Wendy Putman, President of Wholesale Wine & Food, and her daughter Emily Putman, Director of International Sales, explained that the five reserve wines presented on the night were from a very small production run, made with grapes grown in California’s Napa Valley, and named after his most famous films.
Coppola’s winery, a family-run business, produced its first vintage in 1977.
One of the wines at last Friday’s wine dinner was the Sofia Coppola Sparkling, 2009, one of several wines named after his daughter. Emily says Coppola promised Sofia as a seven-year-old that he would make her a sparkling wine when she got married, and he followed through with his promise.
Emily says Coppola is very involved in the winery, including in the production of the unique labels, designed in a spiral around the bottle.
A specially-made machine uses infrared technology to sense where each bottle is, and wrap it accordingly.
Standout dishes of the evening included the king crab cannelloni wrapped in Parma ham, aged parmesan and balsamic vinegar, teamed with the Godfather 1972 Chardonnay.
Another example of a fine wine-and-food match was the black Angus New York strip steak, with a Pinot Noir reduction, teamed with The Cotton Club 1984 Zinfandel – a full red that worked really well with the rich flavours of the beef.