Ford Coppola’s second career as a winemaker

Film legend Francis Ford Coppola is on the road again, promoting his second career as a winemaker.

He is striving for recognition as a winemaker with the Rubicon estate in the Napa Valley, to which Coppola is restoring its original name Inglenook

Coppola has just poached Philippe Bascaules from Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux to be winemaker.

He had acquired the Inglenook name from the Wine Group for an undisclosed sum, andthat the Rubicon estate in Rutherford will now be re-named Inglenook.

Inglenook Vineyards (pictured) was founded in 1879 by Gustave Niebaum and acquired a formidable reputation as one of Napa’s greatest wineries.

By 1975, when the Coppolas bought some of the estate, it had been broken up and the name sold.

Coppola has spent the past 20 years putting the estate back together, reviving winemaking at Inglenook Chateau.

The estate is planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah, and 2.4ha of white Rhone varietals that pro-duce the estate’s flagship white, Blancaneaux. ( http://decanter.com )