The Wines of Francis Coppola Pinot Grigio

“The winemaking process begins with the careful selection of grapes at the optimal level of sugar and acid, followed by a meticulous fermentation process that enhances the wine’s inherent characteristics. Aged in Burgundian neutral barrels for 5 months on fine lees and gently stirred a few times.”

Aged for 5 months in French oak.

Russian River Valley’s characteristic cool mornings and warm afternoons allow pinot grigio grapes to develop a perfect balance of acidity and ripeness. This vineyard is very well balanced and has great drainage, resulting in healthy vines and excellent grapes. The fruit was handpicked early in the morning and brought directly to the winery.

With 2023 being a historically late year, 2024 was a complete 180° and ripening came on much quicker across all regions in the North Coast. Bloom, set, and veraison were all much more condensed with the warmer temperatures in May-July. High temps in the mid-90s and above in June reduced cluster sizing post-set, which resulted in a lighter crop entering into harvest. October’s extreme heat abruptly ended the 2024 harvest.
As we experienced multiple stretches of heat waves throughout harvest, this led to yields gradually dropping, pushing us to harvest much earlier this past year.
We were fortunate on rain events with nothing of significant impact. Canopy health was also in good standing as we had another wet winter and didn’t have any canopy stress during ripening. Rot/mold pressures were low, and the only real vineyard issue was rapid sugar accumulation with the hot weather. All wineries across the board couldn’t pick fast enough to keep up with the spiked brix levels. Overall, 2024 was a strong quality year and the cellar teams did a great job of processing a lot of fruit in a short period of time.