The Wonderful World of Disney Meets the Magic of Napa

April 5, 2024 – One of the wineries pouring for the first time at Pebble Food & Wine 2024 is Frank Family Vineyards of Napa. I happen to have just visited them at their gorgeous new hospitality center, The Miller House in Calistoga. 

Owners Rich and Leslie Frank have created a stunning architectural piece, with walls of glass that open to let in both the light and the outdoors. Constructed of red cedar and furnished with custom tables made by Leslie’s brother in Canada, it has a modern farmhouse feel that marries perfectly with the really old farmhouse, and the even older winery on the property, which dates to 1884. 

Leslie, whose maiden name is Miller, was born in Canada and is an Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist, who covered the Michael Jackson trial in 2005, and was a news anchor for TV station KABC in Los Angeles. 

You’ve probably seen those striking cut-out labels of the old stone winery building, flanked by bright green elm trees, on the labels of Frank Family Vineyards wines. You may have tried the Frank Family Chardonnay, perhaps the Pinot Noir, and maybe the Cabernet Sauvignon, that are found in higher end grocery stores. They also make a Zin, which is so popular, they can barely keep it in stock. Turns out they are constantly looking for more Napa Zin, but it is being ripped out and replanted with Cabernet, which is not in short supply. 

Visiting the Frank Family property in Napa is a must for those who love really excellent single vineyard wines, 80s and 90s TV shows and movies, sparkling wine and baseball. Let me explain. 

Proprietor Rich Frank was president of Walt Disney Studios and before that president of Paramount Television Group. Over the year he brought us gems like Cheers, Taxi, Family Ties, Golden Girls, Ellen, Dead Poet’s Society, Pretty Woman, Good Morning Vietnam, Aladdin and The Lion King. Frank loves wine and a good comedy almost equally. He is also a big baseball fan. 

His father Hyman Frank grew up in Brooklyn, where he became a rather well-known minor league baseball player. His aspirations of getting to the majors were sidelined when WWII heated up and leaving his wife and young son, Rich, behind, enlisted in the Army, determined to serve his country. 

Stationed in England, he was one of the lucky ones who survived the landing on Omaha Beach. His unit drove the trucks that carried the oil for General Patton’s tanks, as he made his way from Normandy to the German border. When he returned home, Hy founded a meat packing company with his buddy Gus and with the money from the business, insisted on sending his two sons, Rich and Billy, to college. They both attended the University of Illinois. 

Frank told us his father said, “Get out of New York and see the rest of the country!” And boy, did he ever. 

After graduating college, he moved to LA and worked in advertising. His long-term career in Hollywood saw him develop the Disney Channel as well as become one of the founders of USA Network. His love for Hollywood and also for his father are commemorated in two very touchingly decorated rooms in the old farmhouse on the Frank Family Vineyards property, which he purchased in 1992. The glitzy Hollywood room sports film reels and posters, while the Patriarch room has baseball memorabilia, along with a stunning photograph of Rich as a small child in Hy’s arms—his father proudly wearing his Army uniform. 

During his Disney tenure, Frank loved to travel to Napa as a respite from the craziness of Hollywood. His frequent visits led to the purchase of a gorgeous vineyard and home in Rutherford, known as the Winston Vineyard. Through his frequent Napa visits, he met Kerner Rombauer and the two became friends. 

Rombauer convinced Frank that he needed a winery, and it just so happened that the old Larkmead Vineyard property was for sale. The place had been used for a spell by Hans Kornell for sparkling wine production, so when Todd Graff was hired as winemaker at Frank Family in 2003, bringing with him sparkling wine experience from Schramsberg, Joseph Phelps, and Cordoniu (now Artesa), it naturally followed that Frank Family would produce sparkling wine. And do they ever. 

We began our tasting with the exquisite 2015 Brut Rose Lady Edythe 30^th anniversary reserve, made from 66% Chardonnay, 34% Pinot Noir, and aged six years on the lees. Very rare, it is occasion-worthy, and showing off the new Miller House, the creation of which was visualized and overseen by Rich’s wife, Leslie Miller Frank, was such an occasion. 

We were treated to a sneak preview of the thoughtful pairings that accompany the special wines accessible to club members, including the 2016 Blanc de Blancs, a classic lemon peel and fresh ginger-laced sparkler, made of 100% Chardonnay from the Lewis Vineyard in Carneros. It was paired with Marin French Petite Supreme Brie, a cheese made in those adorable little balls French laborers once packed for lunch, along with a baguette. 

If you like the Frank Family Napa Valley Chardonnay, and even if you’re not a fan, you are really going to like the single vineyard Chardonnays that Graff crafts. We tried the 2021 Lewis Vineyard Chardonnay is a heady mélange of orange blossoms, lemon cream and mango, aged for 11 months in 100% new French oak barrels. The lively Meyer lemon acidity keeps it fresh as the afternoon breezes that grace Carneros. It was perfect with Cypress Grove Lamb Chopper cheese and a 24-month aged Comte. 

Hospitality director Liam Gearity, a Hollywood transplant lured by Leslie and Rich to work for them in Napa, accidentally opened the 2021 Sangiacomo Chardonnay, which proved more biscuity and tropical: it was a good contrast to the Lewis Chardonnay. Gearity also included a drizzle of basil pesto on the pairing plates, which included Marcona almonds and some lovely finocchio salami, as well as braciola for sampling with the reds. He encouraged us to play with the combination of flavors and texture to fully appreciate the inner layers and outer corners of the wines. 

The reds included the 2019 RHF Rutherford Cabernet, for Rich (Richard Harvey Frank). It delivers bold, unmistakably Napa flavors, including blackberry, boysenberry, peppery cocoa with a hint of savory earth, and the 2019 Winston Hill Cab, a big-boned wine, with expansive black currant and chocolate covered caramel flavors. Both wines are tuned with a bit of Merlot, Cab Franc and Petit Verdot. 

We finished with the 2019 Patriarch, a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, first made in 2012 to celebrate Rich’s father Hy, who was turning 96 at the time. Graff selected the best Cabernet grapes from Winston Hill to make a wine fitting to honor the man whom Rich admired so much. 

When the wine was presented to Hy on his 98^th birthday, he liked it so much, he called Leslie the next day to ask for more bottles of “his” wine. He told her he needed a lot of bottles to take on his next round of doctor’s visits, so he could properly thank each one of them for keeping him alive so long. 

Both Rich and Leslie will tell you that what kept him alive until nearly 100, through all the circumstances of his life, was his patriotism, love of country, drive, love of family and his firm belief in the pursuit of the American dream. They’ve done well by following his example. 

If you’re going to Pebble Beach Food & Wine, stop by and say hello to the Franks and to Gearity, who will be pouring. And definitely visit Frank Family Winery in Napa for a dose of Hollywood history, baseball memorabilia and some excellent wines. 

The Miller House Elevated Experience is available for online booking, at $120 per guest, $60 per club member. The outdoor patio is also available for seated Estate tastings, $60 per person, complimentary for members. Reservations can be made online at FrankFamilyVineyards.com/Visit and private event inquiries can be made at FrankFamilyVineyards.com/Private-Events.

Frank Family Vineyards | 1091 Larkmead Lane, Calistoga, California