Unico Zelo
Adelaide Hills , South Australia
Brands
Unico Zelo
Winery Overview
Established in 2012 by Brendan & Laura Carter, a couple on a mission to produce wines crafted with minimal intervention that showcase some of the harshest and most unique terroirs that South Australia can offer. They burst onto the scene with a plethora of single vineyard Fiano and Nero d’Avola that challenged the notion that wine is only for an older generation and that there were far more things to learn about sustainability in vineyards, than first thought.
They quickly gained notoriety for pushing the boundaries of winemaking, championing a more natural approach with a pragmatic approach to farming. More recently, they’ve garnered success for their readily approachable skin-contact wines such as Esoterico and their foray into Pet Nat with their Fiano-based Seafoam.
Available in
Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, USA, Vietnam
Seeking Distribution in
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Norway, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland
Winemaker Bio
Winemaker Brendan Carter studied Oenology and Viticulture and went on to work as a winemaker with Australian wine producers like S.C. Pannell, Jacob’s Creek, G.D. Vajra and a raft of smaller producers in the Adelaide Hills.
Eager to further his understanding of the Australian beverage industry, Brendan worked in wine bars and bottle shops in his free time, learning to talk about wine, and more importantly understand the trends and gaps in the market. With his partner Laura, Brendan founded Unico in 2012 out of a mutual love of the Australian landscape and a passion to push forward sustainable practices in the beverage industry that protected the future of the land and created new ways to use native botanical ingredients.
Laura Carter’s journey to become a winemaker took more than 5 years, with many major turning points that defined her unique approach to winemaking. Inspired by a holiday to Italy that saw Laura tour many wineries, Laura became fascinated by the connection between culture, food and wine and the unique way wine was able to express the stories of the culture and people behind it, and the generosity and simplicity in their approach to winemaking and growing.
Back home in South Australia, Laura approached Henschke to work in their wine laboratory for a season. She began there in 2012, eventually moving into a cellar hand role in both the white and red cellars while she completed her degree in Agricultural Science. With her partner Brendan, Laura then founded Unico in 2012 – a result of their mutual love of Italian varieties and passion towards sustainable Australian agriculture.