As you know, we made three Syrahs in 2002: Benchland Reserve, Syrah, and Syrah from our de-classified lots called Petit Frere. The 2003 vintage was so good that almost all of our lots made the cut for our two best Syrahs. Petit Frere will return in 2004 as a Cotes du Rhone-style blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah. Beginning with the 2002 vintage, we have been impressed with our young vine Syrah. The new stuff seems to bring a brightness of fruit and spice reminiscent of Northern Rhone Syrah. For the second straight year we incorporated Grenache into the blend. We include Grenache for the same reason other Syrah producers blend Viognier into their Syrahs: to enhance aromatics and add a silky mouthfeel.

Throw in the cool climate character of the ’03 vintage and you have our most Rhone-like Syrah since 1998. Whenever people who know my bias toward wine try our 2003 Syrah, they say this is a “Mick” wine. Actually, it is a Sébastian, Mick and George wine. More than any of our previous Unti Syrahs, the ’03 reflects our personal taste and influence as winemakers. Is it evolution or intelligent design? Take your pick. It’s all good.

In Unti vernacular, Segromigno might as well mean a medium bodied fruity wine made from Italian varietal grapes. In 2004, the blend is 80% Sangiovese and 20% Barbera. The Sangiovese comes from the same spots in our vineyard as it did in 2003: the lower portion of our hillside vineyard and the recently grafted Sangiovese (formerly Merlot vines). True to the vintage, our ‘04 Sangiovese is riper with lower acid than in 2003, which explains why we blended in the Barbera. Barbera really punches up the fruit and acidity.

This wine really reminds me of the modern-style Rosso di Montalcinos we enjoyed this summer in Tuscany. Lush and fruity with enough body to keep you interested. Given the fact that most RdMs (that’s what we call them now) go for $20 a bottle and up, this likeable wine just got more attractive.

In 2002, the fermentation gods forgot to bless one of our Barbera tanks and we were faced with the problem of a stuck fermentation. Winemakers cringe when they hear these two words because it means that the yeasts decided to quit before finishing their job of converting sugar to alcohol. Thus, you either need to re-start the must (risky business) or make something other than a dry table wine. Sébastien, masquerading as former Raider quarterback, Ken Stabler, calmly walked up to the line of scrimmage, looked over the defense, and called an audible (a different play from the one in the huddle). He suggested we stabilize the wine by adding brandy to it, therefore stopping the fermentation while the must had enough residual sugar to make a Barbera Port. (Don’t you just love people who mix their sports analogies?)

Naturally, Sébastien couldn’t just add any run of the mill brandy or neutral spirits to our Port. He purchased a few gallons of brandy from his friend Hubert Germain-Robin, maker of arguably the world’s finest Cognac-style brandy from nearby Mendocino County. We then aged this concoction in one older oak barrel for 24 months allowing the brandy to integrate with the wine. It did, but the fruit of Barbera started to slightly fade. No problem. We intentionally made another barrel from the 2004 vintage (we had plenty of dried bunches to select for a port) which really restored the bright fruit of this port.

The style of our Barbera Port is probably somewhere between a ruby and a vintage. It has the deep color and youthful flavors of a vintage port combined with the smooth drink-ability of a ruby port. Only two barrels were made of this “one off” gig, or 70 cases of 500ml bottles.

The 2004 has the dark color and fruit of previous Unti Barberas with a skosh more acidity. We will always remember the 2004 growing season for the absence of fog from mid-August to mid-September. Accordingly, almost all of our vineyards, regardless of varietal, sustained severe dehydration causing dried grapes. Barberarone! These weren’t the most beautiful grapes we have ever seen by a long shot.

Once again the fermented wine tasted much better than the Barbera grapes looked. A wine after my own heart! The dehydration did cause a higher than normal acid level in this wine, making it verrry Piemontese. Think of this as a riper, more fruit forward version than those from Alba. True to its low-tannin nature, this Barbera is already starting to show well. It cries out for agnilotti, the half moon pasta of Piemonte.