Sonoma-Loeb Wines - Chardonnay

	Phillip Corallo-Titus: 'Finding the soul of the grapes' Back

"I was recruited at age 12 by my father to help plant, tend and harvest 50 acres of family-owned vineyards. As a physician, my father could devote only so much time to growing grapes, so it was up to me to accept as much responsability as I could. The family vines naturally led to marketing grapes and to making wines, all of which our family undertook with a strong sense of quality."

"After seven years in the family vineyards, I went on to U.C. Davis, where my studies confirmed much of what I had already absorbed through first-hand experience since the age of 12. Now I'm 50, and it's hard to believe that I already have 38 years of experience with Titus, Stratford, Chappellet and Sonoma-Loeb."

"It's our job to assess what the best grapes are capable of giving and then to make sure that the ultimate quality gets into the bottles. We're here to find the "sweet spot", what I call the soul of the grapes, and bring it forth. We continually search for quality, complexity and the expression of the land and the vineyard. The French call it terroir. We know that the French word has no really good translation in our language. I call it finding the soul of the grapes."

Phillip Corallo-Titus