Done deal: Delicato’s purchase of Coppola wine assets in Sonoma County gets regulatory OK

The acquisition of two Sonoma County wineries and associated wines owned by filmmaker, hotelier and vintner Francis Ford Coppola has received Federal Trade Commission approval, the new owner announced Monday Aug. 2.

As the Journal reported in June, Napa Valley-based Delicato Family Wines’s acquisition creates one of the top 10 suppliers of wine in the U.S. and exporters of California wine. Delicato becomes the No. 5 supplier of U.S. wine overall and in the over-$11-a-bottle category as well as the No. 3 exporter of California wines, the company said.

About 250 Coppola employees will join Delicato.

The deal includes the Francis Ford Coppola Winery and Virginia Dare Winery brands as well as Archimedes Vineyard. Coppola himself would get a stake in Delicato and join its board. Delicato President and CEO Chris Indelicato would remain in that role. Francis Ford Coppola Winery CEO Corey Beck would become executive vice president for production and chief winemaker for Delicato.

Coppola continues to own and run his other wine assets, Inglenook in Napa Valley and Domaine de Broglie Winery in Oregon.

“The fundamentals of our business remain strong, our employee culture is thriving, and we are committed to our proven strategy focused on long-term, profitable, and sustainable growth,” Indelicato stated in the announcement.

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