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18 W i n e s & V i n e s M A R C H 2 0 1 4 S acramento, Calif.—When Francis Coppola decided to remove his movie memorabilia and rename Niebaum-Coppola winery Rubicon Estate Winery (now Inglenook), the move was met with confusion and resistance on the parts of its Napa Valley neighbors and even members of the winery's own staff. But as with all true innovations, skep- ticism is par for the course, said Tracy Geldert, CEO at Francis Ford Coppola Pres- ents, which owns that property and others. Geldert was part of a group of alcoholic beverage producers participating in a panel about innovation Jan. 30 at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento. She shared that the award-winning film director wanted to clear Niebaum- Coppola, which hosted 350,000 visitors per year, of "people who don't care about wine." At the time, the company estimated 70% of those who visited the winery did not taste the wine. People were equally horrified when Coppola bought the beloved Chateau Souverain property in Sonoma County and immediately dug a giant hole on the grounds for a swimming pool. But after bringing all of the cinematic treasures and non-Inglenook wines to this site, and cre- ating a family atmosphere that includes the swimming pool, cabanas and a restaurant, the new Francis Ford Coppola Winery drove visitation up to 200,000 per year. "By year three it was really fun being looked at as a leader and having the cour- age to do what we did at the property. But it took a lot of courage, and we had to spend a lot of time managing expecta- tions," she said. One difficult hurdle Geldert had to jump during the changeover was firing Niebaum- Coppola employees who were resistant to the transition. By the time the company opened the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Geldert knew what needed to be done. "We had a lot of fun with it and hired a whole lot of people with a can-do attitude that loved it as much as we did," she said. As for the ever-innovating Coppola, his company recently acquired the Geyser Peak Winery building, and Geldert prom- ises there are many more surprises on the horizon. "My job working for Francis Coppola was never to ask 'if,' but 'how.'" —Kate Lavin The Business of Winery Innovation Francis Ford Coppola Presents CEO recalls successes and missteps at Unified Tracy Geldert (left) talks winery innovation with panelits such as Nick Goldschmidt (right). kEn FREEzE M A R C H N E W S