Page 26 - Exploring Taste Magazine N.2

EXPLORING TASTE—SANTA MARGHERITA GRUPPO VINICOLO

Sof a admits the ref ections on her own childhood are very strong, tage in 1977 – which his seven-year-old daughter contributed to by
and wine was always very central to bringing people together. stomping on the grapes, something the family continued to enjoy
“When my father f rst bought his vineyard in the mid-Seventies I as an annual “harvest” tradition before the process went high-tech.
was very young, but it was an investment not just in a business, but Francis’s daughter’s involvement in and her enthusiasm for the
in having a place where the family could all come together and re- business has, as with its produce, evolved and become ref ned with
lax. I’ve so many memories of adults sat around with kids playing age. Indeed, what began as a father’s gift to his beloved is now a
together. They are unique but we are living them again with the fully-f edged range – aptly named Sof a – of wines. Coppola con-
next generation. And we love traveling, too. We could be in Chateau siders her visits to the winery as “pure escapism”. “I love spending
Marmont in Los Angeles, or the Palazzo Margherita in Bernalda, time there,” she says. “And I was very lucky to have the opportunity
Southern Italy, or just somewhere really simple… but it’s all about to grow up in the Napa Valley – as a seven-year-old I was stomping
where new stories and new memories are being created.” on grapes and fascinated by how something from the vine could
Coppola’s own stories – she has written, directed and produced end up bottled and with a label on the front. And I love Napa wine,
all but her feature debut – are easily as distinctive as her father’s. especially the reds and the Champagnes, though I do let my father
Via the period-piece biopic Marie Antoinette, her tale of an ac- lead me on tastes and expertise, of course.”
tor’s existential crisis in Somewhere, shifting to cynical satire The It appears that for Coppola, the production side takes a back seat to
Bling Ring, Coppola’s latest ef ort has already won her this year’s the enjoyment of the result. “I must say, when it comes to the pro-
Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival. In The Beguiled, cess of wine-making I don’t know as much about it as I feel I should,”
Coppola re-imagines the 1971 f lm of the same name, set during she says, “But I do like to get involved in it and I am learning.
the American Civil War in 1864. It’s a dark tale of love, jealousy “Enjoying wine is really enjoying a process of becoming familiar with
and betrayal, with several women’s lives being disrupted by one tastes and regions and f avors. It’s very easy for it to become a passion
man – a soldier with impure intentions – and Coppola’s approach and that’s what I admire in any aspect of life,” although, she adds re-
again stages the female voice front and center, loud and proud. “I f ectively, what she craves most is the social experience of wine.
wasn’t a fan – I’d never seen it,” she says. “When a friend of mine Indeed, after winning her Palme D’Or for The Beguiled, Sof a f ew
put me on to it, it really stayed with me. I kept wondering how I straight back to the family winery. “When I got back from Cannes,
would do it if I retold the same story, but instead of coming from we opened some of the Méthode [Sof a Méthode Champenoise
the male gaze – the soldier’s point of view – I’d come from the sparkling wine] and the sparkling rosé [Sof a Brut Rosé] to cel-
female perspective. I found Thomas Cullinan’s book and read it ebrate,” she said at the time. “We had dinner and we all drank a
and started thinking about that dif erent interpretation. I never little too much wine because, well, how could you resist?” Cer-
thought I would work on a remake. And I haven’t in a way because tainly, those wonderfully named tributes to Sof a echo the direc-
I wanted to tell it from a dif erent angle. It’s my new interpretation. tor’s personality perfectly. Méthode is complex, mature and rich,
It’s the same story, but it’s told in a new light.” designed to bring together the traditions of the old and the new.
Born in New York but raised in the sunnier, Californian climes of The Brut Rosé, meanwhile, of ers a lighter ef ervescence – Sof a
the Napa Valley, Coppola now lives in New York with her musician at her most light-hearted.
husband Thomas Mars and their two children. They also have a So what comes next in this tale of drama and wine? “The truth is,
house in Paris, where Thomas’s band is based. California remains I don’t know yet,” she admitted. “I need a break and then I’ll work
a frequent destination though, for obvious reasons. Having used out what to do next. Sometimes I just need to clear my head for a Photo Araya Diaz/Getty Images
the success of the original Godfather f lm to fund his f rst vineyard, bit – we all do.” And in the vineyards, she has the most accessible,
bought from Gustave Niebaum, Coppola Snr produced his f rst vin- revitalizing and rousing of escapes.

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