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Connections between "Falcon Crest" and Other Productions
 
(revised 03/07/2022)
 
 
 
 
This section deals with the two iconic filming locations that are the core of the unique setting for "Falcon Crest": Spring Mountain Vineyard in St. Helena, CA and Stags' Leap Winery outside Napa, CA.
 
Detailed information about the use of these filming locations is avaialble in the respective episodes of our Show – Episodes – Analysis & Interpretation – Behind the Scenes section and for members in our episodic Filming Location Database.
 
 
It would be a boundless undertaking to list all TV productions and movies that utilized the same filming locations that were featured on "Falcon Crest", particularly those located in the Greater Los Angeles area. This section is limited to cross-references to the two aforementioned iconic "Falcon Crest" locations in the Napa Valley.
They were sometimes presented on other shows and elsewhere in popular culture, such as books or artworks. The following overview is sub-structured by titles in chronological order.
 
 
 
 
Spring Mountain Vineyard
 
 
This property nowadays consists of several previously independent yet neighboring wine estates, three of which were filming locations for the series:

  • Miravalle,
    the core of the property, which was called Spring Mountain Vineyards Ltd. while the show was in production and which is now referred to as Miravalle again,
    with its key components
    • Villa Miravalle,
      portraying the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion;
    • the Winery Building,
      portraying the main building of the Falcon Crest Winery Building Complex;
    • the Barn,
      portraying the Falcon Crest Guest House.
  •  
  • Chateau Chevalier,
    which, in "The Vintage Years", portrayed primarily The Gioberti Estate, particularly with the winery posing as the Cottage (the predecessor of what would later become the Gioberti House in the series);
  •  
  • La Perla,
  • which, in "The Vintage Years", portrayed primarily the Winery Building at the Gioberti Vineyard (the predecessor of the Falcon Crest Winery Building).
 
The various parts of this vast wine estate were also used in other productions:
 
  • "Hart to Hart":
     
    During the original broadcast of "Falcon Crest", this crime drama produced by COLUMBIA PICTURES TELEVISION filmed a Napa Valley based episode for its season 4 première, "On a Bed of Harts" (# 068 <4.01>; original U.S. airdate: 09/28/1982, ABC) in which various parts of Spring Mountain — under different ownership at that time — were featured:
     
    • La Perla Residence:
      The residence at La Perla itself, a then contemporary home built in the 1970's by the wine estate's former owners, the Draper family, remained unseen in "The Vintage Years"; LORIMAR had only filmed a panorama of the Tuscany Valley from a spot east of this residence (the spot where the camera was placed in "The Vintage Years" is marked with a yellow camera angle on the last screen grab from "Hart to Hart" below). Consult the Show – Episodes – Analysis & Interpretation – Behind the Scenes section for the trick LORIMAR used to combine footage from two different filming locations for "The Vintage Years".

      This house at La Perla played Maris Thorn's Napa Valley home in said "Hart to Hart" episode.
      The residence, by the way, burnt to the ground in the Boyson and Glass Fires (Napa Valley wildfires) towards the end of September 2020.


    • La Perla Winery:

      The winery at La Perla posed as the Winery Building at the Gioberti Vineyard in "The Vintage Years".

      In the aforementioned "Hart to Hart" episode, it portrayed the barn (screen grab 2) where Jonathan and Jennifer Hart discovered the bed from their wedding night after it had been stolen.


    • Chateau Chevalier Winery:

      The winery at Chateau Chevalier posed as the original Gioberti House in "The Vintage Years" where it was referenced as the Cottage.

      In the aforementioned "Hart to Hart" episode, it portrayed a wedding venue where the Harts "drove by" in their bed on their exciting way through the Napa Valley.
  •  
     
  • "La Casa 5":
     
    This horror movie, which was filmed primarily in Madisonville, LA / USA, was produced by the Italian FILMIRAGE company and tells the story of a minister and his wife moving into a haunted house. The film, which was filmed in English language, was first released in Italy 07/31/1990 under its original title "La Casa 5". International releases used different titles, such as "Beyond Darkness" (or "House 5" for the later DVD and Blu-ray releases) in the U.S. and "Horror House 2" (or later "Ghosthouse 6") in Germany, for example.
    While the movie itself did not use Spring Mountain's Villa Miravalle — the Falcon Crest Victorian Mansion from the "Falcon Crest" TV series — as a filming location, the artwork for the video (VHS), DVD and Blu-ray releases in some countries, including Italy, Germany and the U.S., featured a picture of Villa Miravalle, which was modified on the right side — the main tower and the dining room area were removed and replaced with elements from another house. Due to the unique architecture of Villa Miravalle, however, the left parts of the house on the video tape or disc cover are easily recognizable as Villa Miravalle. It remains a mystery why the artwork did not include the actual house where the movie was filmed.
    Photo 1 shows Villa Miravalle from the approximately same angle as the modified picture on the VHS / DVD artwork.
  •  
     
  • "Jacaranda Vines":
     
    The German translation of the novel "Jacaranda Vines" ("Der Duft des Jacaranda") by TAMARA McKINLEY featured a photo of the front of Villa Miravalle on the 2001 edition from the now defunct WELTBILD publishing company. The novel is a decade-spanning family drama about the Witney family who runs a wine estate in Australia. The photo of Villa Miravalle was taken during the 1980's with the BMW on the driveway that belonged to the winery's owner back in the day, MIKE ROBBINS; the photo was licensed from a stock photo agency for the novel. Other editions of the novel, particularly those on markets outside Germany, used a totally different artwork for the book.
    Photo 1 shows the picture of Villa Miravalle that was used for the novel in its original format.
 
 
 
Stags' Leap Winery
 
 
This most heavily filmed location for "Falcon Crest" served as countless Tuscany Valley vineyards. The property's key buildings played integral parts on "Falcon Crest", especially The Gioberti Estate:
  • the Manor House,
    portraying the Gioberti House;
  •  
  • the Limestone Pergola (with the former swimming pool),
    portraying the limestone pergola behind the Gioberti House;
  •  
  • the Driveway,
    portraying the Falcon Crest Main Driveway and The Gioberti Estate Driveway;
  •  
  • the Main Guest House,
    portraying The Gioberti Estate Guest House;
  •  
  • the Historic Stone Winery,
    portraying Stone Briar Winery / Gianinni Winery / Gioberti Winery as well as the cave inside the main building of the Falcon Crest Winery Building Complex.
 
The various parts of this wine estate were also used in other productions:
 
  • "Pollyanna":
     
    The Manor House at Stags' Leap Winery portrayed the Gioberti House on "Falcon Crest", propped by LORIMAR with a specific door with the falcon coat of arms (screen grab 4).
    "Pollyanna", the WALT DISNEY movie — theatrical release date: 05/19/1960 (USA) — about a little girl coming to a small town that is embattled by feuds and intimidated by her aunt, stars JANE WYMAN as Aunt Polly. Parts of the movie were filmed at Stags' Leap (which was known as Stag's Leap Manor back then). The screen captures from "Pollyanna" depict segments from similar angles as the photos and screen grabs above; the house still had a wooden third floor and a rotunda on the turret at that time.
    Just as a side note, despite JANE WYMAN's participation in the movie, it was purely coincidental that this location was later chosen as the main filming site of "Falcon Crest" by LORIMAR.
  •  
     
  • "Hunters Are for Killing":
     
    This made-for-TV movie (original U.S. airdate: 03/12/1970, CBS) was produced by CINEMA CENTER 100 PRODUCTIONS. It stars BURT REYNOLDS as L.G. Floran, who comes back to his hometown, the ficitional city of Ballisten, CA in the Napa Valley, after serving time in prison to claim his share of his deceased mother's estate, but is fought every inch of the way by his stepfather, who holds L.G. responsible for his own son's death. The movie was entirely filmed on location in the Napa Valley and made use of Stags' Leap (back then Stag's Leap Manor). EDWARD O. DENAULT, who was LORIMAR's executive production supervisor in seasons 1 through 6 and executive in charge of production in season 7 (1987 episodes) of "Falcon Crest", had served as the production manager for "Hunters Are for Killing".
       
    • Manor House:
      At the time "Falcon Crest" was filmed, the Manor House at Stags' Leap Winery had already undergone some major remodeling — the removal of both the previous wooden third floor and the rotunda on the turret after a fire in 1972; also, the second floor above the kitchen tract was removed.
      During "Falcon Crest", the veranda of Stags' Leap Manor was completely open while, for some years in the past, there was a French door between the veranda and the turret, which seemed out of place.
      The series featured the rear of the Gioberti House sparsely. One example is a scene from # 024 (last picture).
      The second set of screen captures features scenes from "Hunters Are for Killing" movie that are comparable to the angles of the above location pictures.
      In particular, you can see the previous wooden third floor and the rotunda (screen captures 1 and 2) as well as the former French doors near the turret (screen grabs 3 and 4).
      Screen capture 6 of the rear features a former projection roof between the first and second floors of the kitchen tract and the previous second floor above the kitchen tract, which, at one point, was annexed to an outer building behind the Manor House. The outer building east of the Manor House is still standing (compare photo 6 from 2011 in the above set of pictures), but no longer annexed to the Manor House.

    • Limestone Pergola:

      This pergola-like structure southeast of the Manor House at Stags' Leap is best remembered from the "Falcon Crest" series première when Chase showed Maggie the Gioberti House for the first time.

      In "Hunters Are for Killing", the Limestone Pergola was featured in a closely filmed night scene.


    • Vineyards:
      The semi-circular terrace surrounded by a little wall of native stone that can be reached from the lower circle drive around the Gioberti House was shown in some scenes of "Falcon Crest" and may be best remembered from Terry and Michael's first kiss.

      The breathtaking view of vineyards from that area, which Stags' Leap calls the "Power Spot", had also been featured in "Hunters Are for Killing".


    • Driveway:

      The section of the driveway closest to Stags' Leap Manor was used on "Falcon Crest" quite a few times.

      This part of the driveway had also been used in "Hunters Are for Killing".

     
     
  • "Hart to Hart":
     
    As stated above, this crime drama shot most scenes of "On a Bed of Harts" (# 068 <4.01>; original U.S. airdate: 09/28/1982, ABC) in the Napa Valley. In that episode, various parts of Stags' Leap were featured:
     
    • Manor House:
      The above screen grabs illustrate the use as the Gioberti House on "Falcon Crest".
      The Manor House portrayed Auberge du Moulin, a Napa Valley Inn the Harts revisited in this episode in memory of having spent their honeymoon there.

    • Main Guest House:

      The Main Guest House at Stags' Leap served as the Gioberti Estate Guest House on "Falcon Crest". During season 5, Chase Gioberti's office was in that Guest House.

      In the aforementioned "Hart to Hart" episode, the Main Guest House at Stags' Leap was visible briefly when Jonathan and Jennifer drove by on their way to Auberge du Moulin.


  •  
  • "Dying Young":
     
    This romantic drama, which co-starred DAVID SELBY as the father of the movie's male lead, deals with a young woman working as a private nurse and falling in love with her patient, who is suffering from terminal leukemia. This 20TH CENTURY FOX movie — theatrical release date: 06/21/1991 (USA) — was shot on location in Northern California and used various parts of Stags' Leap for filming:
     
    • Manor House:

      The Manor House at Stags' Leap photographed from the front yard.

      In "Dying Young", the Manor House was featured from the front yard with the turret visible in the background.


    • Limestone Pergola:

      This pergola-like structure southeast of Stags' Leap Manor is best remembered from # 001 of "Falcon Crest" when Chase showed Maggie his birthplace for the first time.

      In "Dying Young", the Limestone Pergola was sold to the audience as the entrance to a labyrinth on the wine estate's grounds.


    • Historic Stone Winery:

      The Historic Stone Winery at Stags' Leap was introduced on "Falcon Crest" as Stone Briar, later the Gianinni Winery, finally the Gioberti Winery.

      In "Dying Young", it portrayed a Napa Valley winery — shot in beautiful fall colors.


    • Driveway:

      The driveway to Stags' Leap in the fall of 2013, still pretty much like during the filming of "Falcon Crest".

      This driveway was also featured in "Dying Young" with spectacular fall foliage.


    •