The Traveling Grape

When I find a wine priced at $20 that drinks like a $60 bottle I want to shout it from the rooftops! (PLEASE don’t raise the price Titus). Once again, thank you Fitz at North Hills Total Wine for introducing me to the Andronicus. A blend of 74% Cab, 16% Merlot, 6% Malbec and 4% Petit Verdot will be a sure bet for your blend fanatics!

Titus is the essence of family. After serving in World War II, Dr. Lee Titus began a radiologist. Ruth Traverso (his wife) grew up in San Francisco but during vacations in Calistoga she helped friends harvest grapes, where her love for the area grew. Fast forward; Lee and Ruth meet, fall in love and move to Sonoma with their four sons. (great place to raise a family). They then purchased fifty acres north of St. Helena with dreams to build a family operated winery. For 20 years they were grape growers for other wineries such as Charles Krug, Beaulieu Vineyards, Quail Ridge, and Pine Ridge. Now their dream is a reality and Titus is currently run by Phillip and Eric Titus. Eric grows the grapes and Phillip makes the wine; a relationship of family, showing how closely the relationship between land, growing the grape and how that grape is made into wine is critical for intense, complex, well balanced juice. What I love is that Laura, Phillips wife, is the one who designed their wine label.

Titus is known for their full bodied, well balanced reds which are all blends ~ guess that is why I am such a fan! “We believe blending varietals completes a wine offering a superior expression of the primary grape variety, vintage, vineyard and region. This blending philosophy has become our hallmark of style, and influences our approach to every wine we make.”

A little background on Phillip Titus, the winemaker:

Phillip discovered his passion for viticulture and wine when he was only 12 years old, helping his father in the family vineyard. His father also exposed him to French wines from their cellar during dinner. When he went off to college at UC Davis, he studied agronomy, viticulture and enology. He also was able to travel to France to gain exposure to the Bordeaux and Burgundy regions. During harvest he would work at Quail Ridge, little did he know they would become his in-laws.

In 1981 he worked as assistant winemaker at Chappellet and throughout the 80’s well with Stratford, Cartlidge and Brown. He then returned to Chappellet in 1990 as Chief Winemaker, working side-by-side with Jon-Mark Chappellet making wine that truly represents both the vineyard and the vintage “Because I’ve worked with our vineyards for so long and know each block so intimately, I am able to focus on the individual characteristics of each vineyard lot,” says Phillip. “This diversity allows us to enjoy a great deal of freedom during the blending process, while also adding immense depth and complexity to our wines.”

He is a busy man, working for both his family label Titus and Chappellet, following his passion and passing to us some spectacular wines. I have enjoyed the Chappellet wines as well, especially their Mountain Cuvee, also found at Total Wine for under $30. I have yet to try their limited-production Cabernet Sauvignon from their Pritchard Hill Estate Vineyard.  Being a big fan of French Oak, I am looking forward to giving this a try. The 2006 was aged for 22 months in 80 percent new French oak, and for an additional six months in bottle prior to release.

Let’s not forget where it all begins – Eric, the grape grower:

Growing up in the vineyards since a child, the soil must be in his blood. Although Eric first choose a career in marine biology, he came back to St Helena in 1997 and got back to his roots. He is equally busy managing all aspects of vineyard management and overseeing the business side of Titus.

Eric has a true love for this land and the valley which shows in his technique and style. He avoids pesticides, biocides and unnecessary fertilization and is dedicated to helping preserve land in Napa Valley. He believes that in order to produce the high quality fruit that is necessary to produce the superior wines that Titus puts out, he must match the proper rootstock and variety to the right soil of each vineyard block. They allow the younger vines to mature over the years and in the mature vines he keeps the yields to moderate levels to maximize the evenness and rate of ripening. I learn more and more that shoot thinning, reducing the load of fruit, canopy management and the just the right amount of irrigation truly does contribute to optimal fruit quality.

Titis is located off the Silverado Trail in the Northeastern part of Napa Valley. They produce about 10,000 cases of wine a year including Cabernet Sauvignon (their flagship wine), Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon,  Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, and Lot I (a Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot blend). I believe they also have introduced a Sauvignon Blanc to their portfolio.

Cheers!

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 1:01 am and is filed under Fabulous Finds, Napa Wineries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.