Segromigno is the name of a village in Tuscany, and it is the name we have used for our Sangiovese blend since 2000. 25 years later, I’m thinking Segromingo could offer a glimpse into the future of California red wine. The wine business is going through a bit of a rough patch these days. California wine sales in 2024/2025 are softer than the previous 10 years. Wine tourism seems to have hit a bit of a lull. I’m sure there is no single explanation for this, nor is there a simple remedy. In an Eric Asimov NY Times article, What Can Be Done to Save an Ailing Wine Industry (10/16/2025), he mentions one remedy for sagging wine sales — offer solid, authentic wines at price points that are accessible for a larger consumer base. I know. What a groundbreaking concept! However, this is not particularly easy for wineries located in Napa or Sonoma, with astronomical land values, labor costs, and exhaustive State regulations and taxes. Additionally, California fine wine production over the past 20 years has largely focused on higher-priced Cabernet, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir, which only exacerbates a drinker’s quest in finding utilitarian wine. Or, you have wineries making “natural” funky, odd tasting wines that are no more natural than well-made artisan wines. They explain the weird taste by describing them as natural, which implies they are better or more legitimate than other wines. By and large these wines express some degree of oxidation, out of balance skin tannins (white wine), or microbial spoilage sensory aromas and flavors that have little to do with the vineyard or grape character —none of which appeals to a broad base of consumers. Asimov is optimistic for estate wineries like UNTI, who farm their vineyards organically. “For smaller producers whose goals are primarily artisanal, the outlook is perhaps not so bleak. The customers for these producers may be drinking less, but they are still largely committed to wine.” He goes on to say, “Growers and producers must find creative ways to keep costs down while continuing to attentively farm and make wine. This group may have to reduce its production slightly. But it should double-down on conscientious farming and making good, unpretentious wines. These are the brands and the wines that will endure.”
At UNTI, our penchant for experimenting with Mediterranean varieties, while trying to operate a sustainable business, has forced us to embrace making broadly accessible or friendly wines at reasonable prices, since the market for $100 plus a bottle Italian or Rhône varietal wines from California is slim at best.
The evolution of our Segromigno is our penultimate example of a wine with broad appeal as evidenced by its popularity
among our customers. Our first Segromigno bottling in 2000 was an attempt to salvage a weak vintage for our Sangiovese by blending some Syrah to balance out the green flavors and tannins. By 2007, we had improved our approach to farming Sangiovese (thinning fruit, and selecting specific sites for separate fermentations), and intuitively began using Montepulciano for blending with our less structured lots of Sangio. In 2013 we planted a small block of Sangiovese on 420-A, a rootstock known for generating lower vigor leading to higher quality, especially with a prolific grape like Sangiovese. This block now produces a dark, intensely fruity wine which is the core of Segromigno.
In 2023 we had an out-this-world vintage for Sangiovese due to the long growing season. It resulted in a dark, full-bodied wine with the kid of acidity, complexity and tannin structure you expect from Italy, only with California fruit. Super Tuscan Segromigno! Who knew that a wine named after a town that has so much meaning for George and Linda Unti would be what the doctor ordered for moving our business forward in the future? It is a crazy world made much more enjoyable by this 2023 Segromigno.