The Winery
Welcome to the beginning of the new Francis Ford Coppola (yet unnamed) winery. This is a great new chapter for us, one that will reveal what this property, currently a “work in progress,” is all about: a place where ideas, innovation, friends, family, having fun, and above all else a love of life are embraced and expressed in every detail.
Francis Coppola Reserve
From the start, our winemaking team wanted to create wines that celebrate Sonoma County, recognize its diverse wine-growing regions, and showcase the distinctive vineyards within each region. Francis Coppola Reserve achieves that goal. Francis Coppola Reserve wines are determined each vintage by our winemaker, Corey Beck, who hand-selects exceptional fruit for crafting small lots of varietal wines. Each lot is crushed, fermented and aged separately through the final blending stage to ensure the finished wine is worthy of the reserve title. Francis Coppola Reserve wines are made in limited quantities and are available only at the winery, through our wine club or online
at www.ffcpresents.com.
The Label
No two wines are alike. Every wine reflects the individual character of where it was
grown and the winemaker who nurtured it from vine to bottle. Francis Coppola Reserve expresses this individuality with equally artful labels. The varietals are graced with six different, playful configurations of the letters that comprise the spelling of the Coppola name—created by literally tossing the letters into the air and capturing them in flight. Each is a one-of-a-kind expression as prized as the wine in the bottle.
The Wine
Francis Coppola Reserve 2005 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast is a luscious wine that
expresses its cool-climate upbringing with a perfect balance of cherry and strawberry fruit flavors. Secondary fermentation lends it a silky texture and French oak aging is detected in the hints of cola, sweet vanilla, and cinnamon layered into this delicious wine made with 100% Pinot Noir grapes. Always lovely with salmon, it is also a nice match with mushroom dishes, as well as hearty beef stews. Alcohol: 13.9%; RS: dry; Aged: 10 months in 100% new French oak.
The Vineyard
We harvest our Pinot Noir fruit from Sonoma County’s Los Carneros appellation, a
region renowned for its mélange of soils that result in a diversity of Pinot Noir styles. The grapes for our wine are grown in vineyards with gently rolling slopes that run from the Carneros Highway to the waters of the San Pablo Bay. On the whole, this is a cooler climate region with temperatures that rarely exceed the mid-80s in summer. This is in part due to the fog that blankets Los Carneros in the evenings and mornings and the winds that whip through the vineyards in the afternoons. This challenging climate causes the vines to work a little harder to ripen their fruit, resulting in extended hang time, which creates complex Pinot Noir flavors ranging from bright strawberries to dark cherry.
I myself am a big fan of Coppola wines. I have yet to try the Pinot Noir but have a bottle sitting in my rack. Their zinf and clarets are delicious, I can only assume this is a great pinot noir, might be a bit out of my budget though for the reserve…
I wanted to jump, but not on this. I may be the only person who ever saw Sideways and didn’t instantly give up my merlot for pinot.
I’ve tried several times to get into Pinot, just to see what all the hype is about, and I just can’t appreciate it’s delicacy. I like to drink a wine that isn’t afraid to make its presence known, like a big ass cab.
Awesome bottle art, however. I’d be interested in other offerings from this winery.
Ouch again from MA also…At least I love the MacRostie I just received! I will have to make sure to buy in bulk when MA is on the list so I have enough wine to last between offereings. Also cannot buy directly - double ouch!
I’ve been to Coppola’s new “yet unnamed vineyard” and I’ve had this wine. I have to say Both experiences where Fantastic. This is a very nice wine and the price is as good as my club discount. But shipping blows my club discount away. I will be in for a few of these later in the week. Coppola is one of the few mass produced wineries that got it right in my opinion. Interesting story on the Bottle artwork. " we where told at the vineyard that the artist cut out the letters and threw them on a white canvas then took pictures. After several hundred trys this one stuck"
Great to hear from someone who’s tasted this wine. Can you tell us more, please? Could you share any tasting notes, and/or compare it with other pinot noirs that you may have tried, particularly from woot, since we have had a few offered here?