This Hollywood legend will soon own part of a big wine operation near Manteca
Acclaimed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola will merge two of his wineries with Delicato Family Wines, based near Manteca and Napa.
The director of “The Godfather” and other movies will have an equity stake in Delicato, the parties said in a news release Thursday.
Delicato will add two premium labels to its portfolio: the Francis Ford Coppola Winery and the Virginia Dare Winery. Both are in Geyserville, Sonoma County, and sell online for $12 to $152 per bottle.
The Coppola family will continue to separately own Inglenook in the Napa Valley and Domaine de Broglie in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. It is expected to close in about a month.
Delicato employs 840 people, and Coppola has 425. The release said the parties will “make the transition seamless for employees, suppliers and customers alike.”
Delicato already is the fifth-largest seller by volume in the U.S. market, at about 16 million cases a year, according to winebusiness.com. The list is dominated by companies in and near Stanislaus County.
Delicato has its headquarters in Napa but makes much of its wine at a plant along Highway 99 just north of Manteca.
The business dates to 1924, when Sicilian immigrant Gaspare Indelicato planted his first vineyard near Manteca. Third-generation President and CEO Chris Indelicato will lead the combined operations. Coppola, 82, will serve on the board.
“There is a strong cultural fit between our two companies, and by combining two highly complementary portfolios, we create a more diversified winery,” Indelicato said in the release.
Coppola directed the “Godfather” trilogy, “Apocalypse Now,” “The Cotton Club,” “Peggy Sue Got Married” and several other movies. His producing credits include “American Graffiti” in 1973, created by Modesto native George Lucas.
Coppola started making wine in the Rutherford area of the Napa Valley in 1977. The company now sells about 1.7 million cases annually.
“I am proud to announce that I have found the perfect fit to take our family winery to even greater heights,” Coppola said in the release.
“Delicato is also family-owned and shares similar core values, as both companies are anchored by long-term sustainable focus and a foundation built on family values: integrity, respect, quality, accountability, partnership, excellence and community.”
Corey Beck, the CEO and winemaking chief at Coppola, will become executive vice president and chief winemaker at Delicato.
Delicato’s lower-priced domestic brands include Bota Box, Noble Vines, Gnarly Head, Z. Alexander Brown, Black Stallion, 1924, Three Finger Jack, Toad Hollow and Mercer Bros. It imports Santa Rita 120 from Chile and Schmitt Söhne Family Wines from Germany.
Delicato also has luxury domestic wines, such as Black Stallion Limited Release, Diora, Dobbes Family Estate Wines and Wine by Joe. And it imports fine wines that include Schloss Vollrads, Franz Keller and Bischöfliche Weingüter from Germany; Casa Real and Triple C from Chile; and Torbreck Vintners from Australia.
Winebusiness.com ranks the largest companies each year. The case volumes are estimates for those that are not publicly traded.
E.&J. Gallo Winery of Modesto tops the 2021 list at 88 million cases. The Wine Group is second at 51 million, much of it from a plant northeast of Ripon.
Constellation Brands, based in New York state, is third at 28 million cases. Its volume shrank when it sold part of its operation to Gallo in January.
Trinchero Family Estates, based in Napa, is fourth at 20 million cases. Delicato will remain fifth after adding part of Coppola’s 1.7 million cases.
Treasury Wine Estates, based in Australia, is sixth at 15 million cases sold in the U.S. Bronco Wine Co., south of Ceres, is seventh at 10 million cases.
This story was originally published June 25, 2021 at 8:40 AM.
