Unti Vineyards - Newsletter - Newsletter

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UNTI TABLE WINES

2020 Rosso Del Campo

2020 Petit Frere

Annual February Rosso Del Campo and Petit Frere offering!

In keeping with tradition, (well at least for the last three years), here are the latest vintages of your favorite everyday table wines: 2020 Rosso Del Campo and 2020 Petit Frere.

Ordinarily, both wines represent fruit-forward, less tannic versions of our wines. Thanks to wildfires during the 2020 harvest, this vintage is a big departure from previous years. The 2020 Rosso and Petit Frere are full-bodied and complex because we used our best vineyard blocks to make the wines. Why? I’ll explain.

2020 put more pressure on us as winemakers than any other vintage. The wildfires prior to and during harvest were stressful, both physically and psychologically. Some days the sky looked like we were starring in Bladerunner. It forced every winemaker to make tough decisions. Several wineries didn’t even take any grapes in 2020.

For many reasons, we decided to proceed with producing wine from all our vineyard blocks—and I’m glad we did. We don’t purchase grapes from other growers, so we didn’t have to decide to pay for grapes that might be compromised. Further complicating matters was the fact that labs testing for smoke taint were so backed up that we didn’t receive results for 3 plus weeks. Not a lot of help when you need to harvest the next day. And smoke taint varies depending on the site and grape type. As you know, we have more types than the usual grower. What little data exists on smoke’s impact on wine doesn’t include most of the varieties we make.

There is also the competitive side of Jason, George, and myself. We did not want to give up without trying. At the very least, we would learn valuable information for the future.

All things considered; the wines turned out fine, but it required some thought. Jason summed up our precarious situation best.

“We struggled with this decision because in the lots where we thought we could detect some small level of smoke, it was very subtle and well-integrated with the normal varietal and oak profiles. We even resorted to having other astute tasters of the Unti team taste the wines and invariably they could not detect what Mick and I were looking for. However, we were concerned that over an extended period of time aging in the bottle, as the fruit subsided with normal bottle age, smoke characters might be more pronounced. Therefore, we made the tough decision to declassify our best wines into Rosso del Campo and Petit Frere.”

Yet even this exercise was not easy. The lots going into Rosso del Campo and Petit Frere are our most full-bodied, structured wines. To make both wines more drinkable upon release, we had to think outside the box—like using our Primitivo clone Zin to blend with our best Sangiovese, or our best Grenache and Benchland Syrah. And a funny thing happened. It worked. The Zinfandel (Primitivo) softened the wines enough to make them approachable now.

I can’t imagine us making a more full-bodied Rosso or Petit Frere. I also can’t imagine getting a better value from our winery…meaning the wines won’t last long. —MJU

2020 ROSSO DEL CAMPO

ESTATE VINEYARD: Sangiovese West Terrace planted in 1992, Sangiovese Benchland planted in 2007, Primitivo planted in 1998, Barbera planted in 2017.

BLEND: 68% Sangiovese, 29% Primitivo, 3% Barbera

HARVEST: September 9-30, 2020

WINEMAKING: Destemmed and fermented with native yeast in small, open-top tanks. Aged in French Oak Barrels. 17% new.

BOTTLED: February 2, 2022

Mick + Jason review the
2020 Rosso Del Campo

$29 / btl
$23.20 in any case purchase

PURCHASE 2020 ROSSO DEL CAMPO

2020 PETIT FRERE

ESTATE VINEYARD: Benchland Syrah planted in 1991, Winery blocks Grenache Noir and Syrah planted in 1998, Primitivo planted in 1998.

BLEND: 62% Syrah, 25% Grenache, 13% Primitivo

HARVEST: September 15-30, 2020

WINEMAKING: Destemmed and fermented with native yeast in small, open-top tanks. Aged in French Oak Barrels. 30% new.

BOTTLED: February 2, 2022

Mick + Jason review the
2020 Petit Frere

$29 / btl
$23.20 in any case purchase

PURCHASE 2020 PETIT FRERE

6+ btls 10% off

Any 12+ btls 20% off

Local?
Select 'pickup' upon checkout
+ + +
Tastings By Appointment
Thursday — Monday
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Hear what Jason + Mick

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2018
Benchland
Syrah
100% Syrah
17 MO. 35% New French Oak
275 Cases

In Texas, they say “Dance with the one who brung you.” Well, we’ve been dancing with Syrah from this vineyard since 1995…and we’re still not tired of it.

It’s funny how certain personalities, performers, artists, writers resonate with people. One of our favorite comedians, Norm MacDonald, recently passed away. Norm’s humor was not for everyone. However, if you were a fan, you wholeheartedly agreed with David Letterman’s take - “There are better comedians, but nobody was funnier than Norm.”

In today’s sophisticated California wine market, it seems Syrah grown in cool climate regions (where Pinot Noir is located) is garnering most of the press. This makes sense, since the Northern Rhone, where the world’s finest Syrah is grown, is a cool climate compared to most of California.

However, just as there are some iconic Syrah vineyards in the Southern Rhone, there are compelling, distinctive Syrah vines in warmer climes. At the risk of sounding too proud, our Benchland Syrah is one such vineyard.

Planted in 1991, our Benchland block is one of, if not THE oldest Syrah vineyard in Sonoma County. Like many of us, the Benchland vines might be slowing down, but they are producing higher quality. The crop level is more in balance with its root development, resulting in more consistent high-quality fruit. Combined with an even ripening vintage like 2018, you have one of the best wines from this vineyard. Intense color and fruit, with a distinct savory character you’ve come to love from this wine. This 2018 has the depth and structure found in our 2016, 2012 and 2007, rewarding those who aged them.

$55 / btl
$44 In any case purchase

PURCHASE 2018 BENCHLAND SYRAH

2018
Sangiovese
WEST TERRACE
100% Sangiovese
15 MO. 35% New French Oak
150 Cases
6 Bottle Limit

For the past ten years we labelled our best Sangiovese “Riserva” because it was clearly the best lot of Sangiovese we made. Well, truth be told, our Riserva comes from one, ten-row section of the vineyard George planted in 1992. It is the west hill side of that steep, terraced vineyard. So, there you have it. Calling it like it is.

2018 will go down as one of the great vintages of this century, which is quite evident in our Sangiovese West Terrace. Year after year, Jason and I are amazed at the quality coming from this section of the vineyard. Like legendary guitarist, Pat Metheny, our Sangiovese is getting better with vine age. Always great color and structure (both tannin and acid), with classic Sangiovese character. Our West Terrace Sangiovese has helped me understand why producers in Montalcino to release their Brunellos in the fifth year after the vintage.

Like many of our 2018’s, our Sangiovese WT (ha!) goes to 11 on the fruit scale. So much so that you might not notice its tannin structure. This is a big wine that has incredible freshness and verve. Brunello-like tannin with Dry Creek fruit.

Unfortunately, we can’t magically expand the section of this vineyard to make more wine-so production is limited to 150 cases. As such, we are offering you first crack at it prior to us releasing the wine in 2022. Try to hold off from drinking this wine too quickly. It will sure reward you in several years, and last much longer if you so desire.

6 Bottle Limit
$70 / btl
$56 In any case purchase

PURCHASE 2018 SANGIOVESE WEST TERRACE

from our family
to yours

GIVE AN UNTI GIFT CARD

6+ btls 10% off 

Any 12+ btls 20% off 

Local?
Select 'pickup' upon checkout
+ + +
TASTINGS BY APPOINTMENT
thursday — monday
Now taking reservations online!

Head Over to
Unti Vineyards

Jason, George, + Mick
discuss these new releases.

UNTI TABLE WINES 2020 Rosso Del Campo 2020 Petit Frere