Bradley N.
Yelp
You have to hand it to the Unti family. They came up with some out-of-the-box ways to make the Dry Creek Valley shine that most of their better-known winemaking neighbors have yet to discover. While lots of others put all their chips on Zinfandel - big, bold, fruit-forward wines that wow you with their ripe cherry and raspberry aromatics - the Untis spread their bets out across a wide range of Mediterranean varietals, Central Italian and South French primarily. In recent years, they also have branched out into some interesting whites, like Vermentino and Fiano, and make some tasty red blends using Grenache, Mourvedre, Barbera, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Montepulciano. Yes, they make an estate Zinfandel, too, but the trump card here is the addition of Barbera into the blend (plus a similar dosage of Petite Sirah), which ups the red fruit ante, while places like Ridge Lytton Springs lean more towards black fruit grapes like Petite Sirah, Mataro, and Carignane. Unti experiments widely and wildly, and the results are freely shared for others to judge - provided that you get here in time to try them before they are snatched up.
Some of the best wines we tasted on a recent visit to their attractive, wood-paneled, high-ceilinged tasting room (located in the midst of the winery and the vineyards) were Grenache-driven blends. The Benchland Syrah, sourced from the upper end of the property with fast draining, loamy soils, was very expressive as well, as was the estate Zinfandel. These aren't little wines, but the ripe fruit and alcohol levels (around 14.5% or higher for current releases) don't come at the expense of balance, either. The Unti portfolio of wines are very food friendly, especially when paired with Italian or new Californian fare, so it is hardly surprising that so many bars, bistros, and Michelin-starred restaurants carry at least some of their wines. K&L, like many other high-end bottle shops, has a particular affection for Unti wines, so you'll likely find a few bottles for sale there, too.
The Unti wines we have tried in past, including their Sangiovese and Montepulciano blend "Segromigno," remind me somewhat of DeRose wines from the Cienega Valley near Hollister (San Benito County), although I'd tip my hat slightly to DeRose for their commitment to dry-farming heritage vines like Cabernet Pfeffer, Zinfandel, Mourvedre, and Negrette, and to their partnerships with winemakers in Chile, which enables them to offer excellent and reasonably priced bottles of Carmenere and Cabernet as well.
A tree-shaded common picnic area is just outside the Unti tasting room. On our visit, vineyard crews were enjoying a quick lunch before returning to work. Forklift operators loaded bins of picked grapes onto waiting truck beds, while other bins fermented with the ample fruits of the ongoing 2016 harvest. We had a great time at the tasting, swapping wine-country escapades while working through a range of 6 different wines (all of them red, as the whites released in spring 2016 had already sold out). It made the perfect counterpart to an earlier visit to Ridge, just up the road. Perhaps on a future visit to Dry Creek, we'll add a tour at Fritz and tasting at Peterson to round things out. But keep Unti bookmarked for that upcoming visit! It's a nice expression of the area and feels very much like the family-run, working winery that it is.
