Unti Vineyards is a small, no-frills, family-owned and operated winery specializing in red varietal wines with true vineyard and varietal personality. Since 1997, George Unti has been farming and making wine with his son, Mick, in the heart of Dry Creek Valley. We here at bacar applaud the Unti team as they transition from organic farming to experimenting and implementing biodynamic vineyard practices. They believe, as do we, that these practices allow their vines to be more self-sustaining and adaptive to their natural environment, promoting bio-diversity and being better integrated into the larger biosphere.
One of the joys we love about small family-owned wineries is their ability to adapt and experiment. The small guys are able to ask the question, 'I wonder what I would have if.....' and then be able to follow through with their whims. Granted, sometimes, these experiments prove to be learning experiences of what not to do. But other times, they offer a sliver of magical brilliance that the large vintners would have missed and blended away. One such example is Unti's 2005 Syrah Reserve.
Unti has been experimenting with partial whole-cluster fermentations for the past few vintages. But with this reserve block they decided to go 'all-in.' Rather than de-stemming all or some of the grapes from their stems, they threw the entire lot of stem matter into the tank with the grapes during the fermentation. This can often, and usually, causes the wines to pick up tragic greenness, extra tannins, and an off putting bitterness. However, when done right, as is the case here, the wines have a voluptuous mouth feel and are glorious; rich in aromatics, complex, and did we mention this outrageous mouth feel? Everyone we talk to agrees, when whole-cluster is done right, they show a sexy, rich, enveloping texture on the palette that is par none.
The team at Unti has been making truly solid wines with ample character, in addition to being environmentally and socially minded. Holding true to their no-frills approach frees them from charging astronomical prices. Great wines, coupled with fair pricing: who could ask for more?
We are hosting a tasting of their wines with Mick and George Unti present, paired with four courses from the kitchen, on Saturday, August 18th 2009. We will taste an assortment of their current release wines, certainly to include the aforementioned 2005 Reserve Syrah. $94/per person.
Please call the restaurant to make a reservation. 415-904-4100. Reservations are available starting from 5.30pm till 8pm.
Look forward to seeing you-
The bacar Wine Team
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