FRANICEVIC, FRANE Sunce Winery

Sunce Winery (pronounced "sun-say', meaning "sun' in Croatian) originally One World Winery, was founded by Dr. Frane Franicevic. A native of the island of Hvar, Dalmatia, Croatia Frane was born into a family with a centuries-old winemaking tradition.

Frane, Janae, and their two daughters, Zora and Sunce, invite you to a down-to-earth, unpressured, and serene experience at their winery. Don't be afraid to bring the kids! Frane Franicevic has spent over eleven years in the wine industry and currently is owner and winemaker of Sunce Winery in Santa Rosa, California. After earning, a Ph.D in psychology, Frane turned to his love and passion which was winemaking. He developed this passion while growing up in Croatia because his parents and grandparents made wine and still do. Frane's wife, Janae, is in charge of marketing their wines.

Sunce is located in Santa Rosa at 1839 Olivet Road. Their tasting room is open 10:30 to 5 every day. Sunce is the perfect small winery as you can meet the winemaker.)

It might seem strange that the first thing Frane Franicevic wants to show a visitor to Sunce winery is an empty plot of land dotted with a scattering of little yellow stakes marking out a new addition to their existing 40'x6O' space. What he sees when he looks at the stakes is his brand new winery, where all operations will be under one roof: crushing, fermentation, barrel storage, bottling and case storage. Although the heavy rains have delayed groundbreaking, Frane says, with confidence, "the building will be completed by May."

Next he shares his excitement about the tidy four-acre home vineyard, planted with Pinot Noir in June 2001. Because the vines have been planted with tight spacing, Frane feels that the vineyard will furnish enough top-quality grapes for him to make about 1,000 cases of wine, which will be about half the total production of this tiny family winery.

For ten years the winery has remained at about the 2,000 case level - making 14 different wines, each, obviously very limited - about 150 cases of each. Three white wines - a Russian River Sauvignon. Blanc, a Chardonnay and a blend of Lake County grapes called Mistral are made each year, and they usually sell out by the first weekend of March, at the Russian River Wine Road barrel tasting event.

Sunce offers a diverse menu of unusual varietals and unique blends, such as Chardonnay, Symphony, Valdiquie, Mistral (a blend of 50% Chardonnay 40% Chenin Blanc, and 10% Sauvignon Blanc) and Mariage (a red Vintner's Blend). Frane produced two Pinot Noirs from the 2000 vintage. One, under the Nobility Franicevic label with the coat of arms of his family, granted in 800 A.D, was made from grapes drawn from a neighboring Piner Road vineyard. "It's a big, ruby red Pinot with a lot of character," Frane says. "We left a third of the berries whole, and fermented the wine for 26 days with extended maturation. There is a lot of spice in the nose and in the flavor.

"It's a lot of work for Frane," comments Janae, Frane's wife and partner, "but this wine started winning medals almost immediately." Awards are common for the Sunce wines which win gold medals and best of class rankings in almost every competition into which they are entered. Frane, who tends to be very philosophical credits the soil, climate, clones and Mother Nature with producing the wines which are constantly evolving into something more exciting. "You can't eliminate the intervention of the winemaker," he admits, “and it is my place to look at the barrel of wine, taste and recognize what it needs to bring it to its ultimate excellence."

The bungalow neatness of the tasting room provides an instant feeling of being welcomed as part of the family, and when Janae is behind the tasting bar, her sparkling enthusiasm for the wines, the winery and her visitors is contagious. Early in the winery's life the Franicevics followed the route of most new wineries, trying to attract distributors to handle their wines, but they soon took a step back ward and now all marketing is through direct sales. "By meeting the customers in person, or having contact with them through our club," says Janae, "we learn what it is they are looking for in the wines they select.