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Top 10Francis Ford Coppola Winery

TopTen

Pool Café

Appealing mainly to families and curiosity-seekers, this popular venue is the Disneyland of Wine Country wineries. It is also one of the most diverse, interesting, and unpretentious. Hollywood producer Francis Ford Coppola bought the French-style Chateau Souverain property in late 2005 and turned it into a family-focused resort winery offering fine dining, entertainment, and day-long relaxation in a festive atmosphere. A reflection of Coppola’s typically Italian passion for wine, food, fun, and family, a visit here is richly rewarded, not least for a chance to see his Oscars plus iconic props from his movies.



Top 10 Features

1The Chateau

The grand, European-style stone winery has twin, hop kiln-like towers with sharply angled slate roofs. It is entered via a guest services building adorned with a large mural from Coppola’s 1988 film Tucker: the Man and His Dream.

2Movie Memorabilia

Various memorabilia from Coppola’s movies are displayed on two levels. Icons include Colonel Kurtz’s uniform (Apocalypse Now), Corleone’s desk (The Godfather), and a rare 1948 Tucker automobile from Tucker: The Man and His Dream. Coppola’s Oscars and Golden Globes are displayed in glass cases.

3Rustic Bar

TopTen

The Rustic Bar, outside the restaurant of the same name, serves a full menu of beer and cocktails. Movie memorabilia displayed here include the giant martini glass from One from the Heart plus costumes from Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

4Performing Arts Pavilion

This small neoclassical pavilion beside the swimming pool patio is painted with murals and has amphitheater seating with vineyard views. It is a venue for free live entertainment every weekend from April through October, and for other special events.

5Bottling Ballet Mechanique

This 45-minute tour, offered weekdays, walks you through the state-of-the-art bottling plant and explains how wine is transferred from barrel to bottle.

6Bocce Ball Courts

Adults and children alike can enjoy the four regulation bocce ball courts, set amid manicured lawns on the west side of the winery.

7RUSTIC

Adorned with dark wooden floors and an Argentine grill, this restaurant features mostly Italian dishes. More than 4,000 Italian olive oil tins line the walls. An outside terrace offers gorgeous views over the Alexander Valley.

8Movie Screens

Flat-screen TVs affixed to walls throughout the movie galleries and bar show scenes from Coppola’s movies themed to nearby displays, including The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Into the Heart of Darkness, and Marie Antoinette by Coppola’s daughter, Sofia.

9Swimming Pool

The massive H-shaped, heated swimming pool is surrounded by sundecks with showers. Pool passes include towels and use of lounge chairs, and you can rent one of 28 cabins. Lifeguards are on duty at all times.

10The Labels

The winery makes nearly four dozen wines known, not least, for their unusual labels, such as the Director’s Cut line’s spiral labels and the gold-colored netting of the Diamond Collection Pavillion and Claret.


Tip: The Pool Café, at the swimming pool, serves hot dogs and burgers, plus sandwiches, salads, and ice creams.

The Art of Blending

Most wines produced today are done so blending a variety of wines from different barrels, grape varieties, vineyards, vintages, and/or plots. The goal is to combine the best qualities of each distinct wine, such as aroma, palette, or color. Blending requires experience and experimentation, plus the ability to anticipate how distinct flavors can be successfully integrated.

Visitor Information

  • Bottling Ballet Mechanique Tours
  • 11:30am, 1pm, 2:30pm & 4pm
  • $20 including wine-tasting