96
Connoisseurs Guide to Wine
"Starting out with intense, highly concentrated aromas of spices and blackberries that are about as deeply filled as Syrah can get without going over the top, this beautifully balanced, very well-crafted wine shows its true colors once in the mouth and offers up long-lasting flavors that are keenly focused on precise Syrah fruit. Firm without being edgy, and, deserving at least three or four years in the cellar, this incredibly involving wine has all the signs of a bottling that will combine power with sophistication as the years go by." (07/12)
92 Josh Raynolds - Vinous Media
"Opaque purple. Sexy, intensely perfumed bouquet evokes candied dark berries and violet, with smoky oak and Indian spice nuances building with air. Stains the palate with intense blackcurrant and mulberry flavors lifted by notes of cracked pepper and allspice. Shows impressive intensity on the finish, which repeats the violet and spice notes." (05/12)
91 Jeb Dunnuck - The Rhone Report
"A step up from the '08 and aged for 17 months in 57% new French oak, the
2009 Olson Ogden Syrah Unti Vineyard is a serious Syrah that boasts a
deep purple color to go with rich, yet well defined aromas of bing cherry,
candied flowers, graphite, pepper, and an edgy minerality and crushed
stone like character that develops over the evening. Overall fresh and
elegant, yet with a rock-solid core of fruit, a deft, light texture, and
beautifully integrated acidity, this medium-bodied, cool-climate Syrah is
certainly impressive now, yet deserves 2-3 years of bottle age, and should
shine for upwards of a decade. It is never going to be a blockbuster, yet
excels for its purity and balance." (06/12)
90 Wine Enthusiast
"A gorgeous, brooding Syrah from Unti's wonderful Rhone-inspired vineyard. This wine has savory herbs intermingled with flavors of black cherry, leather and espresso - particularly on the finish. An integrated and complex rendering of California Syrah, with smooth tannins and a fullness that doesn’t overwhelm." (08/12)