Wine Rasa

Our first Winemaker Dinner!

56 Degrees, a great wine store in Bernardsville, NJ, will be hosting a 4-course dinner with each course paired with one of our wines. The dinner is on July 29 at The Pluckemin Inn in Bedminster, NJ. Please join us.

 http://www.wineaccess.com/store/56degrees/newsletter.html?newsletter_id=205201

We just received our first perfect rating.

Rand Sealey, in his online publication http://reviewofwashingtonwines.com, has given our 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah a perfect score of 20/20 points (only his second perfect score).

Here is his review:

Named after Newton’s seminal work on the physical world, this is a faultless, compelling Syrah.

It displays a deep purplish color and decadent aromas of black cherries, cassis, blueberries, grilled berries and nuts, with scents of lavender, violets and oriental perfumes.

The sensuous exoticism continues on the palate with fleshy roasted yet refined flavors that ooze extracts of blackberry juice, kirsch liqueur, orange peel, licorice and squeezed blueberries, accompanied by mocha, bittersweet chocolate, hazelnut and dried berries.

The back palate shows tremendous depth, with notes of loess earth and wet stone minerals, and culminates in a lingering, complex two minute long finish that is marked by fine grained tannins, superb fruit-acid balance and roasted vanilla bean. 

All beautifully harmonized, this is the finest combination of strength and elegance I’ve found in a Washington Syrah so far.

20/20 points.

If you’d like to purchase some, please go to http://rasavineyards.com/order_form to place your order.

Founded in 2006, the Seattle Wine Awards has quickly become the most important wine recognition program in the country for Washington wines.

The wines are judged single blind – price ranges and varietals are known but the winery is not.

The Grand Awards Tasting is a great opportunity to taste these award winning wines. The tasting will be held at the Rainier Club in Seattle on Sunday, June 13th. For more information please visit http://www.seattlewineawards.com/tasting.html.

We are happy to announce that all four of our wines submitted garnered medals in their respective categories:

• 2009 The Composer Riesling – Bronze
• 2008 Vox Populi Mourvedre – Silver
• 2007 QED – Gold
• 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah – Double Gold

Official results of the 2010 Seattle Wine Awards will be posted on June 1st at http://seattlewineawards.com.

We will be pouring our wines at the Grand Awards Tasting on June 13th. We hope to see you there.

In early April, I spoke with someone interested in buying a vineyard. In order to get a bank loan, he needed to submit a business plan. “For a vineyard property?” I asked. We didn’t submit a business plan when we bought our property in 2007. But things are different now, banks are really tight with their lending. So, I helped him develop a business plan and financial projections.

Over the Spring Release Weekend, we poured our wines on May 1. Though we had less people come through compared to Holiday Barrel Weekend in December, we tripled our sales. More importantly, our most expensive wine, the 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah at $85, sold as well as our less expensive wines. Is this a good sign that people are feeling better about the economy?

I also run a small computer consulting company and my clients are starting to request more work. When small business starts spending, it’s always a good sign.

Now if only the banks would start lending again…

Yesterday was Karly’s birthday. My little girl turned eight. Friday night she had a party with fifteen little girls running around in our house. Ten of those girls slept over. Those of you who have daughters know what a force of nature these little girls can be. I don’t know what my wife was thinking.

Sunday was a much quieter affair with family. Karly asked me to make cherry cola ribs. It’s one of her favorites and everyone loves them. OK, so it’s not my ribs recipe. I got the recipe from Bon Apetit a few years ago and have been making it ever since (Grilled Spareribs with Cherry Cola Glaze – I like using baby back ribs instead and I adjust the heat otherwise it can be too sweet).

We started the afternoon off with the 2008 Lydie et Thierry Chancelle Saumur Blanc. This is a 100% Chenin Blanc from Saumur – an AOC in the Loire Valley. The wine has crisp acidity and notes of melon, nice structure with a mid-length finish. It’s an enjoyable and refreshing white. $20.

With the ribs, we had the 2008 Domaine Des Billards Saint-Amour Beaujolais. I’ve made the cherry cola ribs easily about 20 times. Of all wines I’ve had with the ribs, this wine has provided for the best pairing. The wine is very fruit forward (as most Beaujolais wines are) but it also has wonderful notes of black pepper and cardamom. It has nice balance and a peppery mid-length finish. I really liked this wine and at $20 it’s a bargain. And more importantly, it went perfectly with the ribs.

We ended with our own Rasa Vineyards 2008 Vox Populi Mourvedre. Of course it was wonderful. ’Nuff said.

About a year ago, I had a highly rated Rioja and I remember thinking “what is Rioja about this wine?” The wine could have been from anywhere – lots of fruit and new oak, low acidity and high pH. Sound familiar? Any kind of “Riojaness” was striped in favor of the style of wine the winery wanted to produce. Fair enough, a winery has a right to make any style of wine it chooses but it wasn’t for me (actually I didn’t even think it was all that good – too much ethyl acetate).

I don’t drink a lot of Rioja but when I do, I tend to like the traditional style and you can’t get more traditional than Lopez de Heredia. 2001 is considered an excellent vintage for Rioja. The 2001 Vina Bosconia Reserva is 80% Tempranillo, 15% Grenache, 3% Graciano and 2% Mazuelo from estate vineyards.

On the nose, it had a weird soy sauce note and I thought it was a bit oxidized. Though the wine is only 9 years old, it doesn’t have a lot of fruit. Aged for 5 years in barrel, it’s easy to pick out notes of cedar. After a while, a hint of white pepper (from the Grenache I presume) is detectable. On the palate, the wine has vibrant acidity and the finish is wonderfully long. Whatever quibbles you might have with the aromas and taste or with the minor faults in the wine disappear as the long finish entices you to keep coming back for more.

This wine is not a crowd pleaser but if you want a taste of Rioja, I recommend it. $35.

Trio Infernal are the talented winemakers Laurent Combier, Jen Michel Gerin, and Peter Fischer making wine in Priorat.

This wine is Carignan. I really wanted to like this wine but the acids were just too high giving the wine sour notes that I couldn’t get past. It’s too bad because this could have been a very good wine.

For what it’s worth, their Cuvee 2/3, a 100% old-vines Carignan, is supposed to be fantastic.

This past week I had a trio of Italian reds that I really enjoyed.

Barolo’s are best when they have some age to them. I try not to drink a Barolo that’s younger than 15 years. But recently, I was recommended the 2003 Veglio Michelino e Figlio. For $28, this just might represent the best Barolo value wine I’ve ever had. Aged in large oak casks for at least two years, this Nebbiolo-based wine is a beauty.

The 2006 Corzano e Paterno Chianti Riserva I Tre Borri is 100% Sangiovese matured in barriques for 1 year. It has nice fruit and gamey notes, nice structure, and nice finish. With 5.8 g/L total acidity and a pH of 3.5, this wine is made to be partnered with food. We had it with our Mother’s Day dinner made by my 10-year old boy Austin – homemade marinara sauce with crab meat over a bed of pasta. Delicious.

The 2006 Riecine Chianti Classico Riserva is 100% Sangiovese aged in barrel for more than 2 years. It has nice fruit, beautiful structure, well integrated tannins, and a nice finish. This is a well-made, elegant wine that will age easily for 15 years. $54.

Every spring it’s the same story – the weather starts getting warmer, we start grilling and I get in the mood for a nice rosé. I drink one, I’m unimpressed, and don’t drink another one until next spring. The idea of a rosé, it seems to me, is better than the real thing.

But this year, things were different. Someone at my local wine shop suggested I try the 2009 Domaine Du Bagnol Rosé from Cassis ($27). I looked at the back label and saw that is was imported by Neal Rosenthal. Since I love his portfolio, I decided to try it.

The Domaine Du Bagnol rosé is a blend of Grenache, Mourvedre, and Cinsault. On the nose, the Grenache really jumps out. This wine has a nice structure, good acids, and a mid-length finish. While it didn’t go with my hamburger, it did go well with some aged cheddar.

I liked the wine so much that I went back to buy more but they were sold out.  Imagine that.

Rand Sealey reviewed our 2008 Vox Populi and the 2009 DuBrul Cab blend in his monthly online publication Review of Washington Wines (http://reviewofwashingtonwines.com). The Vox Populi is available on a pre-release discount of 20% ($36) through direct order only (pinto@rasavineyards.com) until May. The DuBrul Cab/Merlot blend will be available later in the year.

Here’s what he had to say:

2008 Vox Populi Mourvedre

Initially, this wine was to be blended with the winery’s QED, but turned out to be so compelling that it had to be bottled on its own. The “voice of the people” has spoken. It displays a deep ruby color and an intriguing nose of wild raspberries, exotic incense, orange peel, crushed roses and a whiff of white pepper. On the palate, it is rich and chewy, almost velvety, and the back shows a ripe, dried berry character that floats into a delicious fruit-acid balanced finish of pomegranate and raspberry juice. The ripe tannins make it approachable, but give enough support for it to age well. 19/20 points.

2008 Rasa Vineyard DuBrul Cab/Merlot Blend

During Winter Barrel tasting release weekend, I tasted the Rasa DuBrul Cabernet, which I found impressive. Since then the brothers decided to blend it with one-third DuBrul Merlot, making an even more stunning wine. It displays a deep ruby color, and the nose shows an exotic character that is unusual for a “Bordeaux” blend – sultry wild berries and black cassis, oriental incense, jasmine, crushed roses and sandalwood. The flavors are thick and mouth encompassing, expressing complex textures of ripe berry fruits, orange peel, licorice, milk chocolate, French roast coffee and a trace of burnt caramel. The lingering ultra ripe, yet restrained, fine grained tannin finish, laced with vanilla bean and toast (70% new oak) lasts over 2 minutes. 19.5+/20 points. Has the potential to go to 20.