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.