Unti is a true wine estate owned and operated by George and Mick Unti, who are irrationally committed to making European-style wines from Mediterranean grape varieties in Dry Creek Valley.
This 2016 Syrah really illustrates the best attributes of this excellent vintage. It is dark, with intense blue and blackberry fruit, licorice, and spice. Syrah from of our favorite Crozes-Hermitage and St.-Joseph wines from the Northern Rhône.
It comes from three blocks planted to four clones of Syrah located on the winery property. For those of you scoring at home the clones are 174, 877, 383, and our original selection obtained from Durell in Sonoma).
Segromigno is a town located near Lucca, one of Tuscany's more beautiful Etruscan cities. It is where my dad's father was born, and where our cousins currently live.
2016 is another excellent example of the style we are trying to achieve with Segromigno- making a wine reminiscent of top flight Chianti Classico. It strikes a nice balance of bright floral and fruity aromas with juicy fruit and spice on the palate. Like most great Chiantis, Segromigno is definitely a “go to” wine with a variety of foods.
This wine is really a throw back to the classic old vine Zins in Dry Creek, where Petite Sirah provides a more structured style. It is dark and full-bodied with flavors of boysenberry and pepper. The Barbera keeps the wine from being too clunky by adding freshness.
This Zinfandel comes from our Primitivo-clone vineyard planted next to the winery in 1998. We favor the Primitivo clone because it tends to produce berries that are smaller and with thicker skins, versus typical Califronia Zinfandel selections.
This 2015 Syrah Benchland is another classic vintage in the mold of our 2007 or 2012, meaning it has an extra dimension of fruit to
go along with the savory elements and tannin structure we are accustom to seeing from this vineyard.
Our Syrah Benchland was planted in 1991, making it our oldest vineyard block. The Syrah budwood came from the Durell vineyard in Sonoma. The chalky/rocky well-drained soils have always produced small berries, resulting in dark and intense wine. There is an unmistakable smoked meat element to wine from this vineyard, making it our most unique Syrah.
