Wine Rasa

Last week, I bought a case of wines from one of my favorite shops. Here are some quick notes on three of them:

2005 Olga Raffault “Les Picasses” Chinon

This Cabernet Franc comes from 50 year old vines. This wine is made in the traditional style – fermented in stainless steel tanks and then aged in neutral oak and chestnut barrels for two to three years.

If traditional is a euphemism for barnyard, earthy and rustic, then this wine is traditional. This is not a wine for everyone.

I liked the structure and finish on this wine. It was a bit too barnyard for me but my wife didn’t seem to mind. Overall, I thought the wine was well made. It needs a bit or aeration and the nice acidity makes this a good food wine. $25

2007 Filipa Pato Ensaios Tinto

Ok, I’ll say it – I have a bias against dry red Portuguese wines. The bias is totally unfounded and based on some cheap bottles I had years ago. So, I thought I’d try to undo my bias.

I came across this wine and was intrigued because it’s made from the Touriga Nacional grape. My experience with Touriga Nacional has only been with Vintage Port (the sublime Quinta do Noval Nacional Vintage Ports to be specific) so I thought I’d give this one a try.

Filipa Pato is a young winemaker getting some high praise for her wines. This one is clean with nice fruit and structure with a nice fruity mid-length finish. I quite liked this wine. For $18, it’s worth a try.

2005 Domaine de Terrebrune Bandol Rouge

What a wine! I’ve never heard of this winery (though it’s been around since 1963). Since the wine is from Bandol, it has be a minimum of 50% Mourvedre. This one is 85% Mourvedre and rest is Grenache and Cinsault.

Since we just released our 2008 Vox  Populi Mourvedre, I was interested in trying a nice Bandol.

I was so surprised by this wine. I didn’t expect it to be so good. Nice aromatics, great structure, nice finish. A little spice, some game, black fruit. Very inviting. I bought it for $36. This is a must buy.

We just sent out a mailer last night offerring our new Riesling on pre-release. If you’re interested in purchasing some, send an email to pinto@rasavineyards.com.

Here’s the text of the mailer:

Dear Friends,

We love great Riesling. The best Riesling is grown in Germany, Austria, Alsace, and, yes, Eastern Washington. So when we were offered access to old vine Riesling from a great vineyard, we had to say yes. After all, old vine fruit is hard to get in Washington state.

We received two tons from Dionysus Vineyard located in the Columbia Valley. The vines were planted in 1974 and are most  probably the Geisenheim 110 clone (“most probably” is the best we could determine).

We also purchased two more tons of Riesling from the Bacchus Vineyard. Dionysus and Bacchus are sister vineyards sitting next to each other. They share the same terroir since the fruit is literally separated by a small dirt road. The Bacchus Riesling is from young vines and is a combination of two clones - the Geisenheim 198 and the Neustadt 90.

The combination of 3 clones, young and old vines, and the terroir of the vineyards has made for a compelling wine.

The Composer is a richly textured, inviting Riesling that offers heady aromatics of ripe pear, pineapple, honeysuckle, minerals and petrol. The crisp, vibrant acidity gives the wine great structure and is counterbalanced by a delicate sweetness that lingers across a long, clean finish. The wine is focused, complex, and impeccably balanced.

As my brother says, “The wine is really good, can’t put the glass down!”

The Composer was bottled in March and will be released on May 1 during Spring Release Weekend. We are offering a pre-release price of $24/bottle to our mailing list customers. A discount of 20%.

After release, the wine will retail for $30.

The Composer is not available through our website.

Please respond to this email with your order.

Hope to see you over Spring Release Weekend. Thank you for your support.

Spring Release Weekend is less than a month away!

Please join us to celebrate the release of our 2008 Vox Populi Mourvedre and our 2009 The Composer Riesling.
 
On Saturday May 1, we will be pouring our wines from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM at the Artifex custom crush facility located at 1102 Dell Avenue in Walla Walla.
 
We will pour the 2008 Vox Populi, 2009 The Composer, 2008 QED, and a barrel sample (or two).

Cadaretta will also be pouring their wines at Artifex. The Artifex tasting fee of $5 allows you to taste wines from both Cadaretta and Rasa Vineyards.

If you are planning on attending the Spring Release Weekend, please be sure to visit us.

I’ll be in Walla Walla this week to taste through our barrels. We’ll be bottling 3 wines in the middle of March and we need to make some key decisions this week. Aside from the 2008 QED, we will bottle two new wines – a 2008 Mourvedre and a 2009 Riesling.
 
The Mourvedre is from Minick Vineyard in Prosser. We weren’t planning on making a 100% Mourvedre wine but the quality is so high, we decided to make a varietal wine out of it.

2009 was our first vintage for making a white wine – a Riesling. I love riesling. 50% of the grapes are from Dionysus Vineyard and 50% are from Bacchus Vineyard. Since both the vineyards are right next to each other, the terroir is the same. I liked the way our Riesling was tasting in early December. I’m really excited about how this is going to turn out.
 
Both the labels for the Mourvedre and Riesling are done and we should get TTB approval this week. Then we’ll get them printed just in time for bottling - nothing like a tight schedule.

On Feb 2, Rasa Vineyards will be one of 16 wineries taking part in the Taste Walla Walla event at the City Winery in New York. We will be pouring the 2007 QED and the 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah.

Advanced ticket pricing is $35 per person. After Jan 24, tickets are $50 per person. Please click thumbnail for further details.

If you are in the area, please join us.

A few years ago, I was at a Wine Spectator event where they were pairing Thai food with Dom Perignon.  The celebrated Australian chef David Thompson had just written a book called Thai Food.  I guess someone decided to have a cross-promo.

Four Dom’s were poured and Chef Thompson married a Thai dish with each one.  I can no longer remember what was served but I do remember loving everything (especially the ‘96 Dom Perignon Rose).  Up to that point, I never thought ot Thai cuisine as haute cuisine, but Chef Thompson’s food was sublime and the pairings were spot on.

Ever since then, when I think of Dom Perignon, I think of Thai food.  So when a friend recently gave me a bottle of the 2000 Dom Perignon, I had to make some Thai food to go with it – well, at least Thai-inspired.

I made 3 appetizers: Shrimp and Mango Chutney in Wonton Cups, Chicken Dumplings with Ginger-Soy-Hijiki Sauce, and Scallops with Papaya-Mango Salsa.  My friend brought over the entrée – Chicken Basil with Rice.

We started things off with Champagne RL Legras 2000 Saint-Vincent.  From the village of Chouilly, this blanc de blanc cuvee is a beauty.  Made in an austere style, this wine is well-balanced with nice acidity and finish.  The wine went well with the appetizers.

The 2000 Dom Perignon was next.  Made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from 10 different vineyards, this wine was riper than the Saint-Vincent and had more body.  The Pinot was evident in this Champagne.  Not in the same league as the ’90 and ’96, this is still a great effort.  I thought it went exceptionally well with the Scallops.

For the Chicken Basil entrée, we opened the 1990 Chateau de la Genaiserie – my last bottle.  I’ve had this wine several times and this was its best showing – golden hue, nice mouthfeel, nicely balanced, with hints of honey, apricots, and jaggery.  This is a Chenin Blanc from Coteaux du Layon in the Loire Valley.  While it was a bit too sweet for the Chicken Basil, it was quite enjoyable.

Rand Sealey is a 40-year veteran of the Washington wine industry.  His Review of Washington Wines (http://reviewofwashingtonwines.com) is a monthly on-line publication.  Here’s what he had to say about our 2007 QED and 2007 Principia:

2007 QED

Composed of 94% Syrah with the balance Grenache and Mourvedre, this wine exhibits a deep ruby color and a rich, smoky raspberry, black cherry and blueberry nose. The red/black fruit flavors are expansive and forward, yet focused, multilayered with notes of licorice, earth, leather, cocoa, coffee and vanilla bean notes and a definite sense of terroir (rasa in Sanskrit). The finish goes on and on, marked by a chewy texture and ripe tannins. 19/20 points.

2007 Principia

Named after Newton’s seminal work on the physical world, this is a compelling Syrah. It shows a deep purplish color and a classic, smoky raspberry, blackberry, cigar box and bramble nose. The flavors are thick and multidimensional, with exotic sweet/dry flavors oozing out from the extracts, followed by licorice, mocha, bittersweet chocolate, hazelnut and almond, and dried berry notes. The fine-grained tannin finish goes on and on. This is one of the best Syrahs I’ve tasted this year. 19.5/20 points.

Here are the front and back labels for the 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah:

December is just flying by.  Ever since I got back from the Holiday Barrel Tasting Weekend in Walla Walla, I feel like I’ve been going nonstop.  Looking back, I’m wondering what happened to all the good wine I usually drink.  Since coming back, I haven’t had a single bottle of wine that’s made me stop and take notice (even a bottle of 1991 Graham’s Vintage Port was lackluster - most likely due to improper storage).

This is not a good trend and one that needs to stop ASAP.

Last week, I was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan.  As I was walking through the museum, I came across a painting that had me mesmerized.  The painting is The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David.

Now, I’ve seen reproductions of this painting before so I was familiar with it.  But seeing the real thing was something else.  Wow.  I was awestruck by the beauty and the power of the message.  Socrates, animated with his one hand raised while his other hand reaches for the hemlock he’s been forced to drink, continues to lecture until his last breath.  While his acolytes mourn, he argues his point - undoubtedly something about the immortality of the soul.

I was transfixed by this painting.  I have not been able to get this painting out of my mind.  This is as it should be: fine art should cut through the detritus and grab you and move you in a profound way.  We can readily acknowledge that paintings, music, and poetry can do this.  For me, wine also has the power to do this.

I can remember a handful of wines that have moved me deeply (wines like 1947 Cheval Blanc, 1975 La Mission Haut Brion, 1990 Ponsot Clos de la Roche, 1978 Rayas, 1945 Pol Roger Champagne to name just a few).  These aren’t just good wines and are they are not just great wines.  These are profound wines.

It’s true that nowadays, with the advances in viticulture and enology, it’s easy to make a good bottle of wine.  But it’s still very hard to make a great bottle of wine.  Harder still is making wine that is truly transformative – a work of art if you will.

And like great works of art, these wines are a rare breed.  And like great works of art, these wines need to be cherished; these wines need to be celebrated.

I sent out the mailer for our first reserve wine - the 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah.  To order, please click http://rasavineyards.com/order_form.

Here’s the text of the mailer:

Dear Friends,

We are proud to offer for sale our first reserve wine – the 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah.

The 2007 Principia is the first in our Celebrate Excellence Series. It is named after Sir Isaac Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (known as Principia).

The Principia is a seminal work that changed the way we view the natural world. Newton’s laws of motion form the basis of classical mechanics – the study of bodies in motion.

The Principia stands as testament to the genius of Newton. It also stands as inspiration to mankind that with our minds we can achieve unbelievable things.

Aged for 23 months in 100% French oak (30% new), The 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah is a blend of Syrah from 5 vineyards. The predominant source is Les Collines Vineyard in Walla Walla. The other sources are Seven Hills Vineyard, Double River Vineyard, Lewis Vineyard and Portteus Vineyard.

The 2007 Principia exhibits incredible aromatic and palate complexity combined with great structure and a long silky finish. The wine is a testament to the unique terroirs of Walla Walla and Washington.

The bouquet offers meaty wild game notes with blackberry, truffle, and white pepper. The palate’s extraordinary silky texture envelops flavors of grilled meats, blackberry, kirsch, cola, spice, minerals, and earth. From the initial aromatics, to the complex mid-palate, to the resonant, silky finish, this wine is a beauty.

The 2007 Principia is $85 per bottle. Only 70 cases produced.

Please go to http://rasavineyards.com/order_form to place your order.

Thank you for your support.


Happy Holidays,

Pinto and Billo Naravane