Unti Crew
Mick + Danae Unti
Mick Unti co-founded Unti Vineyards Winery with his dad George Unti, in 1997, where he manages operations of the winery including winemaking, sales, and marketing. Mick has worked in almost facets of the wine business, including retail, wholesale and winery production since the mid 1980’s.
Mick and his dad are avid consumers of Italian, French, Spanish and German wine, which explains for why they aren’t afraid to make wines from grapes not commonly grown in California.
Danae grew up in Sonoma proper and pursued an MBA in Bordeaux in 2009. She helps with all things UNTI communications + marketing related. Danae is a dedicated dressage rider, consumed with building + design, and has a small farm animal sanctuary in Geyserville (Opens in new window) .
George + Linda Unti
George and his wife, Linda, farm 60 acres of grapes, and are co-owners of Unti Vineyards Winery. George was born in Fort Bragg, CA and spent his early years divided between Fort Bragg and Madera, CA where his parents were farmers. He graduated from Fort Bragg High School and San Jose State University. While in Fort Bragg he got his first job with Safeway, with whom he spent a fulfilling 39 year career, culminating with his last 9 years as regional manager for Northern CA, Nevada, and Hawaii. George and Linda yearned to return to life on a farm and did so in 1990, and succumbed to the lure of a winery in 1997. Now they work 24/7, but for themselves.
Jason Valenti
Jason joined UNTI as winemaker in 2015 and has been working ever since to help Mick and George in their vision to make world-class Italian and Rhône varietal wines from this unique Dry Creek Valley estate. Fully believing in the ethos that great wines must start with exceptional care in the vineyards and then be handled delicately in the winery, Jason has worked closely with the vineyard and cellar crew over the years to develop and refine practices that would help fulfill this vision. Before joining UNTI, Jason made wine for Paul Hobbs Wines and ADAMVS, and as enologist for Kosta Browne. He holds both a B.S. and B.A. from the University of California, Davis for Viticulture and Enology, and English, respectively.
Vineyard Crew
Unti Vineyards is composed of a six-man, hands-on team working year-round for the winery. They are involved in every part of the vineyard operations — from pruning to hand harvesting, and know each and every vine intimately. Adrian, Romulo, and Ruben have worked with George Unti at the winery, since the mid-1990’s. We are proud and feel fortunate that other employees have been with us for significant spans of the winery’s life — some from 10-17 years. They are knowledgable, skilled, dedicated, and take full-ownership of every part of the vineyards.
Ben Umberger
Ben is UNTI’s Direct to Consumer Manager. He executes the majority of UNTI’s retail sales, manages the Tasting Room, and helps with wholesaling UNTI across CA. Ben is the BEST!