Making Room by Gather

Holiday Wine Made Simple with/ Andrea Card from Francis Ford Coppola Winery

• Kayty Helgerson • Episode 166

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Do you buy wine based on the label? *No shame* Me too! 

With the holidays, literally HERE, I wanted to chat with a winemaker to give answers to my questions! 

We sit down with winemaker Andrea Card to make holiday wine approachable. Talking about the average day of a professional wine maker (Spoiler- it doesn't include daily charcuterie) to the process behind selecting labels this conversation is seasonal, light hearted and will lead you to you next best bottle of Prosecco *promise!*

 • Do wine makers get drunk at work (I know you're wondering too!)

  • Pairing made easy through complement or contrast 

•   Why bubbles work with almost everything • Diamond Prosecco style, origin, and serving idea

• The incredible experience that visiting Francis Ford Coppola offers! 

It's a season of celebration and well, this conversation is the perfect listen (and inspiration) as you set your table to celebrate! 

This Episode is Sponsored by: 

Tiny Spoon Chef- Get $100 off your customized in home personal chef service using this link! 

Creative Crayons Workshop- Purchase your own coloring tablecloth for the holidays (Or to keep your littles entertained while you listen to the show!) Use code KAYTY at checkout to save. 

Ten Boom Coffee- Order your favorite blends from a brand that supports worldwide communities and gives back with every purchase! Use code GATHER for 15% your first order 

Support the show

SPEAKER_01:

Hey, hey guys, well, it is Christmas week. How is that possible? I feel like this season has actually been a really sweet one. Um, slow, which is actually just the way I like it. But it's finally here. Christmas does have to come eventually. And I don't know if you're like me, I told Colby the other day, I'm like, I'm already sad that Christmas is almost over. And he's like, it's not even here yet. But I am just trying to soak up the moment um and take care of some things behind the scenes that you guys will learn about soon. Um, but also take conversations like this as they come up because this one is timely and so interesting. You guys are going to love our new friend, Andrea Card. She is talking to us all things wine for the holidays, and she works at Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Um, you may know the name Francis Ford, and he is the creator of the winery and this incredible experience and wine brand that you guys will fall in love with very quickly. But um, before we kick off, if you have never heard of Andrea Card, or if you have never purchased a bottle of Francis Ford Coppola wine, um, here is a little bit more about her and about them. So, Andrea Card is the director of winemaking for Francis Ford Coppola Winery, where she leads a team of four winemakers crafting wines across the Coppola portfolio. From the iconic California Made Diamond Collection wines to the director's cut Sonoma County Couvet, I think I said that right. Um, and Estate Singles Vineyard Francis Coppola Reserve wines. Andrea and her team work with grapes grown across California's premium appalacians from guys, California world is so new to me, but Mendocino County, I think I got that one right, in the north to as far south as Santa Barbara. A fourth generation Sonoma County native, Andrea's Roots and Wine Growing stretch back to her grandparents who farmed Petite Syrah. Um, and oh no, these words. I just want to get them right. Is it Karignan? Oh man. In the Alexander Valley before prohibition. So cool, so so cool. Andrea brings more than two decades of winemaking experience with key roles at the Prisoner Wine Company, Ravenswood, and the Benzinger Family Winery, where she developed a deep commitment to sustainability and biodynamic farming. She holds a degree in agricultural business from Cal Poly, San Luis, Abispo, and completed UC Davis' winemaking certificate program. Guys, I love learning from people that are passionate about their craft and experts in their craft, and especially when the holidays are around the corner. I just, I don't know. I I really enjoy food, um, obviously as part of my profession, but it's a hobby of mine too. And I find like for so many years, I was like, oh, I don't know that much about wine. And I'm like, man, there's only one thing stopping me. I'm getting in my way, and so it's time to learn more. So conversations like this help to expand my knowledge base and give me more confidence as a host and um make the table a little bit more fun. And I hope it does the same for you too. Well, if you are looking for kind of a way to just like sit back and enjoy your holiday break, I hope all of you listening get some kind of holiday reset or break. Um, it's always sad when I think about it. I'm like, not everyone gets a solid two weeks off, but I hope in some form you get um you get some rest, um, even if it's just, even if it's just a little, a little reset. But um if you are looking to reset well and plan some special things and um ways to just rest from all of life's rhythms, um, I want to let you know about our friends at Tiny Spoon Chef. Tiny Spoon Chef is a personal chef service, and what they would love to do is come to you during your holiday break and cook for your family so that you don't have to. They take all of your preferences, all of your goodness, you could say that my kid doesn't like cucumber, but I do, and I like extra spicy, but my husband doesn't. Whatever those specifications are, you can communicate that to them and they cook for you and take all of that off your plate so you can rest. What? Oh my gosh, I can't imagine a better way to start the new year. Um, and it is available to you guys nationwide. So if you are interested in booking a private chef service, you get a hundred dollars off your first time and a free inquiry call, you can head on over to tiny spoonchef.com slash gather and book your inquiry call and start with a personal chef. And I don't know if I should apologize or say you're welcome, but it is it is about to change your life. You can rest assured. And if you want to keep the kiddos busy as you are home too, listen, Wesley is a busy little dude. He it is hard to keep him focused on one thing for any length of time. But um, the coloring tablecloths from our friends at Creative Crayons workshops, they're magic. There is some kind of magic in them. Um, I think because we always pick a theme that Wesley is so interested in, he will sit on that tablecloth. And what we do is there's we have like a big table in our living room, like a coffee table. I put it on the coffee table with some crayons, and he just sits there for so long. Um, and then honestly, even when he's ready to kind of like switch his attention, he'll say, like, Mama, come call her. And so listen, if I can keep him off of a screen and from making messes, um, sign me up all day, all year long. So if you are looking for an activity for your littles, or heck, even you know, you want an adult coloring sheet, head on over to Creative Crayonsworkshop.com and buy yourself a coloring tablecloth. You will thank me. Hi, I'm Katie, a hospitality educator and the host of Making Room by Gather Podcast. I am set to see our communities get back to the table through hospitality. But it wasn't always this way. My husband and I moved to Thailand, and through it, I experienced some loneliness. And with it, I was given a choice to sit back and accept it or to do something about it. And for me, that meant two things. That I needed the healing to learn how to accept an invitation and the confidence to know how to accept one. Through this process, I developed some of the richest and deepest relationships of my life. Through Making Room by Gather, you will hear conversations from myself and experts in the areas of food, design, and relationships. You see, there are countless things trying to keep us from the table. But can I tell you something? Take a seat because you are ready. You are capable, you are a good host. I was thinking the other day about December 26th, that date, and how there is so much buildup, the social calendar is filled, the to-do list is never ending, and then all of a sudden it's just over. And I feel like that day is a day of exhale and rest, and our bodies kind of like catching up and our minds just, I don't know, just catching a break. And when I think about sitting by the fire under a blanket, I think about enjoying that day of just no-to-do list with a very delicious cup of coffee. Now, I don't joke around when it comes to coffee, it needs to be fresh, it needs to be really good, and bonus points for a coffee that has kind of like a ripple effect of um benefits. So it supports, doesn't just support a large corporation, but it supports people and purpose. And I found that with Ten Boom Coffee. Our friends at Ten Boom Coffee have a coffee subscription so you can get coffee delivered to your front door all year long. Or you could take their quiz and find the perfect blend for you and just order it when you feel like you need it. I have a bag of their Noel blend getting ready for all of my guests Christmas Day. We're gifting it to a few of our family and friends, and then I'm switching back to my favorite dark roast when the new year. Head on over to the show notes for a direct link to order your coffee today and use code gather g-a-t-h-e-r for 15% off your first order. After a season of buying everyone else gifts, I think it's time to get yourself a little treat too. Andrea and I were talking about a minute ago how I have never been to California. And we've had a few guests from California at this point. I can't believe I haven't made my way there with all the invitations that have come, but um dying to get there, I feel like I have a piece of California in my heart just because of so many um parts of the culture there. But tell us about what Sonoma County was like growing up.

SPEAKER_00:

So it's been a long time since I was a little girl. Things have changed a lot. And um, but growing up, I grew up on an apple orchard. And so wine wasn't really the focus, it was more apples because I grew up in the western part of Sonoma County and we were known for Gravenstein apples. And we still have a wonderful Gravenstein apple fair. So, you know, if you make it out in the fall, not only can you experience wine in Sonoma County, you can also experience other um agricultural products. And to me, that's what makes this place probably the most special is that we have wine, which is amazing, but it's also great to have fresh vegetables and fruits and everything coming from our neighboring farms. So it really makes this place great in terms of food culture, I think, too.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I have heard that the mix of wine and food culture for sure. Um, I saw this really funny meme the other day. It was a comedian, he posted it. He said, You know, you're an adult when you have strong preferences on apples.

SPEAKER_00:

And I have very strong preferences, but I grew up that way too. I had a strong preference as a child.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, what are your preferences? What's your apple preference?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, so we grow Gravenstein apples, um, and those are mostly a baking um apple. And so if you make an apple pie, it has to be made out of Gravenstein. That's just kind of the rules, at least in Sebastopol. And then um now I have learned to buy apples from the store, but I still prefer my mom's um apples in her orchard. And there's things like Jonathan's and apples that you would never get in a grocery store.

SPEAKER_01:

So I was gonna say those varieties are varietals I haven't seen here. Is it possible they're not here?

SPEAKER_00:

Totally possible, and also just not grown for commercial because they probably don't um stay as well and they just haven't, you know, been picked up by the mass media or whatever. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

My apple, my like ideal apple has to be all crunch, no like grit.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I don't like the grit either. And so that's why as a child I would never eat an apple from the grocery store because they were always kind of soggy or gritty or strange. So um, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I have a I have a two-year-old son and he loves apples. And you know, like all those preferences you hear about with toddlers. It's like, are you kidding me, kid? So if I cut it, he won't eat it. He has to eat it whole, but then he sucks the flesh and spits out the peel.

SPEAKER_00:

That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's great. It makes for a really great snack time for mom.

SPEAKER_00:

It's probably really clean. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, my daughter, uh, she's now almost 16. Um, but she has strong preferences for apples too. But since she had braces, it ruins some of your apple experience when you have braces. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Anyway, it's been a long time since braces.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Um but Snoop County was like is very um quiet and can be uh I don't know. It's just it's fascinating to me how much it's changed, yet it also still feels very slow and uh very personal. And so when I go places, it makes me feel like I'm still home, even though you know, 40 some odd years later, it's uh it's different, but it's still beautiful and very uh I don't know, down to earth.

SPEAKER_01:

This is a really funny question, but you know the Sonoma chicken salad? Is it from is it from Sonoma?

SPEAKER_00:

Do you know? I don't have any idea to be honest. I don't know what like the history of the Sonoma chicken salad is, other than it's it's good, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, does it have grapes in it and apples? Yeah, well, I mean grapes and apples, huh?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so that might just be it.

SPEAKER_01:

That's so funny that just came to mind. I've been going to Whole Foods a lot more these days, and I always get the Sonoma chicken salad. Um, okay, so you okay, is your role a winemaker? Is that what you would call yourself?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so I I'm actually I'm the director of winemaking, and so and I only say it like that because my role has changed over time. And so now I have the pleasure of working with a really great uh winemaking crew, and so they have to deal with more of the like very precise details, and I get to help them uh make sure that we're on target for what the wine style is supposed to be and help them uh make really great decisions to make the wine as close to perfect as we want it to be.

SPEAKER_01:

So fun. We don't have as strong of a wine culture here, so it's always interesting to hear about what that day-to-day looks like. I think when I think about your day-to-day in like a dream world or like if it was a movie, I picture like going to work, there's charcuterie, there's you know, like you have a permanent charcuterie on your office desk, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, I would love it if somebody brought some charcuterie and cheese every day. That would really make my day that much better. We uh we have all of that, just minus the charcuterie and the cheese. It's just wine.

SPEAKER_01:

Give us, give us a like a sneak peek into the day, like or a week. What does a what does a week look like?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, some days are definitely busier with actually tasting, and other days are more, you know, checking on, you know, what wines we have here and what needs to be moved and what needs to be prepared for bottling. And um, you know, wine goes through lots of different processes. And so depending on the time of the year, it's uh very different. But during harvest, we're tasting fermentations every day from every tank and checking to make sure that they're healthy and happy and that we're happy with them too. And then, you know, during a non-harvest time, we are tasting wines that are in barrels or in tank waiting to be bottled and uh just perfecting them as much as we can. Although, you know, for lots of our wines, we are just trying to kind of be the shepherds of those wines and showing how beautiful they can be without our intervention and just making sure that they don't kind of go off the rails.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. It's so interesting. I'm sure someone else is thinking it. So you said you're tasting from like every barrel or every right, you said barrel, right? Yeah. Um is there a point in the day where anyone gets like really tipsy? Like is it part of work? You know, I'm just right, like most professions don't have like wine tasting all day as a part of the I know.

SPEAKER_00:

People are people are always like, oh wow, like your job must be amazing. I'm like, yeah, well, you try tasting, you know, 60 Chardonnays at 8 a.m. and see how you feel. Um and of course, we are not ingesting all of the wine because we would not be able to do our job correctly if we were. Uh so we are spitting it. So we put it in our mouths, we can feel texture and get all of the aromatics and all of the flavors and everything that we need out of that, and then we spit the wine. Of course, if you know anything about biology, um, you know, you have a little uh membranes in your in your mouth that you are absorbing some of that alcohol. So, you know, we do like to take breaks and uh make sure people have eat hearty lunches and those kinds of things to keep us healthy.

SPEAKER_01:

That's awesome. That's cool to get a sneak peek into that. Um I kind of went past this question, but did you always know you wanted to get into winemaking or what was that road like?

SPEAKER_00:

Not at all. I like I said, I grew up in a in a small town in Sonoma County that we grew apples. And um, when I went away to college, they were just starting to transition the apples into grapevines. And so I didn't really have much interest. I wanted to be a pilot. And uh being at school in the central coast of California, the wine industry was emerging then as well. And I just decided that agriculture really was my home and what I wanted to do, and I wanted to be involved with nature and the growing of things and the processing of things. So I was a major in agricultural business and um in farm and ranch management, and that was what I was gonna do. And then I graduated and I needed a job, and I came home to Sonoma County and I was like, well, I'll just work at a winery for just the harvest as an intern and see how things go. And I worked there for 16 years and I learned everything I could, and it was amazing. And the process of winemaking and farming and all of that was so fascinating that I just didn't look back.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, wow, very interesting. Um, and sorry, I if anyone could hear, my son is above us in his playroom. Um I love it. He's throwing something over and over. It's quite loud. Well, at least he's entertaining himself. I know he's not crying, so I'll take it. You gotta pick the evil, right? Um well, um, okay, so this is a random question that I feel like you might be able to answer of all people. So I admittedly, they say don't judge a book by its cover, right? All that. When I shop for wine, a thousand percent I'm buying based on the label. If I don't know the brand, if I'm not familiar with it, um, I'm looking for a label that just kind of like catches my eye. Um, what is the label process? Like, are the winemakers involved in that? Like, talk to us about that. I've always been curious.

SPEAKER_00:

So it really depends on where you work and what the I don't know, what the whole image is, but here at Francis For Coppola, um, so much of it is based on what Francis really thought was what it should be and how we wanted to tell the story. So we have our diamond collection, uh, which is our most known wines that you would see in the grocery store um throughout the country and even internationally. And those wines have a diamond on the front label, and uh it goes with the story of Francis buying his very first winery, uh, which was Inglenook in Napa in the 70s. And he found a bottle in the like wine storage area, and it had a diamond on it, but it was sideways, and um it said claret, and it had all these things on it that he thought were just so fascinating. And he thought to himself, someday I'm gonna make a wine that's this wine. And so basically, the diamond collection was born and that label. So he turned the diamond, he named the wine claret, which is a red blend, basically a An English term for uh a French Bordeaux blend. It's very confusing, but basically it's a Cabernet-based wine. Um, and so we still have that wine today, and we have made other labels based on that diamond and have like gone into other varietals. So the commonality is the diamond, but the color of the label changes from variety to variety.

SPEAKER_01:

So does it frustrate you as a winemaker when someone buys based on a label?

SPEAKER_00:

Totally not, because I I'm a consumer too, right? So I have to go to the grocery store if I, you know, am feeling up for trying somebody else's something. And if I haven't tried, if I haven't heard of it or if I haven't tried it before, it's just as much a gamble for me as it is for you. Um, maybe even more of a gamble for me because I might be a little more critical, even though I try not to be. Um so I think labels are super important. We have some really beautiful labels within our other portfolio or in our portfolio. So other wines that we sell here at the tasting room that um are like a wrapped label and it has a zootrope on it, which a zootrope is like the first moving picture. So again, going back to Francis. And these came from Francis' own personal collection. And the zootrope has a little, let's say, on our director's cut Chardonnay, it has this little girl jumping rope, and you can see the progression on the label of her jumping rope. So the rope is high, and then the rope is medium, and her little skirt is jumping up and down. So it just for me, I've been able to like create a story about the wine with those labels, and it makes it even more interesting, I think, for the consumer. And they're fun, they're fun to look at and they're fun to talk about.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Huh, that's good. Okay. I thought you were gonna be like, you need to stop it. Like, stop it.

unknown:

It's helpful.

SPEAKER_00:

No labels are labels are great. I mean, especially here, because Krance is is obviously, you know, into visual with his movie directing. Everything visual is is a visual cue, and he he understands that that you pick up a wine based on what it looks like. And so um all of our wines have special special labels in one way or another with stories behind them.

SPEAKER_01:

One line um is kind of like more abstract, kind of like Picasso almost.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so we have our reserve series and their faces.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Is that yeah? So our reserve series that you can just get here at the winery um is all different faces, and they were all designed by Francis's art director, Dean Tabuleris. Um, and they're really interesting. There's for our Cabernet, it's a man who has a blue face and a cool hat, and then the Vignet, you know, has a different face, and the Rose has a pink face, and so they all have different faces. It sounds odd that someone would have a blue face or a pink face or whatever, but it's really cool, I think.

SPEAKER_01:

So no, I I really love and appreciate art. And I heard a quote a few years ago, I forgot who said it, but good design is good business. And I think it like it communicates something to the consumer, like you were saying. Um, and so no, I appreciate all of your labels and it's good conversation. I'm glad to hear that you guys are like involved, or at least Francis is. Um, because I think it's important that it's internal because it kind of creates this like consistency. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. A lot of our labels even have his wife, Eleanor, handwriting. So we've created her handwriting into a font now, and so we can use it on different labels, but many of the labels are meant to look like the white the winery's labels when they first started. So hand handwritten.

SPEAKER_01:

Are they still living? I don't know much about them.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so Francis is still alive. Eleanor sadly passed last year. Um, but Francis is living in Napa and sometimes abroad. He has a few homes throughout the world. So um filming, filming movies still and directing directing movies.

SPEAKER_01:

So very exciting. Um let's see. Okay, so we just talked about them really quickly, Francis and his wife. But I love learning more about the winery. The label's very familiar to me, the the name of like just the wine in general, but I didn't know like the extent of all you guys offer. What do you wish people knew about the brand that maybe they wouldn't know just by buying wine off the shelf?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I think sometimes people think about Francis Ford Coppola, who's that again, right? They get um, depending on your age, you may or may not have seen any of his movies. And then people are like, Remember The Godfather? And people are like, Oh, yeah. Um and so sometimes you have to jog people's memories. So uh I I wish that people knew more about the history of Francis because a lot of his movies are very interesting and influential during their times. Um, but I also, you know, we want people to visit us here. And because it's such a beautiful location, I think people maybe are missing out on part of it. So where we live in Sonoma County is amazing, and the town of Geyserville, where we are, is very small. We don't even have a stoplight. So it's very uh quaint. And uh actually when I was little, I lived um in a town kind of southwest of here, and my grandparents lived north of here, and so we would drive by all the time, and it looked like a castle, and so I always said, Oh, I want to get married there. Well, I didn't get married there, so it's okay because I work here now. Um but Francis kind of uh took what had been what it had been and uh revamped it for himself, and it's a beautiful long driveway with olive trees, and it just feels very calm uh as you come up the driveway. And then it's a place for families. We have a swimming pool, we have an outdoor uh restaurant and bar, we have another restaurant, uh rustic, and uh they make some amazing foods there and our tasting room, just like you know, anywhere else, but we have all these other offerings like bocce ball that you can bring your whole family and enjoy the day.

SPEAKER_01:

Man, you're selling me. I just as you're talking, I'm looking up some pictures. It is gorgeous. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean, right now, today it's a little foggy, might be a little rainy later, but it's still so stunning that I still want to be out there. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It is sweet that you get to call it work every day. Yes, yes. Wow, wow. Um, okay, so the holidays are like basically here. I mean, I don't know, maybe we're like smack in the middle of the holiday season. We still have New Year's and New Year's Day around the corner, but um, this episode will release before Christmas. Um, so I have admitted this before on the show. Like, I am not the best with pairing. I'm not the best at knowing like what to buy, when, like all of that. Um, what are some tips that you would give the everyday host that's maybe in my shoes? Like, enjoys drinking wine, but is not a winemaker smalier, um, just to maybe like serve and enjoy their wine better the holiday this holiday season.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I always tell people to buy bubbles because I love bubbles. Yeah. Uh, you know, we have uh our diamond prosecco, which is a really easy to drink, very well balanced wine, goes with lots of different appetizers and those kinds of things. So if you're having just a casual kind of hangout, um, it's perfect because it basically goes with anything, I think. I think bubbles basically go with anything. People are like, oh, it doesn't go with steak. I'm like, oh, I think it goes pretty darn well with steak, to be honest. Um, so you know, bubbles you can't go wrong. And um, you know, when it comes to actually pairing, I think it depends on who's your crowd. Are the people like wine critics and food connoisseurs? I mean, maybe. And I don't know. I I think you should always pick what you like and what you feel comfortable with. I guess if you don't know, then you're gonna have to try along with your guests or with your friends. Um, but we like to say that wine can either be a compliment or it can be a contrast to the food. So if you say that, you basically can't go wrong. Um, you know, you say, oh, well, this is a light, crisp, fresh Sauvignon Blanc. It should go with fish or something light and bright, like a salad with fruit. Yeah, that sounds amazing, but you can also have it with something heavier because it can cut through some of that fat and weight of whatever else you're serving. So I don't know if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01:

But no, that's great. I think that wine culture could see like feel so I don't know, intimidating. Yeah, you're not like like I my parent or my mom didn't drink my whole childhood, and so I wasn't even like exposed to it. And then um, so many layers, like I yeah, I enjoy it, but I don't have as much knowledge as I would like. And I always feel bad about it. I'm like, man, I'm in the hospitality industry, but I like how you explained it. It could be a compliment or a contrast.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, that's good. I mean, uh for me, everyone always says, Oh, Andrea, what do you smell? What do you taste? What do you think? And I'm like, I always flip it on its head. What do you think? Do you like it? Because if you don't like it, then you shouldn't serve it. Yeah. Right. If you're not enjoying it.

SPEAKER_01:

That's always hard when someone buys like wine and they're like, You're gonna love it. And I'm like, Right.

SPEAKER_00:

But but then you need to remember what did I not like about that? Did I like did I not like that it was okay, or maybe it wasn't oaky, and I need it to be okay, right? There's all these different things, and then you start learning really basic terms about wine, and you can build your knowledge, and that's I guess what's fun, I think, about wine, even within like our own portfolio. There's so many different wines that you could learn a lot. So if you come and visit me, we can learn a lot.

SPEAKER_01:

I have to. I saw a picture of that castle. I mean, I was sold before, but I saw a picture of the of the property, and I'm like, oh, when can I book my next flight? Um, well, okay, you guys are launching your you referenced it a minute ago, but your diamond collection prosecco, you guys sent me some. I don't know if you knew that, but I didn't know that, but that's good.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm glad we sent you some. That's nice.

SPEAKER_01:

Um I we had a little Christmas party the other night, and my whole hope was that the kids would have fun, the parents would have fun, and I did a toast to all the parents just for surviving another year of parenthood. Yes. And I used the prosecco, and um, so it was celebratory and really sweet, of course. And I thought after the toast, like after the sip, everyone was gonna make jokes about parenthood. But the first thing everyone said was, wow, that's good. Oh, well, that's amazing. Uh-huh. Yeah. So it's it's phenomenal. It's so, so good.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you. I mean, it is a prosecco. And so I'll just give you a tip. Prosecco has to be made in Italy to be called prosecco. So it is not made here in Sonoma County because legally we can't do that. It's made up in the northern parts of the Dolomite Mountains, and you know, we can talk about all sorts of things like that. But um, it is a it is meant to be a very well-balanced prosecco and fresh and crisp and clean, but also on the kind of drier side of prosecco. So prosecco kind of has a range like many champagnes or kavas, they have different kinds of um categories of sweetness. Prosecco is its own kind of category of sweetness, and normally it's pretty sweet. And this one is a little on the drier side, as we like to say. And for me, that just means that you can have it as a standalone wine, and you can just drink it as a glass, and it doesn't have to be made into a cocktail or a mimosa or a bellini or something. Um, so for me, I think it's like a good uh wine to use in two different ways. So you can use it as a toast, and then you can also use it in cocktails and such, which is fun as well.

SPEAKER_01:

It's funny to hear you call it dry because I didn't necessarily sense the dryness. I I but I I I really loved it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I mean it's not dry as in drying, so it doesn't it doesn't feel like a red wine or um anything like that where it feels drying in your mouth. It's just on the drier side of Prosecco.

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. Yeah, yeah. No, it's great, it was phenomenal. Um, and we have another bottle for Christmas Day. Very good.

SPEAKER_00:

And it's the perfect color for Christmas Day. It's like bright cheery red.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, it's really good. Um, anything else that you wanted people to know about this collection, like the process to getting here, or any other wines that you want to send people to for their their holiday shopping?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, if people are up for an adventure, I feel like they should look at our website um and look at all the different varietals that we have. We have so many that it can be fun. I think it can be fun, but I'm a winemaker. So I think it can be fun to look at what the varietals are and then look up what that means and what do they taste like normally. And um, but that's because I guess I'm a nerd. So um, but if somebody knows that if somebody knows that they love Vermentino because they once had it, well, you can buy a Vermentino from us. It's really lovely and is like a little thought of spring in the winter time. Um and then there we have other blends like Eleanor. We have a wine actually named after Frances' wife, and it's a Syrah Cabernet-based blend. And it comes from here in Sonoma County, and it's just this beautiful plush red wine that goes really nicely in the winter time with some hardy hardy meals. So but it also is really nice, it's just like its own little wine by itself with cheese.

SPEAKER_01:

With cheese, of course. Um, I would love to let people know the shipping cutoffs. Are we too late? Do you know?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh goodness, I don't know. Let me look. Let me look.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. No, I should know. Um that's okay. It'll tell them at checkout. Is it at liquor stores? I should know this.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so we have some of our wines are distributed throughout um the US and internationally. We have, you know, something like a total wine, or um, you know, depending on where you live in the country, we're in grocery stores, but also um, you know, more wine-centric stores.

SPEAKER_01:

I know I've definitely seen it when I've been shopping. I'm trying to add it to my cart super quick. It'll tell them.

SPEAKER_00:

I guess I should have asked. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01:

One way or another. People can get their wine.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, I just make wine. I don't really know how it gets to people.

SPEAKER_01:

New Year's celebration, whatever it is. Oh man. Well, so good. I man, I have to get to California. We have um Colby's, my husband's cousins moved out that way, and we've been wanting to visit them and so many podcast guests that we've connected with. So it's time for time for a trip.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean, depending on what you want to see in California, this is a beautiful place to come because we not only have vineyards and wines that are spectacular, um, we also have redwoods and the beach, wow, and um a river that you can hang out in the summer. I mean, it's just it's such a great, beautiful location. Um, I guess that's why I still live here. I I tried moving away multiple times and I just kept coming back to this place.

SPEAKER_01:

So man, that says a lot about it. Well, we end each of our conversations with the same three questions, and I would love to hear your answers as well. The first is something you have eaten recently and loved.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my okay. Um, well, every time I eat, I pretty much love what I'm eating because I make sure of that. I I I love that answer though. I mean, I want to be I want to be satisfied and happy time I eat. And even if it's like something that's not really spectacular, I'm gonna be happy about it because it's an opportunity that I just got. So um I recently let's see, I just had this amazing like chicken and eggplant uh dish. And it's like a Thai inspired um, I had it at a restaurant, it was lovely, and I I have learned to love eggplant in my adulthood. It was something that I did not um I didn't appreciate as a younger person, and uh now I really love it and had an amazing glass of Sauvignon Blanc with it, and it was perfect.

SPEAKER_01:

So um, eggplant is one of my favorite foods. I love it in almost all forms. Um, but like something like a ratatouille is probably my favorite way to enjoy it. But um, fun fact in Thailand, we lived there for four years. Um, eggplants are round and they're green. Oh, yeah. Have you seen them? They're little, they're like yes, yeah, they're like little plums.

SPEAKER_00:

Is the texture much different because of it?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's uh when it's cooked down, no, but when it's raw, yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Um but there's I mean, because people always can't get past the texture.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, yep, yeah, it is definitely specific.

SPEAKER_00:

But I love it now. I'm like, ooh, it melts in my mouth. It's amazing. It's great.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, oh, that's a good answer. Cool, cool. Um, well, how about a gathering you attended that made you feel a sense of belonging? Um, and what it was that what it was about it that made you feel that way.

SPEAKER_00:

Sense of belonging.

SPEAKER_01:

Or just like strong connection or anything.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean, this is like majorly recently, but it was yesterday. We had our little holiday celebration with my winemaking team. And uh we had it here at the winery in the restaurant, and I just felt so well taken care of. Uh, chef came and he saw me a few days before and was like, what do you guys need? What do you want? And I'm like, oh no, no, no. We just want to eat at the restaurant and enjoy our time here. And um, you know, we sat down and just all of this food started coming out, and he had, you know, made sure that, you know, my dietary restrictions were, you know, put in and it just it feels really comfortable when somebody um listens to you and feels all of the things that, you know, I don't know, listens to what you what you need to make you feel content. So, um Yeah, so not only did we have amazing food at Rustic, we also had like our camaraderie of our team and just like the warm feelings of the holidays and wrapping up the year. So that felt pretty good.

SPEAKER_01:

Love that. Yeah, it's always sweet when people anticipate your needs or kind of like plan details, yeah, without you knowing. You know, it's yes, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

That's very sweet. There was cheese. It was great.

unknown:

Always. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00:

But there was, I mean, he even served us olives um with an olive oil that comes from one of our estate vineyards that we make the olive oil from there, and then uh picked mandarins or mandarins from the property here, and it was an unexpected like pairing together, but so good. And I ate like the whole bowl. No one else ate it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. People make um, I haven't had it yet. It's a very common cake for Christmas. It's a mandarin olive oil cake.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, okay. Well, yeah, that's what I had. I just had it in its basic form with no cake.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh man. Um, how about something you've discovered lately that you think everyone should know about? A Netflix show, an Amazon purchase.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh goodness. I came up with something and now I can't remember what it was. Um, I do know. So it's been really, really foggy here for the last few weeks. And I always know that I need to spend time outside, but I need to see the sun. And I mean, I've always known this about myself, but it's amazing how I my husband, he was like, Come outside, come outside. There's a sunny spot right here. And so we sat for like maybe three minutes before the sun kind of disappeared, but I could feel it on my face, and it feels like I was alive. Yeah, and that might sound strange, but it's like this really connected feeling to the season and all of that, and it was lovely.

SPEAKER_01:

There's an I'm on social media a lot, obviously, but um, there was this other meme that I saw, and it was like young parents going outside to touch grass, and the caption was like going to connect with nature after serving my toddler breakfast, because what the heck was that? But it was so funny, and it's so true though, because like there's something about those touch points with nature. That's what I was getting at, whether it's it's different for everybody. My husband just has to see a tree and he's happy, but um, I'm with you. Like the sun in my face is just another level, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, especially as we enter uh into winter. Um, it feels like winter already, but it's not winter. So I mean it feels like winter here in California, you know. That's kind of you know, most people say it's not winter, anyways, but um it feels like winter, it's cold and it's a little rainy.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh yeah, that's not fun. We have snow, um, and it's not my favorite.

SPEAKER_00:

But with snow, it's beautiful, right? It's white and hopefully not slush.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, the first day. The first day I'm a little bit of a New England Scrooge. Uh, we went to see White Christmas, the musical the other day. And have you seen White Christmas, the movie? Yes. Okay, I had never before this musical. Um, okay. Yeah, the story was new to me. And they were just like celebrating snow, the whole musical. I'm like, who are you people?

SPEAKER_00:

It's somebody from California. That's who's celebrating snow.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh man. Well, where do you want to send people to follow along?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, if they want to come and visit us here um in Geyserville and Sonoma County, they can fly into the Sonoma County Airport. Um, and then they can also come and visit us online at Francisford Coppola Winery.com. Um, and they can come and plan their visit.

SPEAKER_01:

Sounds good. Man, well, hopefully we get there. Um, we get there soon, and maybe I'll see some of you guys if you're visiting as well. But thank you so much, Andrea. This was a sweet conversation to send us off into the holidays.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, well, guys, you know the drill. If you love the conversation, share it with um, share it with your own community, and we will see you next week.