This label is the exclusive trade dress of Francis Ford Coppola Presents.
“Winemaking and filmmaking are two great art forms that are very important in the development of
California. They both start with raw ingredients—in the case of wine, the land and the grapes, and in the
case of film, the script and the actors’ performances.
The winemaker takes these raw materials and ferments
and blends. He says ‘yes’ to this batch, ‘no’ to that one. The director does the same thing: a series of yeses and nose, from casting and costuming to edits and sound mixes. In both cases you have to start with top notch raw materials—whether it’s the land or a script.”- Francis Ford Coppola Filmmaking and Winemaking Intersect In Sonoma When Francis Coppola chose Sonoma County as the home for his Rosso & Bianco winery, he did so because of the area’s beauty and winemaking potential. By selecting Sonoma, Francis provided our
winemaker Corey Beck, a Sonoma native, the opportunity to make wines with grapes grown in his
own proverbial backyard. Director’s Cut wines are the result—appellation-designated wines from
Sonoma’s diverse and distinctive appellations.
Sonoma Coast
The Sonoma Coast encompasses the entire Sonoma County coastline, which extends from the
Carneros appellation in the south to the Russian River Valley appellation in the northeast. Because
its climate is strongly influenced by the Pacific Ocean, temperatures remain relatively cool throughout
the growing season and rarely exceed 80 degrees. Yet, despite the cooler weather, the appellation
receives more than enough hours of sunlight to allow Pinot Noir grapes to reach optimum ripeness
each vintage. We source our fruit from several distinctive vineyards in sub-appellations renowned for
producing superior Pinot Noir, and work with our growers to cultivate low yields so that our fruit will
posses greater levels of concentration.
Vintage profile
In 2007, the unusually dry winter segued into a warm, dry spring season. Lack of precipitation reduced
the crop size and led to smaller than normal berries, which is always a precursor to high-quality fruit.
Because there were no substantial heat spikes, the season progressed slowly to allow the grapes to
ripen over a longer period of time. In fact, the harvest itself lasted for several weeks because good
weather allowed for leisurely picking. As a result, we picked only small lots of fruit each day based on
which rows showed the exact ripeness and phenolic development we were looking for. In the end, we
achieved tremendously concentrated fruit, which reveals a good deal of site-specific personality.
Winemaker’s notes
Aside from the fact Pinot Noir has a delicate nature and is therefore tricky to work with, we are
careful to extract as much color as possible from the grapes without accumulating too much tannin.
In the cellar, we place whole clusters of fruit into open-top fermenters and punch down several
times a day. The must is then pressed and placed into small barrels where it matures for nearly a year,
undergoing racking throughout its development. Our 2007 Pinot Noir shows rich, seductive flavors
and a velvety texture. It offers pure impressions of strawberries, raspberries and cherries as well as a
hint of lavender and fragrant notes of clove and sandalwood. 100% Pinot Noir; 12 months in 60%
new French oak, 40% 1-2 year old barrels; 14.3% alcohol.
Director’s Cut
2007 Cinema
www.franciscoppolawinery.com
Francis Ford Coppola and Director’s Cut are trademarks and the Director’s Cut tradedress is a registered trademark of the Coppola Companies. © 2009 Francis Ford Coppola Presents
“Winemaking and filmmaking are two great art forms that are very important in the development of California. They both start
with raw ingredients—in the case of wine, the land and the grapes, and in the case of film, the script and the actors’ performances.
The winemaker takes these raw materials and ferments and blends. He says yes to one batch, no to another. The director does the same
thing: a series of yeses and nos, from casting and costuming to edits and sound mixes. In both cases you have to start with top notch
raw materials—whether it’s the land or a script.” -Francis Ford Coppola
CINEMA
When the Francis Ford Coppola Winery opened its doors in 2006, the Coppola family was excited to give Director
of Winemaking, Corey Beck, a Sonoma County native, the opportunity to make wines that reflected his own vision
of the quintessential Sonoma wine. Director’s Cut became that endeavor— limited production, appellation-designate
wines sourced from Sonoma’s diverse and distinctive microclimates. Beck’s team is highly selective about the fruit
they source, acknowledging that grapes which consistently “perform” well make for superior wines. Over the past
few years, Beck has had the chance to see which vineyards produce truly stand-out Cabernet and Zinfandel, the two
primary varietals that make up Cinema, our Director’s Cut flagship wine.
THE BLEND
The 2007 vintage of Cinema represents several different sub-appellations of Sonoma. Our Cabernet Sauvignon is
grown in Alexander Valley, our Zinfandel and Petite Sirah come from Dry Creek Valley and our Cabernet Franc
hails from Knights Valley. Alexander Valley experiences a prolonged growing season due to extreme temperature
differentials between day and night. The alluvial gravel soils associated with the appellation also contribute to the
complex nature of Cabernet that is grown here. Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, which adds to the wine’s lushness,
comes from old vines that are dry-farmed and have low yields. We elected to add a little Cabernet Franc to the
blend this vintage because the exceptional growing conditions resulted in extremely fragrant fruit redolent of flowers
and raspberries. As a result of blending grapes from multiple appellations, the wine demonstrates a great deal of
complexity, as well as our winemaker’s individual style and skill. Our Director’s Cur Cinema is dark and rich, with an
exotic spice character and edge of earthiness.
VINTAGE PROFILE
The 2007 vintage experienced an unusually dry winter followed by a warm dry spring. Because there was very little
rain, the crop size was severely diminished and the grape clusters had smaller than normal berries. This condition
augurs high-quality fruit. In the summer months, there were no substantial heat spikes so the season progressed slowly, which allowed the
grapes to ripen over a longer period of time. In fact, harvest didn’t take place until October because the good weather never forced us to
pick. In the end, we achieved tremendously concentrated fruit with intense aromatics. The Cabernet, in particular, exhibits excellent tannin
structure and ripe, juicy flavors.
WINEMAKER’S NOTES
This is only our second vintage of Cinema, and we are delighted that it represents another spectacular vintage. This wine has tremendous
depth due to the excellent phenolic development of the fruit. Although it is extremely expressive now, the concentration and solid tannin
structure will allow it to mature nicely over time. Those who are fans of Super Tuscans will enjoy the spicy, full-bodied nature of this wine as
well as the rich, dark berry fruit impressions, which are layered with flavors of raspberries, cherries, cloves and cigar box. Because this wine has
already spent 18 months in barrel, it displays an elegant texture that makes it compatible with a wide variety of cuisines.
Extremely limited—only 3,973 cases produced
Blend: 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Zinfandel, 12% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petite Sirah
Alcohol: 14.5%
Barrel regimen: 18 months 60% new French oak, 40% 1-2 year old French oak
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