TN: A visit to Unti - including my first Cal lacrima

I made my annual pilgrimage to Unti Vineyards on Monday, and I think the current array of wines is by far the best I’ve tasted.

Since I first visited in 2007 or 2008 (does this sound like Tom Hill?), I’ve liked their wines, but I’ve usually found a few that I felt had too much oak or were a bit too extracted. This year, across the board, the reds were well-balanced and interesting. I’m sure this is partly the 2012 and 2013 vintages, but I think it also reflects the fact that George and Mick Unti seem to treat the business as an on-going learning experience.

I wasn’t taking notes, so these are brief and from memory.

2014 Cuvee Blanc: 50% vermentino, 40% grenache blanc, 10% picpoul – akin to Steve Edmunds’s Heart of Gold blend. (He buys red fruit from Unti but the Heart of Gold fruit is from the Foothills.) Very nice flavors, though at 13.9% this was a bit bigger than I’d have liked.

2013 Barbera: Nice, bright red fruits, with good body and acid – all nicely aligned. In the past, I’d found some of their barberas had too much oak for my taste. This is about the fruit, not the wood. Very much in the Barbera d’Alba spirit. [Last night a friend opened a 2012 he’d bought when we visited last year and it was even better. Again, all bright barbera fruit, with no oak on attendance. The extra year had brought the 2012 to a very nice place.]

2012 Zinfandel: This was nicely balanced but less interesting than the others. Classic zin raspberries (less blackberry).

2012 Grenache: They really seem to have hit their stride with this grape now. In the past, these have sometimes had fairly coarse tannins early on, though I’ve found they evolved well. This is showing very well now, with lots of depth but good structure.

2012 Segromigno: 76% sangiovese, 24% montepulciano. I’ve always liked this blend, but this vintage is a step up. Again, lots of fruit and body but fresh, with good acidity. This drinks so well now I feel no compulsion to age it, but the balance is so good, I’m sure it will evolve nicely.

2012 Benchland Syrah: Some years I’ve preferred the regular syrah and found this wine to have little more than I wanted of everything – extract, tannin, alcohol. The 2012 is a different story. This needs a few years for the tannins to soften but, again, everything seems in alignment. Concentrated, non-candied syrah (hurrah!), lots of tannins, good acid. Outstanding.

Lacrima NV: Crazy stuff! Dark color with a nose of bitter orange (they say bergamot) and red fruits. A surprising texture in the mouth, with tannin and acid but sort of light fruit. It was like a Lambrusco with mulled wine flavors (think orange peel). This would be great with cured meats. Really distinctive.
They have very few vines so this is a blend of three vintages. The suitcase cuttings weren’t very healthy they’re taking cuttings from the healthy vines to replace the less robust ones. Their instincts are dead on when it comes to picking offbeat (to California) Italian grapes, as they’ve shown with their montepulciano. The lacrima looks to be following in that tradition.

2012/2013 Barbera port: They only make this when they end up with shriveled grapes. Not as special as the last bottling they offered several years ago, but still nicely balanced, with good acidity.

In addition to these being good wines in absolute terms, they’re outstanding values. The most expensive is the Benchland Syrah at $40. At $28, the Segromigno is hard to beat. And those are before any discounts.

Count me as an enduring fan.

Thanks for the note on the LaCrima, John. Mine are to be shipped when the weather warms up a bit.
I’m very excited to try this wine. LaCrima from LeMarche is one of my favorite wines. It reminds me a
bit of Refosco or Teroldego w/ a strong black cherry signature.
I, too, like what Mick & George are doing at Unti & think their wines have shown a real up-tick in
quality the last few vintages.
What really struck me about the LaCrima was that they priced it at only $22. When most wineries
come out w/ the innagural release for a new variety (for Calif), they try to milk it for all it’s worth
and charge an arm&leg for it. Think von Strausser Gruner ($60…now $40) or DaVero Sagrantino ($80).
Some wine geeks (think TomHill here) are so eager to try it they’ll pay any price. They do and then
feel ripped off and never go back for the next vintage.
When my LaCrimas arrive, I will, of course, post the definitive TN!!!
Tom

Long and boring

My apologies. I forgot to include that warning.

Refosco is a better analogy for the texture of the Unti. Thanks. I knew Lambrusco wasn’t quite right – the lacrima is not quite that grapy and it has funny tannin texture I find hard to describe but reminds me of some other Italian grapes.

Incidently, as we left, I noticed a plaque on some vines by the parking lot that said “Ciliegiolo,” so I’d guess there will be some surprises down the road.

Interesting to see it’s not just my impression. Some of it may be 2012 and 2013, but they had good vintages in the past and the wines didn’t seem to be quite on this level, so I assume they’re just working the grapes a little differently. They may benefit from older vines, now, too.

Just had the Unti Lacrima again on Tuesday - I’d first tried it at the Seven % Solution tasting in San Francisco in May - after opening a bottle of 2011 Luciano Landi “Gavigliano” Lacrima di Morro d’Alba Superiore earlier that day. Really interesting comparison. I preferred the Luciano Landi as the intense floral notes that dominated the Unti were toned down in the Luciano Landi, but both were quite good and utterly distinctive. I suspect the Unti will benefit from a couple of years in the cellar. Both wines are great values (K&L has the Luciano Landi on sale for $14.99 right now - an outright steal).

The Unti vines were grafted not too many years ago, and they have very little of it, so I would guess that later vintages will be more interesting. But this was none too shabby.

Not long and not boring. I love Unti’s wines.

I hope you’ll post here when you try the lacrima, Oliver.

I will, John. I look forward to it.

Popped the cork on one of the 13 barberas I bought this week and am regretting I didn’t buy more. Great barbera fruit, with an earthy note on top of the bright cherry and plum that added complexity. No oak aromas in attendance. Great match with chicken and provencal veges with herbs.

I think Barbera is one of the successful Italian varieties in CA, I’ve had a few very good ones from here. Vermentino is another, Unti makes a good example there too.

We drank the wine over the last two nights, and it was very good; very varietal, which is to say deep purple, berryish and very aromatic, with great balance between fine tannins and lush fruit. Better than most of the examples I’ve had from the Marche. Thank you!

We had one bottle of Unti Lacrima last night and it did not survive long. This was paired with home made pizza, very good combination. I ordered one additional case as they have only produced a small number.

Ken, thank you for the rec on the Luciano Landi from K&L. Just tried it recently and it was indeed a great bargain for the price. I had it a day or so after I tried a Benanti etna rosso (as part of Eric Asimov’s wine school for last month , and what a contrast for two Italian reds. The benanti was delicate, Pinot-like in character, while the Luciano Landi was immediately intense and in-your-face. I got some wild, almost barnyard notes on the nose initially right after opening the bottle, however these blew off and eventually it settled into an outrageously fruity and plush palate. The nose and flavors were on the tip of my tongue, until I read some tasting notes online which mentioned blueberries, and that immediately struck a chord, and I couldn’t get it out of my mind when finishing the bottle the next day. What a striking wine. Afterward, I couldn’t wait to try the Unti lacrima, just to see the contrast and experience it if it’s even more intense and floral, but it seems like it’s not available retail yet. Will definitely have to make my way over to Sonoma sometime to get a bottle or two

Very enlightening post so thanks for all the imput! It is posts like this that draws me to this place .