Francis Ford Coppola Winery is a place for families to enjoy and judges to feast

At his eponymous winery in Geyserville (the site of the former Chateau Souverain), Coppola creates a beautiful space for families to enjoy what he deems the finest things in life — food, wine and each other.

To that, he adds swimming pools, a bocce court and a music venue for entertainment.

Parents lounging by the pool sipping wine, nibbling on Italian fare and soaking in stunning Alexander Valley views.

Light filters in through the pyramid skylights illuminating a case of Oscar statues, Golden Globes and various other awards from Coppola’s five decades of filmmaking.

means “to the table,” a family friendly way to eat and Coppola’s favorite way of enjoying a meal.

The servers created a bit of dinner theater drama as they dropped heaping trays of food to be passed along and enjoyed family style.

Assuming and dressing the roles of a stereotypical Italian American family, there was cousin Giorgio the bartender, Uncle Roberto making his way across the room telling “colorful” stories and a very pregnant waitress serving guests while nursing a martini.

Wine judges were treated to antipasti (a spectacular farro salad with mortadella and ricotta salata, roasted mushrooms with garlic and rosemary and octopus with kale and red onion), a spicy pasta puttanesca course came next and the main course included a sublime grilled New York streak with chimichurri sauce.

Wines paired with the meal were Eleanor 2012 Sonoma County and Napa County red wine, Director’s Cut 2012 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel and Director’s Cut 2013 Russian River Valley Chardonnay.

Corey Beck explained that ever the hands-on guy that Coppola is, he had a vision for the label to resemble a zoetrope with the film strip wrapping around the bottle twice.

When describing the 2013 acquisition of the former Geyser Peak property, their newest venture, he says, “This property that dates back to the late 1800s has permits to do a restaurant and it gives Francis another opportunity to do something completely unique — a new sandbox so to speak.”
SOURCE: Wine – Read entire story here.