Titus Vineyards

Life in the Napa Valley (and indeed the world!) was much simpler than it is today. Lee Titus and his family came to California from Minnesota during the Depression. After graduating from Fresno State and serving in World War II, Lee attended medical school and became a radiologist. Meanwhile, Ruth Traverso was growing up in San Francisco's North Beach, where her parents, immigrants from the Piemonte region of Italy, were involved in the family bakery business. During family vacations in Calistoga, Ruth helped friends harvest their grapes, giving her a love for Napa Valley and a kinship with grape farming.

Years later, having fallen in love, married and settled in the town of Sonoma with their four sons, Lee and Ruth began acquiring fifty acres in three separate parcels just north of St. Helena along the valley floor. California's wine industry had yet to achieve its enormous potential, and land was affordable for the right purchaser. The vineyard Lee and Ruth Titus acquired in 1968 was originally planted to Mondeuce, Burger, and Golden Chasselas(varietals all but forgotten today) alongside more well known varietals like Pinot Noir, one that is poorly suited to our warm, up-valley microclimate. The vineyard needed a change.

Lee loved what was happening in Bordeaux at the time, and decided that those were the grape varietals he wanted to plant. And so it began, with Lee holding a book on Bordeaux in one hand and planting grapevines with the other saying, "you boys are going to need this some day." At that time, planting Malbec and Petit Verdot for example, was relatively unheard of and probably considered risky. Now, Phillip and Eric absolutely appreciate their father's foresight.

It would be more than twenty years before they crushed fruit for production of Titus Vineyards wines. Although they hoped one day to build a family operated winery, Lee and Ruth spent those interim years raising their sons and growing grapes for other wineries, including Charles Krug, Beaulieu Vineyards, Quail Ridge, and Pine Ridge.

Ultimately, Lee and Ruth left the creation of Titus Vineyards wines up to their sons: Phillip works as winemaker for Titus Vineyards, while Eric manages the business and vineyards.

Ranch House Estate

Nestled in the heart of the St. Helena Appellation sits Titus Vineyards’ 50 acre Ranch House Estate. This picturesque piece of property sprawls along the base of Howell Mountain, with Silverado Trail on its Eastern border and the Napa River to its West. Views of the Mayacamus range and Mt. St. Helena are breathtaking at any time of year, most especially from the sun porch of the original 1910 ranch house, for which the estate is aptly named.

When the Titus family purchased the farm it had already been producing grapes for better than 60 years, along with other fruits, nuts and hay. The original vines of long-since-forgotten varietals like Mondeuce, Burger, and Golden Chasselas were dry farmed and healthy, but the hot up-valley climate and the soil, made up of a mixture of dusty clay, sand and river loam, was more suited to Bordeaux varietals and hearty Zinfandel. Replanting commenced, and by the mid 70’s the first replant was complete.

A second replant became necessary in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Clonal Cabernet Sauvignons such as See’s and 337 on vertical drip-system trellises replaced old plantings of dry-farmed, diseased and ageing Cabernet. While most of the vineyard was replaced in the layout we see today, the two large blocks of Zinfandel still remain from the original replant done by the Titus family. Dry farmed and on St. George rootstock, these vines continue to produce beautiful mature-vine fruit.

The modern-day Ranch House Estate is home to 8 different varietals laid out in 16 blocks across the property, with the largest portion still dedicated to Bordeaux varietals. Most of Titus Vineyards’ wine production comes from the vines on this historic estate, and it is also home to some 100 Tuscan varietal olive trees, from which the Titus Vineyards olive oil is produced.

Family Estate

Only about a mile north of her sister property is a rocky volcanic knoll rising out of the valley floor. Still located within the St. Helena Appellation, and rather reminiscent of Tuscany with cypress trees lining the drive and olive trees ringing the crest, the property commands a view of Spring and Diamond Mountains to the west, the Vaca range to the east, and a swath of Napa’s finest vineyards between.

Not the least of this view is the Titus family’s 10 acres of Clone 337 Cabernet Sauvignon and some Petite Verdot. Dense volcanic soil peppered with stones and boulders creates difficult growing conditions for the vines, and leads to mountainside attributes exhibiting themselves in this valley floor fruit. Struggling vines = less fruit = better quality.  For this reason, Phillip chooses to use these loose clusters of tiny berries to create the Titus Family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon each year.

Titus Vineyards places equal importance on both our viticultural and winemaking practices embracing the belief that it takes great grapes to make great wine and emphasizes the partnership between brothers. In addition to our portfolio being exclusively red wines, all of our wines are blends. This is the cornerstone of our winemaking philosophy. 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.

Eric's viticultural approach is based on low-intensity farming techniques that avoid pesticides, biocides and unnecessary fertilization. Eric believes that production of high-quality fruit begins with carefully matching the proper rootstock and variety to the particular soil of each vineyard block. The young vines are patiently trained into maturity, with little emphasis on fruit load in the early years. In mature vines, yields are kept moderate in order to maximize the evenness and rate of ripening. Shoot thinning, fruit load reduction, selective irrigation and canopy management all aid in optimizing fruit quality.

Following harvest, the grapes are de-stemmed only, rather than crushed, leaving a higher percentage of whole berries in the fermenter. This method allows Phillip increased control over tannin extraction and prevents the seeds from breaking and releasing harshness into the wine. A 48-hour cold soak is followed by high fermentation temperatures and long pump-overs with the goal of extracting as much color, flavor and structure as possible without over-extracting tannins. Grapes stay on the skins for 10-20 days before pressing. Once pressed, Phillip keeps the free run and press wine separate to evaluate the quality of each, with press wine rarely blended back into the free run. The resulting wines are aged in barrels for up to 2 years at 58 F, allowing them to mature and develop gracefully.