Unico Zelo is an innovative winery located in the Adelaide Hills, established by the dynamic duo Brendan and Laura Carter. The couple launched Unico Zelo fresh from university in 2014, with a focus on producing Italian-inspired, textural, and site-expressive wines.
They explore lesser-known varieties and regions, notably giving significant attention to Fiano and Nero d’Avola, showcasing distinct vineyard characteristics along with varietal ones. This approach has led them to work with progressive growers in South Australia’s Riverland, highlighting the nuance and individuality of each site.
In the expansive portfolio of Italian-inspired wines Unico Zelo produces, they count their Pipe Dream Nero d'Avola among their best. In its homeland, this grape is the de facto flag bearer for Sicily, capable of making boatloads of easy drinking table wine, but when farmed attentively, it is destined for greatness. And so it can handle the dry and warm conditions of Australia with grace, maintaining a racy acidity while ripening a host of pure, primary red and blue fruits.
These vines are pampered in UZ's home vineyard, Birdwood, in Adelaide Hills, where it keeps terrific structure and balance. Ripe, primary fruit, with racy acid and pure red and blue fruits. It’s on song this year. It has an uber addictive raspberry core, with ripples of blueberry and bright red apple. There is a distinct, rocky mineral acidity that’s a bit unusual for this wine, but it’s a lovely, complexing character. It has some almost lemongrass-y hits too. Love the development of these vines now, after being grafted in 2015 and it should evolve really nicely in bottle.
