Francis Ford Coppola Winery enters prosecco category

Geyserville’s Francis Ford Coppola Winery, formerly owned by the Academy Award-winning director, is entering the prosecco category with its new owner, Delicato Family Wines, at the helm.

Coppola Diamond Collection Prosecco and Prosecco Rosé extend the Coppola brand into Italian wine for the first time and will be available nationwide this fall for a suggested retail price of $18 a bottle.

The prosecco will be crafted in Italy, in collaboration with Corey Beck, executive vice president of winemaking at Delicato.

Prosecco is a sparkling wine from Veneto in Northern Italy, produced primarily from the glera grape variety.

Delicato sold more than a million cases of its Coppola Diamond Collection wines in 2021, according to Gabriela Becker, vice president of marketing for the Coppola portfolio. The Diamond Collection features many varietals, including pinot noir, zinfandel, merlot and chardonnay. Becker said the new prosecco wines give the Diamond Collection a strong entry point into the country’s fastest-growing wine category, with prosecco sales growth outpacing all other wine types.

“We know that Coppola Diamond Collection consumers love and trust the brand and that they are already drinking prosecco,” Becker said. “So bringing that quality and Italian heritage to a wine that’s a part of their lifestyle is a natural fit.”

Coppola Diamond Collection and the Coppola Winery were acquired by Delicato in August 2021. Delicato has done consumer research studies to gain an understanding of how Coppola consumers enjoy its Diamond Collection wines.

Delicato Family Wines has invested in in-store marketing, leveraging the scale and focus of the Delicato sales organization. Today, 2,000 more U.S. stores and restaurants sell Coppola Diamond Collection wines compared to a year ago, and, over the same period, the brand’s points of distribution have increased by nearly double that amount.

The Coppola winery produces more than 40 wines. Aside from the Diamond Collection, the portfolio includes sparkling Sofia wines and the Francis Coppola Reserve wines. The winery offers tours and tastings at its Geyserville property, also the site of its Rustic restaurant and collection of props from the films Francis Ford Coppola directed.

Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.