EVENTS & NEWS

Spirited magazine event partner Wine Competitions Management & Productions  recently concluded its second annual spirits competition. According to WCM&P founder and President Debra Del Fiorentino, the contest attracted twice as many entries as last year, and the quality of entries was outstanding. “Like the wine industry, spirits are getting better and better,” she says. “It was tough to pick a winner from so many wonderfully made craft distilled spirits.”

Nestled in northern California’s Sonoma County, Francis Ford Coppola Winery provides a guest experience unlike any other in the wine region. The Academy Award-winning director drew inspiration from the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen after purchasing the former Chateau Souverain winery in 2006 to create a one-of-a-kind place where families would wanted to stay the entire day.

The Next Generation

Agnesi 1799 ($59, 40%; Great Women Spirits, Sonoma): This brandy from the Great Women Spirits portfolio of the Family Coppola is named after Maria Gaetana Agnesi, an 18th century mathematician. While the brandy will eventually feature estate fruit, it is currently sourced and blended with some stocks of Germain-Robin distillery's brandy, combining both column- and pot-still brandies from Russian River Valley Dolcetto and Central Valley Colombard. At five years old, it blends richness of age — savory mushroom, dark fruit and vanilla — accented with light floral notes.

The Family Coppola will launch a series of cocktail-infused events this summer with their own line of Great Women Spirits at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery.

The house-crafted line of spirits is a collection of small-batch vodka, gin and brandy. The winery will host a weekly pop-up cocktail bar on Fridays at the Pool Cafe. Guests pay per drink.

The inaugural Craft Distillers Spirits Competition took place at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, Calif. over two days in December, 2017. The competition was created in conjunction with the upcoming Spirited International Spirits Trade Tasting & Show, February 27, 2018 (also at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds).

When life gives you lemons, make gin? When you are the greatest storyteller of all time, this is exactly what you do! Enter Francis Ford Coppola into the spirit world and a certain “gioia di vivere” flow fruitfully from his recently released Great Women Spirits collection, paying tribute to historical women of influence. (pg. 48)

It's not like many people need an excuse to break out their favorite alcoholic beverages after a long work day, but cocktail lovers and feminists alike will have a new brand to pour up soon. Francis Ford Coppola's winery company is launching Great Women Spirits, a line of vodka, gin and brandy that will be available this October in select restaurants and retailers.

The Countess Walewska potato vodka is the host of this delightful combination of grapefruit, tart lemon and the dark berry deliciousness of Crème de Cassis liqueur. Served up, as a welcome intrigue.

Movie mogul and winemaker Francis Ford Coppola is paying tribute to the women in his life by releasing a limited edition of classically styled spirits.

The Great Women Spirits will be available later this month (Oct17) in select restaurants and retailers.  The first house-crafted spirits will include vodka, gin, and brandy, and there are plans to expand the collection in the near future.

Announcing the launch on Monday (02Oct17), The Godfather director says, “My mother, sister, wife, daughter, and granddaughters have all inspired me, as have all of the incredible women we celebrate with Great Women Spirits.

The famous Coppola family —of whom the filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola is the patriarch—is venturing further into the beverage industry with a line of liquors called “Great Women Spirits.” They already own a winery, aptly named Francis Ford Coppola Winery, through their lifestyle company The Family Coppola: Cinema, Wine, Food, Hideaways, and Adventure.

The Family Coppola announced today that they have secured a craft spirits license and will be launching a spirits line, adding another venture to the wineries, restaurants and hotels already run by the famous filmmaking family. The new brand of “small-batch, house-crafted, classically styled spirits” will be called Great Women Spirits and will include a gin, vodka and brandy.