Joe Canal's BottleBlog

On occasion, Joe Canal’s staff members are able to go on trips to meet the producers of
the items we sell. Whether we travel to the great wine regions, or any other location, the
trips are educational, great for team-building, and, of course, they’re fun.

Brandon Bartfalvi, Senior Wine Manager at our Lawrenceville store recently visited California wine country on just such a trip. Here's a portion of his report:

DAY 1 – AND SO IT BEGINS (CALIFORNIA HERE WE COME!)

Ahhhhhh, back to California and I can't wait to get there!  The team met up at the airport and I found out that 5AM really exists (I'm not a morning person).  After the team met up we stopped for a quick breakfast and then off to board the plane.  Excitement was in the air and we couldn't wait to get off the plane and make our way to our first stop of the trip:  Coppola Winery in Sonoma.

After a peaceful plane ride we arrived in San Francisco..... almost to wine country!!  We were in and out of the aiport fairly quickly and in our rental car on the way to Coppola (we're warriors; from the plane right to the winery... we can freshen up later hahaha).  We  took a nice, scenic route through the city of San Francisco and its awe inspiring hills (how do you drive up some of these roads???) and then a short time later we were pulling up to the entrance to Coppola.

THE WINERY (FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA WINERY):

I don't know if I would call this a winery or a resort with a winery.  The main building is actually the old Chateau Souverain, purchased by Mr. Coppola and reopened as the Francis Ford Coppola Winery in 2010 (I was there before the grand opening).  The buildings and the interiors were designed by Dean Tavoularis, the set designer on “The Godfather” and it is truly a Hollywood experience in Sonoma. There are  pieces from the sets of each of Mr. Coppola's movies, from the car in “Tucker: A Man and His Dream” to Don Corleone's desk from the “Godfather” films.  

 Beyond the movie scene, Mr. Coppola wanted to create a destination for families.  A place to come and relax and just enjoy life.  RUSTIC restaurant is on-premise and prepares all of Mr. Coppola's favorite dishes that you can enjoy inside or out on the patio. But that's where the fun just begins:  A pool was installed and visitors can rent cabanas (cabines is the correct term) for the day (or half day) or take a short walk and to the bocce courts. The band shell in the background? A re-creation from the wedding scene in "The Godfather". This estate was truly designed as a laid-back resort or escape that caters to those wishing to unwind.

 On top of all these activities there is a large, functioning winery putting out thousands of cases of wine behind the scenes.  The winery is surrounded by vineyards that supply some of the grapes for the wines but the winery also has several contracts for grapes grown elsewhere.  The winery is constantly expanding and experimenting and currently makes over 40 wines, from off-dry Rieslings to small production red blends. 

OUR VISIT:
It felt good to get out of the car and stretch my legs and the air was just soooo clean.  Ahhh life is good!  When we walked through the winery gate (on time) our tour guide was there ready to show us, well, the show!  After explaining the history of the winery and the vision of Mr. Coppola we started our tour through the building and grounds of the winery.  We spent time inside the retail space where consumers can taste wines, browse the movie memorabilia (that was pretty cool) and relax at the bar and enjoy the scene.  After making our way through the retail area we were taken behind the scenes to see how the winery works.  We made our way to the production line and watched as the bottles of Claret were loaded into cases by hand... yes, they are packed by hand.   

 We made our way further down the line and saw the labeling machines:

  and then there it was... the magic room!  The room where the chemistry is done, the analysis completed, decisions made, the room where the winemaker was working!  Oh, did I mention that we were visiting during the busiest part of the year: harvest?  Corey Beck, director of winemaking, was hard at work but took some time to greet us and welcome us to the winery.  After meeting Corey, our guide took us through more of the winery and then to complete the tour he took us to a private tasting bar where we sampled any wine that we wanted. 

We tasted through several different selections and our guide told us the story behind each one and walked us through even more selections.  Unfortunately, my favorite wine of the tasting is only available at the winery.  We tasted quite a few different wines and we discussed each one as a team and you may see some of the new selections arriving soon (hint, hint).  Good wines, great conversation, good friends…could it get any better?? Oh yeah, time for dinner!  We made our way downstairs to RUSTIC and our table was ready and waiting for us and we were hungry and excited.   But there was a little stress involved with our dinner: trying to choose what to order.  Our server guided us through our selections and made the experience even better.  The restaurant was laid back, our server was wonderful (and she had a sparkling personality) and the food was excellent.  What a way to start the week!

It was a long day (like I said, that flight was early) but it was a great day and I knew this was going to be a good time.  We left the winery and made our way to the town of Glen Ellen where we were staying at the Jack London Lodge and I couldn't wait to freshen up.  After a little downtime I made my way next door to the Jack London Saloon where Jack London sat and had a drink in his time.  I took a deep breath, ordered my drink and took a long sip of Fat Tire beer (yes, I drink beer too!)  And that's where this part of the story ends (or is it just hidden?).  We raised the bar today, what will happen on Day 2?