When making tasting notes on Skywalker Vineyards chardonnay, some wag will inevitably observe, “The Force is strong in this one.”
And they’d be right. George Lucas’ adventures in winemaking began at Skywalker Ranch more than 20 years ago, and its wines frequently score points in the 90s from critics (not to mention garnering Best Wine Label in our readers’ poll).
Encouraged by friend and fellow filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola’s success in the wine business (after a youth steeped in the Central Valley’s commercial wine culture), Lucas planted four acres of vines at the ranch in 1991. Skywalker Vineyards has since expanded to 28 acres, producing some of Marin County’s most prized fruit and wines intended to satisfy Lucas’ famously exacting standards.
The endeavor comes with a formidable antagonist: West Marin itself. Dramatic temperature shifts, forceful ocean winds, steep terrain and a short growing season once led many to consider the region too inhospitable for serious viticulture.
Winemaker Scott McLeod and his team have spent the past two decades proving otherwise. Their work requires constant experimentation with vineyard sites, grape clones and cultivation techniques—along with the patience necessary to coax distinguished wines from a landscape that seldom makes anything easy.
Despite sharing a name with Lucas’ most famous hero, Skywalker’s association with the film franchise that made its maker millions is a tad more distant since he sold Lucasfilm and its intellectual properties to Disney but kept the wine biz. His pal Coppola did the opposite—he sold Francis Ford Coppola Winery and made Megalopolis (for reasons known only to the artist himself). That said, the relationship between Lucas’ wine and Star Wars may not be so far, far away after all.
This past May 4th, the Walt Disney Family Museum hosted a “Perfect Pairing” event that encouraged imbibers and fans of the franchise to enjoy the “fruits” of the imagination of filmmaker-turned-vintner George Lucas with a screening of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and Skywalker Vineyards wines.
Moreover, wines from the Skywalker Vineyards portfolio are included in the “Disney Family of Wines,” a collection of independently owned producers connected to Disney history and culture. That affiliation has helped place Lucas’ premium bottlings in select lounges, restaurants and special events throughout Disney’s parks and resorts.
And remember, when you finish one bottle, “There is another…”
More at skywalkervineyards.com.
