He was just a few years out of college when he made our debut vintage in 1990, so you could say we’ve grown up together. As our winemaker, Phillip oversees every detail - from finding great vineyards to creating the final blends. His skill, passion and wicked sense of humor are the soul of our wines.
As a kid, growing up in Sonoma, Phillip helped his dad in his family’s vineyard and learned about wine at the dinner table. Wine turned him on so he set his sights on becoming a winemaker. He got a degree from UC Davis in agronomy, viticulture and enology, and traveled to France to get their perspective. Then he went to work in the Napa Valley, cutting his teeth at Quail Ridge, Chappellet, Stratford and Cartlidge and Brown.
Phillip was a bit crazy when he joined our team 1990: the same year, he became winemaker at Chappellet, and launched the Titus label with his brother Eric. He is still the man behind all three brands so the insanity continues.
Parlez-vous Français? We set out to make wines that rival the great Burgundy of France, so wouldn't it make sense to have a Frenchman on our winemaking team? Daniel was born and raised in the Auvergne region, and came to the US in 1989 to work for a winery. He fell in love and never left.
Working as winemaker at Hanzell Vineyards, Daniel learned about the fruit and terroir of Sonoma from one of the legends in the industry, Bob Sessions. He also cut his teeth with one of the great CA Chardonnay producers, Wente. In 2004, he joined the Sonoma-Loeb team to work side-by-side with Phillip Titus and support every facet of production from crush to bottling. Daniel is a big part of blending decisions and is the detail guy who takes our winemaking to a higher level. Daniel and his family live in Santa Rosa so you just might catch him hanging at the Station.
Working in a wine shop stocking shelves is what sparked Ry’s interest in wine. He wanted to know more about what was in the boxes so he sat in the back room and tasted and spat at any available opportunity. Then he went off to college (UCLA if you really want to know) and thought about going to med school, but wine beckoned.
Through good timing and a bit of luck, Ry got an internship at William Harrison Winery, where he worked with their winemaker and a consultant named Phillip Titus. Phillip became his mentor teaching while checking in to make sure Ry was doing the right things. Titus was impressed so he offered Ry a job at Sonoma-Loeb in 2006, and Ry has been on our winemaking team ever since. He’s been a Cellar Rat, forklift grunt, barrel boy...you name it, Ry has been there. Under Phillip’s tutelage, Ry has learned to craft graceful wines and through this adventure has become a critical member of the Sonoma-Loeb team.