2021 Titus Cabernet Franc Napa Valley

The story of Titus Vineyards begins when 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. He would later meet and fall in love with Ruth Traverso, a North Beach native, and settle in Sonoma with their four sons. A wine enthusiast with an interest in Bordeaux, Lee began acquiring fifty acres in three separate parcels just north of St. Helena along the valley floor. The vineyard they bought in 1968 was originally planted to Mondeuse, Burger, and Golden Chasselas, along with other varietals not suited to the climate or commercial reality. Lee had the foresight to replant Bordeaux cultivars like Petit Verdot and Malbec, a decision that was incredibly prescient. Soon he began selling fruit to local wineries. Fast forward to 1990, when Lee’s son Phillip Corallo-Titus, now an accomplished winemaker entrusted to craft the wines of Chappellet, launched the Titus family label, and in 1997 his marine biologist brother Eric Titus joined the team as full-time viticulturist.