir.
Today, he opened a restaurant, a museum and a bar. Its domain has become a real amusement park and a place of wine tourism.
www.franciscoppolawinery.com
