Coppola makes leading wine expert a deal he can’t refuse

STEVE CHIOTAKIS: The man who directed all the ‘Godfather’ movies, just made someone an offer he couldn’t refuse. Francis Ford Coppola hired one of the world’s leading wine experts and will move him from France, to Coppola’s vineyard in California.

From the European Desk in London, Marketplace’s Stephen Beard reports.

STEPHEN BEARD: The champagne corks are popping on the Coppola estate in the Napa Valley. The wine-loving director has just recruited a leading French wine-manager. He plucked him from the prestigious Chateau Margaux vineyard in France. Coppola’s on a mission to restore his once famous Inglenook vineyard to its former glory.

Jancis Robinson of the Financial Times:

JANCIS ROBINSON: There’s no doubt it’s a vineyard of massive potential.

But she has her doubts that a French wine manager will transplant easily to the Napa Valley.

ROBINSON: The weather’s going to be so different. The soils will be different. So he will have a very steep learning curve.

Not least when it comes to communication. The French wine manager doesn’t speak English. But the movie director is unabashed. Coppola says: I like a man of few words.

In London I’m Stephen Beard for Marketplace.