2016 Titus Andronicus Proprietary Red Wine Napa Valley 750 ml

Unbeatable Price on a Bold, Beloved Napa Classic

Ever since we first offered Phil Titus’ Andronicus Proprietary Red back in 2014, Wine Access members have been smitten with its dark, voluptuous power—and a price tag that seems too good to be true. Like David Phinney’s Prisoner, this is an extravagant, deeply concentrated offering packed with fresh blackberries, vanilla, and warm blackcurrant, crafted by a winemaking legend, the man behind Chappellet’s countless 99-point scores.

For all of that to go into a bottle that's less than $50—especially from a spectacular Napa vintage that Vinous called second only to 2013—you might think we got our math wrong. But not when you factor in our 25-year friendship with Phil, who graciously puts aside a few cases of this polished beauty for us every year at one of the best prices in the nation. The 2016 just came out, and is a smoking value. Get a case if you can—our allocation isn’t large.

How is it that we managed to get hold of a limited-release wine from one of the valley’s most vaunted talents? Chalk it up to history: we go way back with Phil Titus and his brother Eric, an intuitive and brilliant vineyard manager, members of a clan whose history is deeply intertwined with the St. Helena AVA.

After all, Phil is the guy who’s engineered a critically acclaimed three-decade run at Chappellet, the world-class estate on Pritchard Hill. Eric, a former president of the Napa Valley Grape Growers Association who holds a doctorate in biology, is also Titus’s general manager. They’re busy guys. So when we call, we know better than to expect them on the first try. But at the end of our annual game of phone tag, we count ourselves lucky to be on the receiving end of the brothers’ deep viticultural wisdom and wit.

Their background is a piece of St. Helena folklore. Lee Titus, their father, moved to California from Minnesota just after the Depression. He bought the estate vineyard in 1968, located fatefully at the foot of Howell Mountain, with the Silverado Trail to the east and the Napa River to the west. The land had originally been a grant from the governor of California to Dr. Edward Bale, the father-in-law to Charles Krug. Unsure of what to do with the rocky, volcanic soils, early Napa Valley growers had planted Mondeuse, Burger, Golden Chasselas, and Pinot Noir. Lee tore those out and planted Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and other Bordeaux varieties well-suited to the hot climate and dusty clay and river loam soils. The dividends down the road would prove tremendous, as demand for Titus’s fruit skyrocketed.

Beginning in 1990, the family began holding back some fruit so the brothers could make their own wine. Phil brought to the project his intimate knowledge of rows he’d worked since childhood, and his talent for producing dazzling, powerfully concentrated reds. Eric lends a dedication to organic practices and a microscopic level of attention to each vine. And the land itself, tended by the family for generations, began exceeding even their wildest expectations with a spell of fantastic vintages in the past decade—perhaps none better than 2016. In 2015, the duo brought in Stephan Cruzan—a veteran of Cade, Chappellet, and Hall—to keep pushing their estate wines to new heights, and he has lent his deft touch to the process from grape to cellar.