Up at the new Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Geyserville, as we noted when it first opened last year, it’s all about Francis. The décor? Part nouveau chateau, part museum/shrine to Francis’s fillmmaking career. The menu at the restaurant? All of Francis’s favorite dishes from over the years, including friend Martin Scorsese’s mother’s recipe for lemon chicken. And for the grounds, Francis envisioned a family-oriented, wine country playground, complete with an enormous pool, bocce ball courts, and cabanas for changing into your tennis whites. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the pool is open, at least on Sundays. We feel compelled to remind the adults, however, that drinking and cannonballs into pools full of children are not advised.
The project probably shouldn’t be surprising coming from the mind of such a renowned, voracious sensualist as Mr. Coppola. (Sidebar: He also has a mini-chain of boutique resorts in his favorite places, like Belize, Guatemala, and New Orleans.) We just don’t always want a side of children with our wine, but that’s just us. (Although, as Gabrielle Hamilton rightly points out, alcohol does make children a lot easier to bear.)
The details are as follows: The new “Winery Park” will be open, weather permitting, every Sunday in April from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. This includes the 3,600 square-foot swimming pool and 28 cabines — European-style changing rooms — as well as an outdoor Pool Café, a performance pavilion, four regulation-sized bocce courts, a kid’s lending library, and game tables for backgammon, chess, etc. Daily pool passes are $15 for adults and $10 for children and seniors, with cabine rentals at $75 per day. The Pool Café will serve salads, paninis and snacks, as well as wines by the glass, with prices ranging from $5 to $18.
From May 1 to September 30, the Winery Park will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the pavilion will play host to live music and dancing throughout the summer.
Let the day-drinking begin! But trying to drive home from Geyserville afterwards: also not advised.
Earlier: The Big Coppola Mega-Winery, Plus Several More ‘Low-Key Charms’ to Find in Sonoma [Grub Street]
At Rustic, It’s All About Francis [Grub Street]
