Rasa Vineyards Nivas Muscat 10 year Solera
"Rasa Vineyards is the realization of our passion, vision and commitment to create a world-class winery focused on producing ultra-premium, terroir specific wines from Eastern Washington and Northeastern Oregon.
We fell in love with wine in 1991. Since then, we’ve tasted hundreds of wines every year and developed a deep appreciation for everything about wine. For years we dreamed of starting our own winery.
In 2006, Billo applied to the UC Davis Masters program for Viticulture and Winemaking. He was one of ten to get accepted that year. He called me and asked what he should do. It was the same year I was turning 40. If we didn’t do this now, we never would and we would regret it for the rest of our lives. So, he quit Hewlett Packard and went to school full-time. I spent the next year formulating a business plan, doing financial projections, and creating operational links to ensure we had a path to success.
In 2007, while Billo was still in school, we felt we were ready. That year, we created two wines: 2007 QED (a blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre) and 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah. The QED received 94 points from Wine Spectator and the Principia received a perfect rating from Rand Sealey of Review of Washington Wines – not a bad way to start.
Ten years later, we continue to be proud of what we do. We remain committed to making the best wines in the world. In 2006, we made the decision to start our winery, we subsequently left our high-tech jobs behind, and we’ve never looked back." - Billo & Pinto
This wine is Rasa's homage to Rutherglen Muscat from Australia. Made using traditional methods, the wine is impeccably balanced, highly aromatic, elegant, and unctuous. The high acidity and exquisite fruit concentration and high fruit intensity perfectly balances the 18% alcohol and the 237 g/L residual sugar. The complex aromatics and palate expression suggest a wide range of characteristics from young primary fruit to more evolved, aged, oxidative tertiary notes, making for a stunning wine.
After destemming and crushing the Muscat, the must goes through a 100% native fermentation. The primary fermentation is arrested using 96% alcohol neutral spirit, leaving roughly 220 g/L residual sugar. The wine is aged in neutral French oak in a solera where the oldest barrels are topped with the wines from the youngest vintages. The alcohol is 18% and the residual sugar is 237 g/L.
