The Accidental Wino » Dry Creek Valley

Tasting Notes: Unti Vineyards and Papapietro Perry Winery, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma

The Accidental Wino — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:56:05 +0000

It almost feels as though I’m repeating myself, but time truly flies, and looking back among my past blog entries, I hadn’t been wine tasting at Unti Vineyards or Papapietro Perry since last summer, and I did need to catch up with their most recent vintages. So here we go again. Another dissertation on the wonders of Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley, although I plan to keep this one short, in order to complement my ever-decreasing attention span. Typically, I would also fit Ridge Vineyards into this same discussion, but I got a late start over to Sonoma last week, so Ridge is on my short-term agenda for the moment. I may drive over to Sonoma in a few hours, in fact. I’ve got the itch to wander at the moment, as I sit here and type in the dead of night; if New Orleans was only four hours away — and not four days — I would already be on the road, headed to my spiritual second home. Wine country will have to do for now.

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One thing that’s interesting about making annual visits to my favorite wineries is that I can gauge the consistency of my own personal taste. Consistency is important for wine drinkers, since the wines you purchase in the tasting rooms are the very wines you’ll ultimately be drinking at home. This notion seems obvious, of course. But there have been times when I’ve purchased wines, only to pop them open months or years later, and wonder what the hell I was thinking when I bought them. Was it perhaps the last tasting of the day? Was my palate just shot by then? Could I have been drunk? Drinking fine wine can be a somewhat costly proposition, so it’s key to be able to reach into the collection with confidence, knowing that anything you select will taste as delicious as you might remember. It’s important, therefore, to put yourself in tune with your own taste, which is the true benefit of going wine tasting.

I never review my old tasting notes before I revisit my favorite wineries, since I don’t want to be unduly influenced while I’m out tasting wine. Even more importantly, I don’t want to see anyone else’s notes either, and I hate when wineries publish scores alongside their tasting notes. I do admit, however, that wine ratings do interest me from a curiosity standpoint, but I have long since pushed them out of my mind when it comes to buying the wine that I plan to collect and drink. If I’m at a tasting room, and I can taste the wine for myself, does it even matter what the Old Guard thinks? Unless Jim Laube and Robert Parker are coming over to my place for drinks (fat chance of that, since I don’t host a seniors night), then who really cares what they think of the wine I serve? Instead of offering wines that reflect someone else’s tastes, I feel that my selections should really reflect my own tastes.

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Forgive me, I said this entry would be short, and I can ramble in the wee hours. But the reason why I mentioned consistency of taste was that I discovered that I tend to gravitate towards the same two wines at Papapietro Perry: The Pauline’s Vineyard Zinfandel and the Leras Family Vineyard Pinot Noir. In the latter instance, I’ve twice tasted the 2007 Papapietro Perry Leras Family Vineyard Pinot Noir ($49), although these tastings were almost one year apart. Both times, I’ve been absolutely floored by this wine. I would argue that the 2007 Leras may represent the pinnacle of Russian River Pinot Noir. I took a bottle home, and I when I looked at my notes from 2009, I learned that I also took home a bottle last summer (I originally caught this wine just as it was released, and now it’s finally ending its run). In the meantime, the 2007 Leras did compile some nice scores from Jim Laube, as well. Although I don’t agree with his influence, sometimes we do agree on wine.

As for the Pauline’s Vineyard Zinfandel ($37), it was my favorite Zin of the day, although I do remember enjoying the 2006 Pauline’s Vineyard more than the 2007 vintage. In general, I tend to prefer the 2006 Dry Creek Zins to their 2007 counterparts, which seem to have higher alcohol levels in general (though not in the specific case of the Pauloine’s Zin, which was 14.7% for both vintages). The 2007 campaign was a warmer vintage for Dry Creek Valley than the 2006 campaign. Having done some research on the Pauline’s Vineyard Zinfandel, I noticed that 2006 featured an early October harvest, while 2007 noted an early September harvest. More time on the vine allows for more complexity, which is probably why I remember doing back-flips for the 2006 Pauline’s, while the 2007 was delicious, but not as devastating.

Rather than purchase a Zinfandel from the 2007 vintage, I decided to instead stockpile a little more 2007 Pinot, since that vintage represents one of California’s all-time best for the varietal. The 2007 Pinots are beginning to disappear from the market at this point, as wineries are now beginning to offer their 2008s. With this in mind, I purchased the 2007 Papapeitro Perry Peters Vineyard Pinot Noir ($49), which I had briefly considered to be the best California Pinot Noir that I had tasted in a long time — until I tasted the 2007 Leras Family Pinot shortly thereafter. Both wines are formidable, to say the least. The 2007 Leras displays a touch more finesse than the 2007 Peters, but both wines feature a terrific aroma and an incredibly lengthy finish.

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Unti Vineyards is going to get short shrift in this post, since I’m almost at 1,000 words here. But I have exalted Unti plenty in the past, most recently with an entry regarding their 2008 Rosé, which is now sold out. Regardless, I found the 2009 Unti Rosé ($19) to be just as appealing. Among the nine other wines that I tasted at Unti, the one that really caught my attention was the 2007 Unti Grenache ($30), which is 80% Grenache Noir, 10% Syrah and 10% Mourvedre. In my notes, I’ve summed it up simply as “impressive.” On the lighter side, I also purchased the 2008 Unti Segromigno ($24), which is 92% Sangiovese and 8% Montepulciano. It had aromas of mocha on the nose, alongside red fruit on the palate. Quite nice.

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Wine Tasting Notes: 2008 Unti Vineyards Dry Creek Rosé

The Accidental Wino — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 03:40:59 +0000

Sure, I could easily lead off with some typical wine-blogging cliché about it “being summertime” and “time for rosé,” but that’s all been done before, and frankly, I’m much better than all that. Besides, most non-sparkling rosé isn’t even worth drinking, unless there’s nothing else available. After all, much of the still rosé on the market is nothing more than a by-product — an after-thought, if you will — to more serious wine-making. For those who might not be hip to the game, when winemakers begin to ferment their red wines, they will often “bleed off” some of the liquid in order achieve a better skin-to juice ratio, which allows for a richer color extraction and more tannic structure (the French call this method saignee, a term that has its roots in the Latin sanguis, meaning blood). Long story short, that bled-off by-product often becomes rosé, which means that packaging it and selling it as a legitimate wine is often some slick marketing hocus pocus. Don’t believe the hype.

My noteworthy exception to this rule, however, is the delicious rosé offered by Unti Vineyards in Sonoma Dry Creek. I tend to rave about all of the Unti wines, and this rosé definitely deserves some recognition. Of course, the first sign that any rosé might be sub-par is if it’s made with non-Rhone varietals, such as Cabernet or (even worse) Zinfandel. These wines may be billed as “unique,” but they’re most likely a sucker bet. On the other hand, the 2008 Unti Rosé ($19) features 79% Grenache and 21% Mourvedre, which exemplifies the type of Rhone pedigree that serious rosé requires. And not only has Unti stuck to the script with its Rhone varietals, but I should also point out that, even though Unti does offer red versions of Grenache and Mourvedre, the Unti Rosé is only about 15% saignee. How many other wineries can boast such a claim? And besides, while most rosé can taste like a simple, watered-down red wine, the Unti Rosé has a terrific aroma of strawberry blossoms, with the taste to match.

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Tasting Notes: Papapietro Perry, Dry Creek Valley

The Accidental Wino — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:19:59 +0000

With 2007 being a banner vintage for Russian River Pinot Noir, I have been making a concerted effort to get over to Sonoma to scoop up some of these current releases (as well as piggy-backing some orders with friends who are on exclusive mailing lists — such as the list for Chasseur Wines — which has just made its 2007 selections available). Today, I made a long overdue trip to Papapietro Perry in the Dry Creek Valley, an area that not only has some of the best Pinot Noir in Sonoma, but some of the best Zinfandel, as well.

Although Papapietro Perry offers several different bottlings of Pinot Noir, including some clonal-specific bottlings and some single-vineyard bottlings, I tasted just two of these wines today: the 2007 Papapietro Perry Russian River ($45) and the 2007 Papapietro Perry Leras Family Vineyard ($49). Both wines were seamless, with delicate extraction and wonderful focus. For me, it was refreshing to encounter a Pinot Noir that shows some deference to the grape, since so many wineries can seem to treat this varietal like Cabernet Sauvignon.

I found that Papapietro Perry also demonstrated a similar approach with its Zinfandels, which was equally admirable. In this era of 17% alcohol Zins, which can often drink like Port, but without the residual sugar, I’ve found that many winemakers have lost their finesse, even on their way to high point-ratings (which implies that many wine critics have lost their way, as well). These beastly, high-alcohol Zins might stand out during a blind tasting, but they are utterly useless at the dinner table.

Today, I tasted the 2006 Papapietro Perry Russian River Zinfandel ($35) and the 2006 Papapeitro Perry Pauline’s Vineyard Zinfandel ($37). Both wines are under 15% alcohol, which means that the common “hot” Zin finish is mercifully absent in both of these wines, although it’s not missed in the slightest. As is typical for my own tastes, I preferred the Dry Creek bottling to the Russian River bottling, and so the Pauline’s Vineyard was my favorite of the two. In truth, it’s one of the best Zins that I’ve tasted this year.

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Wine Tasting Totes, 2009: Unti Vineyards, Dry Creek

The Accidental Wino — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 04:19:05 +0000

With a friend in town from my Hyde Park days, lots of food and wine was on the agenda last weekend. In essence, it was about three solid days of eating and drinking, all jump-started by the Fourth of July, which was super-gluttonous in its own right (and highlighted by a giant lamb leg, slow-roasted in a Caja China). Since then, the festivities have kept me from blogging, up until now (as I type, life is pretty much back to normal). Frankly, I have so many things to cover, it’s daunting. I’ll definitely have a restaurant recap from Terra on the way, but for now, I’m going to recap my top tasting-room experience of the entire week: Unti Vineyards.

I have enjoyed Unti wines for quite some time, and in my mind, it remains as much of a “can’t-miss” winery as Ridge Lytton Springs, which is right down the road, maybe less than a mile, perhaps a bit more. Even by Sonoma standards, Unti is a small producer, although the winery’s portfolio has expanded since my first visit back in 2006. If my memory serves, Unti poured just a few wines in those days — Rosé, Barbera, Zinfandel and Sangiovese (and perhaps Grenache). In contrast, we tasted at least eight or 10 wines during my last visit, all of them well-balanced and engaging.

With winemaker Mick Unti as the host behind the bar, the wines were accompanied by a flurry of information and expertise. Without a doubt, this session was one of my best tasting-room experiences in recent memory. Unti Vineyards produces all sorts of interesting varietals that are nearly non-existant in the Napa Valley: wines such as Grenache, Barbera, and Montepulciano are great examples. The latter varietal is extremely uncommon, even in Sonoma, and I found the 2006 Unti Montepulciano to be a striking wine, trading as much on its complexity as its novelty. The nose was Old World earthiness, while the palate was New World fruit. Really fun, and a great $30 bottle.

My other pick of the day was the 2008 Unti Rosé, which features a saignee blend of about four parts Grencache to one part Mourvedre. I will typically pass on Rosé, but I feel that Unti produces a terrific version. Much like the Rosé of Pinot Noir produced by Toulouse Vineyards in Mendocino, the Unti Rosé seems like much more than a mere afterthought, which is always the danger with California Rosé (and perhaps with French Rosé as well). Because these wines are some of the few that pair well with Cajun cuisine, I always like to keep an eye out for good Rosé, especially in the summer. At just $19, I took home two bottles.

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Sonoma Zin: Unti, Ridge and Mauritson

The Accidental Wino — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:46:46 +0000

I drove out to Sonoma County today to gather a few Dry Creek Zinfandels for the blind tasting that I’m arranging this month. As I had kind of prefaced in my posting for June 3, I stopped by Unti, Ridge and Mauritson. These three wineries are all within a couple miles of each other, right near the intersection of Lytton Springs Road and Dry Creek Road (which is actually very close to the Hwy 101-Lytton Springs exit).

I have visited Unti once before, have been to Mauritson a few times, and have been to Ridge too many times to really count. Suffice it to say, all three of these wineries are worth a visit. Ridge and Mauritson both have several Zins to offer, with lots of small, single-vineyard selections that may or may not be available during every visit (another reason why I hesitate to get too specific here). Unti just has one Zin, but for me, it’s definitely one of the great values out there.

• At $25 per bottle, the Unti Vineyards Dry Creek Zinfandel 2005 is just dynamite stuff. I’m very intersted to see how it performs in a blind tasting, being the least expensive bottle of the bunch. After having been truly impressed with this wine a few weeks ago, I had to purchase another bottle today. I drank this wine with one of my chef buddies from my Auberge du Soleil days (he has since moved on to Cyrus, an envious place to be at age 24). We were both big fans of this Zin.

Unti also offers a few Rhone selections, Grenache and Syrah, along with some Italian varietals, Sangiovese and Barbera. The winery is a small family-owned operation, and the tasting room is rustic and quaint, dominated by two large French oak foudres (I believe they are just over 600 gallons each). On any given visit, there is a decent chance that someone with the surname Unti will be pouring the wines, and I had an interesting discussion with George Unti, the patriarch and vineyard manager, about Biodynamic farming.

• At Ridge, where I began the day, my only purchase was a wine that I didn’t taste, the 2006 Ridge Carignane Buchignani. Believe me, I really really love Ridge Zinfandel, and it was all tempting, but I also have a pretty decent supply of these wines from my many previous visits. Still, I did have to get the Carignane after being floored by the 2005 vintage a few months ago. Carignane is a varietal that you won’t often see in California, and it is usually relegated to a blending grape most of the time.

Ridge bottles their 100% Carignane for their wine club, and they sell the remainder out of the tasting room only. This practice is what keeps me coming back to Ridge time and time again; these small, left-over wine club allotments are where it’s at for me. The Ridge Carignane is only $24 per bottle, which is an outstanding price. If it’s even close to as good as the 2005 vintage, it is an extreme value, novelty factor aside.

• Mauritson offers a pretty wide array of wines, including a Pinot Noir that is not an official Mauritson wine. The Pinot is actually bottled under the Charles Clay label, and the wine is a joint venture with chef and restauranteur Charlie Palmer. All of the Mauritson wines are eminently drinkable, but in my opinion, the true gems are the quartet of 100% Zins bottled under their Rockpile label.

I tasted three of the four Rockpile wines (the 2005 Cemetary is sold out and the 2006 is awaiting release), and I really enjoyed the very distinct terroir provided by each. My two favorites were the 2006 Rockpile Ridge Zinfandel and the 2006 Westphall Ridge Zinfandel. The Rockpile Ridge was earthy and restrained, while the Westphall had an intriguing fruit-forward characteristic. After debating which one to purchase, I ended up buying them both. They are priced at $35 and $37, respectively.

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