Posted on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2004

Making another name for himself

KNOWN FOR GROWING GREAT GRAPES, GARY FRANSCIONI ALSO TURNS OUT WINES OF HIS OWN

By Laurie Daniel He's the "other" Gary, the low-key half of the pair behind Garys' Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands of Monterey County. But Gary Franscioni doesn't mind being overshadowed by his childhood friend, the flamboyant Gary Pisoni, who also owns the cult-status pinot noir vineyard that bears his name. Franscioni, after all, has his own business to attend to: In addition to his interest in the 50-acre Garys' Vineyard, he has his own Rosella's Vineyard, named for his wife, and a 3-year-old wine label, Roar, that produces pinot noir and syrah.

"It doesn't bother me at all," Franscioni says of the attention accorded his friend and business partner. "I know and the wineries know that I grow great fruit. That's what satisfies me."

Franscioni, 50, is first and foremost a farmer. It's in his blood. His grandfather immigrated from Switzerland in 1886 to the Salinas Valley and started a dairy. His father farmed crops such as beans, potatoes and sugar beets. Franscioni became interested in wine while studying food science at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.

Field trip plants 'bug'

During a field trip to the Napa Valley, he says, "`I saw there was another type of farming" -- wine grapes. "I had the bug."

He spent years learning more about viticulture and putting together the money to plant a vineyard. Finally, in 1996, he started planting grapes at Rosella's, mostly pinot noir, along with some chardonnay and syrah.

Rosella's Vineyard -- like so much of the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation, which sits on a bench along the western edge of the Salinas Valley -- used to be planted with crops such as broccoli and romaine lettuce. It's a fairly chilly spot, about 15 miles from Monterey Bay. The vineyard typically is in the fog until about 10 a.m., then the sun comes out and a cooling wind picks up in early afternoon. The climate results in a long growing season.

Franscioni uses some of the Rosella's fruit in his Roar wines, made by Adam and Dianna Lee, who also buy Franscioni's fruit for their Siduri and Novy labels. Other grape purchasers include Testarossa, Morgan, Bernardus, Vision Cellars and Miner Family.

Garys' Vineyard is about a mile south of Rosella's. Franscioni and Pisoni teamed up to plant it in 1997. Franscioni says his friend was looking for a cooler vineyard site (Garys' is, on average, about 8 degrees cooler than Pisoni Vineyard to the south). Meanwhile, Franscioni was looking for more land to grow pinot, ``and who wouldn't want to be partners with Gary Pisoni?'' Franscioni says he admired Pisoni's passion for wine and viticulture.

The vineyard, which used to be grazing land, is mostly pinot noir, with a little syrah. Franscioni takes some of the fruit for Roar; Pisoni uses some for his Lucia Vineyards label. The rest is sold to more than a dozen wineries, including Testarossa, Morgan, Siduri, Tantara, Copain, Miura and Miner Family.

Both Rosella's and Garys' are meticulously farmed. When I visited earlier this summer, we walked some of the rows. Franscioni couldn't stop himself from plucking an offending leaf here, repositioning an unruly shoot there.

"I want the most perfect fruit," he says. "That's just my philosophy."

Franscioni calls his wine brand "another extension of the vineyard." He thinks he's become a better viticulturist by seeing what happens after the grapes are picked.

His perfectionism seems to be working. Franscioni assembled for me the wines made from the two vineyards -- an impressive collection. The Rosella's chardonnays, despite differences in winemaking, all have a great core of racy acidity. ``That's what the Santa Lucia Highlands brings to the party,'' Franscioni says. The 2002 Testarossa ($35), 2002 Bernardus ($38) and 2002 Morgan ($30) are all very good, though a little pricey. The 2002 Novy ($20) is a great deal, full-bodied, citrusy and a little tropical, with a long finish.

Not alike

The pinots from Rosella's and Garys' are distinctly different despite the proximity of the vineyards. For one thing, Rosella's Vineyard has several pinot clones; Garys' is planted with the so-called Pisoni clone. In general, the Rosella's are a little brighter, while the Garys' wines are darker, riper and a little spicy. The 2002 vintage saw some excellent pinots from both.

Standout pinots from Rosella's include Franscioni's own 2002 Roar ($44) is dense, dark and concentrated but still unmistakably pinot.

From Garys', I was impressed by the very pretty 2002 Lucia ($38), 2002 Siduri ($45) and 2002 Pessagno ($55). On the darker, spicier side are the 2002 Loring ($46), 2002 Roar ($44), 2002 Vision Cellars ($50), 2002 Tantara ($48), 2002 Morgan ($35), 2002 Miner Family ($50) and 2002 Miura ($53).

I found the 2002 vintage at Garys' to be weaker for syrah than for pinot. It's a fairly cool spot for that grape, and several of the wines had obvious vegetal notes. The most successful bottlings were the peppery, meaty 2002 Testarossa ($42) and the 2002 Novy ($33). The 2002 Lucia was a bit of an anomaly, still extremely youthful and grapey. It needs more time in the bottle.

"It's hard to grow three varieties and have them all be great every year," Franscioni says.

But he'll keep trying.