First "American Graffiti," now this.
The current release by Bay Area film directors Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas is a $30 Chardonnay made at Coppola's winery from grapes grown at Lucas' Skywalker Ranch. A $40 Merlot is due out this summer.
The mouth-filling, fruity Chardonnay with a hint of cinnamon on the finish is on sale only at Niebaum-Coppola Estate Vineyards and Winery in Rutherford and at niebaum-coppola.com. While California Chardonnay has its detractors, it remains the country's most popular varietal and this bottling is going fast, much of it to movie buffs, says Niebaum-Coppola's Scott McLeod, who oversees the project.
Coppola and Lucas have been friends for decades and collaborated most famously on the 1973 film "American Graffiti," which Coppola produced and Lucas co-wrote and directed.
This is a somewhat smaller project -- just 320 cases of 2002 Skywalker Ranch Viandante del Cielo Marin County Chardonnay and 350 cases of 2002 Skywalker Ranch Viandante del Cielo Marin County Merlot.
Viandante del Cielo means "sky walker" in Italian and for those who are new to our planet, Luke Skywalker is the lead character in Lucas' "Star Wars" epic. The label features an abstract image taken from a stained-glass window in Lucas' home in Ross. McLeod would neither confirm nor deny that it is a close-up of woman's chest (or possibly two wine glasses?)
"I have my own thoughts what it looks like, but I'm keeping them to myself," says McLeod, Niebaum-Coppola's director of winemaking.
Lucas, whose name does not appear on the label, is busy with "Star Wars III" and was unavailable to comment, said a spokeswoman, referring questions to McLeod.
Coppola and Lucas have made wine together for about 12 years, but the 2002 vintage is their first commercial release. McLeod says Lucas and Coppola were chatting at a Niebaum-Coppola harvest party 12 years ago and Lucas mentioned that some grapes he had planted on his sprawling studio ranch were ready for picking. He had no winemaking facilities and no buyer lined up.
Coppola offered to vinify the grapes for a fee and return the wine to Lucas, who used it for corporate Christmas gifts and events. Coppola's staff began advising Lucas' vineyard managers on pruning, irrigation and the like. They talked about commercializing the project over the years, but it never made it off the back burner until now, says McLeod.
Lucas and Coppola are both quite wealthy, but they still run Viandante del Cielo as a for-profit business, says McLeod. Since little Chardonnay is produced in Marin County, McLeod uses western Sonoma County grape prices to establish a fair purchase price.
Viandante del Cielo won't be available every year because cool and rainy Marin doesn't produce consistently good vintages. On off years, the wine will stay "in the family" and be poured at events, McLeod says.
By planting grapes at Skywalker Ranch, in the western Marin town of Nicasio, Lucas is "really pushing the envelope in terms of being too cool, but often the tough places have great benefits," including more mineral in the wines, says McLeod. "I would love to see them plant another 5 to 10 acres. There must be spots on that ranch to make some really interesting wines."
Currently 3.5 acres are planted, including a small patch of Pinot Noir that Lucas keeps for himself.
สรุปก็ประมาณ ลุงจะร่วมลงทุนกับคอปโปลาขายไวน์ค่ะ ส่วนฉลากขวดก็คงประมาณ >>The label features an abstract image taken from a stained-glass window in Lucas' home in Ross. McLeod would neither confirm nor deny that it is a close-up of woman's chest (or possibly two wine glasses?)
ต้นฉบับที่นี่ค่ะ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/19/WIGR152N4P1.DTL
ิอืม... >> Viandante del Cielo means "sky walker" in Italian
