19-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Francis Ford Coppola Winery owner shutters production facility in latest Wine Country closure
The owner of Francis Ford Coppola Winery has closed one of its two production facilities.
Delicato, which purchased the winery from the famous film director in 2021, closed the Francis Ford Coppola Winery Too production facility in Geyserville and laid off 15 employees, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice filed earlier this month with California authorities. The layoffs at 22281 Chianti Road, Geyserville, took effect on May 15, according to the filing. Most of the employees worked in wine production roles; all were offered severance.
Delicato, the fourth largest U.S. wine producer, is best known for supermarket brands like boxed wine Bota. Vice president of communications Brent Dodd told the Chronicle that the company has 'ample production capacity' throughout its California facilities and has moved production from the Chianti Road winery to its nearby Francis Ford Coppola Winery, 'which remains fully open for tasting, restaurant, pool, bottling and crushing.'
Delicato is one of several major wine companies to downsize this year amidst a worsening global wine downturn. Earlier this month, Duckhorn announced the closure of three tasting rooms and plans to phase out four brands. In April, Jackson Family Wines confirmed layoffs and Constellation Brands sold off a huge chunk of its wine portfolio. Lawrence Wine Estates has also recently laid off employees, closed a winemaking facility and consolidated much of its production.
Delicato acquired the Francis Ford Coppola Winery Too facility, formerly known as Virginia Dare Winery, along with the Francis Ford Coppola Winery and label, plus a vineyard. (Coppola had purchased the Virginia Dare facility, originally the home of Geyser Peak Winery, in 2014.) As part of the deal, which Coppola told the Wall Street Journal was worth about $650 million, the director joined Delicato's board of directors and received an equity stake in the company. Coppola, who still owns his noted Napa Valley wine estate, Inglenook, said he borrowed $200 million against that equity stake to help fund his controversial and costly film 'Megalopolis.'
Despite the recent facility closure, the Coppola acquisition seems to have paid off for Delicato. The Coppola Diamond brand, featuring a wide array of wines priced under $20, accounts for 1.2 million cases of Delicato's $16 million case production and surpasses Bota, which is at 900,000 cases, according to Wine Business.
