Rasa Vineyards Occam’s Razor Pinot Gris
WHY WE LOVE IT
- Occam’s Razor Pinot Gris comes from the Columbia Valley.
- The lees aging adds a lovely textural component while the skin contact adds just the right level of phenolic grip. The vibrant finish echoes with notes of apricot, melon, and minerals.
- This is a wine that can be enjoyed now or over the next 2-4 years.
Varietal Composition: 100% Pinot Gris
Elaboration: The clusters were destemmed and lightly crushed and the juice remained on the skins for a few hours. The wine was barrel fermented partially in neutral oak barrels and stainless-steel barrels. No malolactic fermentation. The wine was aged on the lees for 10 months with weekly batonnage. The wine was not racked until bottling and no fining agents were employed. The wine was very lightly filtered to capture any remaining lees. The alcohol is 13.9%, pH is 3.52, and the titratable acidity is 5.7g/L.
Tasting Notes: Beautiful aromatics of apricot, peach, marzipan, and acacia. On the palate there are precise notes of apricot, melon, tangerine peel, and honeycomb with hints of marzipan. Fuller bodied with a concentrated palate, crisp acidity, and mineral expression.
PRESS
2020 – 92 Vinous | 92 Owen Bargreen
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
The concept of Rasa Vineyards started with a bottle of 1988 Mouton Rothschild that brothers Pinto and Billo Naravane bought at a discount in Napa Valley. That bottle of wine changed their lives. They call it their epiphany wine. That Mouton inspired them to learn all they could about wine and seriously discuss starting a winery. In 2007, with Pinto’s business plan and Billo working on a degree from the UC Davis Master’s program in Viticulture and Winemaking, the two budding winemakers quit their tech jobs and selected Walla Walla, Washington, as the home of Rasa Vineyards.
They purchased 28 acres in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, just ten miles south of Walla Walla, in an area that would become the Rocks District AVA. Their first two wines won accolades and high ratings in wine publications. In 2017, Billo joined an elite worldwide group of 498 people who have earned the title of ‘Master of Wine.’