Since brothers Phillip and Eric Titus launched their wine brand in the mid-’90s, zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon have been their stock in trade.

So it came as a pleasant surprise to find a crisp, elegant sauvignon blanc is now part of the 10,000-case winery’s portfolio.

The Titus brothers planted two-and-a-half acres of sauvignon blanc grapes in 2004 on a farmstead along Silverado Trail near Deer Park, replacing some under-producing red varietals near the Napa River.

The first commercial vintage of Titus Vineyards sauvignon blanc is from the 2008 harvest and amounted to only 400 cases.

A winegrowing operation that flies a bit under the radar, Titus Vineyards is a second-generation, family-owned and farmed estate focused on limited production, premium Napa Valley wines.

For the most part, the brothers have focused on creating well balanced, robust reds that mesh with their down-home demeanor. Eric is in charge of vineyard operations and Phillip serves as cellarmaster. When it comes to blending the final product, both take an active part.

The Titus brothers’ relatively small wine portfolio includes a flagship cabernet sauvignon, a reserve cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petite sirah, zinfandel (which accounts for as much as 25 percent of total production) plus Lot 1, a non-traditional, but acclaimed blend of petite sirah and petit verdot. And now sauvignon blanc has been added to the list.

A green ethic

While the Titus brothers wine operation is little more than a decade old, the roots for the family’s winegrowing effort reach back to the late 1960s, to a time when county fathers were busy establishing the nation’s first agricultural preserve.

Their father, Lee, was a radiologist who “liked getting his hands dirty,” Eric said. “Our mother, Ruth, grew 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, she helped friends harvest their grapes, giving her a love for Napa Valley and a kinship with grape farming.”

Noting their parents were staunch conservationists, Phillip recalled his family was living in Sonoma when Lee and Ruth Titus began purchasing plots of land along Silverado Trail with the idea of growing grapes.

“My father like the idea of the ag preserve,” he added. “And he wanted to do something with his hands.”

They launched their grapegrowing effort first with 32 acres, then added another eight in the ’70s. A final piece added to the inventory is on Ehlers Lane north of St. Helena.

A massive replanting was done over the years as the initial and largest tract was planted to mondeuse, burger and golden chasselas, varietals all but forgotten today. There was even some pinot noir, planted in a region much too warm for the varietal.

The Titus boys recalled their father was fascinated with what was happening in Bordeaux at the time and decided those were the grape varieties he wanted to plant.

“And so it began,” Eric said, “with my father 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, we absolutely appreciate dad’s foresight.”

However, the late ’60s and most of the ’70s proved a time when quantity won over quality in the Napa Valley. That fit in with what Eric called his father’s “slapdash approach to grape harvesting and winemaking. He dragged us out into the vineyards to help, to get a feel for what we would inherit. Phillip was 12 and I was 9.”

Nevertheless, the Titus family did grow quality fruit, selling harvested grapes to valley wineries, including Charles Krug, Beaulieu Vineyards, Quail Ridge and Pine Ridge.

The next generation

Phillip traces his appreciation for fine wine to the dinner table where his father shared Bordeaux, California cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel from the cellar. His studies at UC Davis began in agronomy, then progressed to viticulture and ultimately to enology.

In 1979, Phillip worked the harvest for his future in-laws at Quail Ridge. Through the 1980s, he worked at Chappellet and Stratford, Cartlidge and Brown, returning to Chappellet in 1990 to take the position of winemaker. That same year, he began making Titus Vineyards wine from family estate grapes at the Chappellet winery on Pritchard Hill.

Eric continued his involvement in the vineyards until entering college, where he chose to pursue studies in marine biology over a curriculum in viticulture and enology. After earning his doctorate in biology, he embarked on a 10-year career in marine biological research and environmental consulting. After working in such varied locations as Honolulu, Baltimore, San Francisco and Guam, he returned to St. Helena during the heralded 1997 vintage.

With the Titus Vineyards wine production steadily increasing and the vineyards in need of redevelopment, Eric came to work full time for the family wine business. He now divides his time between managing vineyard operations and the overseeing the business side of the winery.

Blending is the cornerstone of the Titus brothers winemaking philosophy. “We believe blending varietals completes a wine, offering a superior expression of the primary grape variety, vintage, vineyard and region,” Phillip pointed out. “This blending philosophy has become our hallmark of style; it influences our approach to every wine we make.”

And now, a white

Blending holds true for everything but the new sauvignon blanc, the newest portfolio entry. The latest release is 100 percent estate sauvignon blanc, aged for six months in stainless steel.

“Sauvignon blanc is a versatile variety and does well in warm climate,” Phillip said. “It’s planted in shaded, deep clay soils where for a time we had muscat, then zinfandel. Eric needed a white wine (for marketing purposes and dinners where Titus wines are featured). So he felt we’d be a lot better off by budding the vines over to sauvignon blanc. Eventually, this vineyard should produce between 700 and 800 cases.”

Phillip said their approach to sauvignon blanc is “simple is better. We stay away from anything (in cellar practices) that would obscure the fruit. It’s bottled early and given between two and three months bottle age before it’s released.”

Titus Vineyards 2008 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($20): A wonderful balance of fruit and acidity, this crisp, delicious wine offers aromas of citrus, peaches and tropical fruit that repeat in the refreshing flavor. It’s a supple white that belies its 14.1 percent alcohol and finishes with a memorable wash of fresh pineapple. An outstanding inaugural release at a price that won’t break the bank.