The movie legacy of a popular winery

If you reside among the rolling, green hills of Northern California, you may feel pretty far from the movie industry most of the time, but there are two film legacies that give Bay Area residents their own sense of movie cred and pride.

First, the northern Bay Area county of Marin is the birthplace of the eternally popular Star Wars franchise and home to its creator, George Lucas. You’ll find LucasFilm and Industrial Light and Magic nestled among those green hills we mentioned.

Second, the San Francisco Bay area is home to Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary director/producer who gave us so many of our film favorites, including The Godfather franchise, Apocalypse Now and The Outsiders.

As part of what was known as New Hollywood in the 1960s and ‘70s, filmmakers like Lucas and Coppola settled up north in order to follow their hearts and their creativity, far from the oversight of the big movie studios they saw as oppressive and uncreative. New Hollywood focused more on the directors than the studios.

When in Rome, so to speak ... so Coppola got involved in the popular Northern California wine industry. In 1975, he used the profits from his iconic film The Godfather to purchase a Rutherford, California home and the adjoining vineyard from Gustave Niebaum. If you saw the wonderful series The Offer, you know that after the stress of getting that movie made, Coppola probably loved the peace and tranquility of a remote winery.

It was a family affair in 1977 when the winery produced its first vintage. Coppola’s wife, children and even his father took off their shoes to stomp some grapes. The winery still has a harvest party every year.

In 1995, Coppola bought the sprawling Inglenook Winery in Napa Valley.

Bay Area locals longing for a touch of Hollywood magic can enjoy a movie museum that features the car from the 1988 film Tucker, the desk from the 1972 film The Godfather, and props from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now.

Being at the winery, you feel like you’ve entered Coppola’s personal oasis and gotten a glimpse into his life outside the Hollywood scene. You picture him sitting on the patio outside Rustic Restaurant with a glass of his signature wine, overlooking the lush grounds and enjoying one of his favorite dishes.

Coppola has called his winery, “a wine wonderland, a park of pleasure where people of all ages can enjoy all the best things in life – food, wine, music, dancing, games, swimming and performances of all types. A place to celebrate the love of life."

Sure, Northern California bears little resemblance to Hollywood, but the filmmakers who call it home quite literally walked out on the traditional film industry. That makes them a little rebellious, infinitely independent and extremely successful in paving their own paths in life.

Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch offers a similar oasis to Coppola's, a lush wonderland where moviemaking happens on its own terms and in its own time.

Coppola also owns the San Francisco restaurant Cafe Zoetrope, named for his production company, American Zoetrope.