Rasa Vineyards

While barrel tasting our 2008 Mourvedre, a number of people beseeched us to bottle it as a single varietal wine. After some critical analysis of the wine, we decided to listen to the voice of the people. And we’re glad we did. The Vox Populi has become one of our fastest sellers (only outpaced by the Creative Impulse).

The 2010 Vox Populi Mourvedre is 75% Monette’s Vineyard (Walla Walla AVA) and 25% Alder Ridge Vineyard (Horse Heaven Hills AVA) and it promises to be the best one yet.

Winemaker Notes

The wine has a rich vibrant mouthfeel with crisp acidity that lingers beautifully into the finish. The bouquet has wild game, white pepper, black cherry, vanilla, and nutmeg, with slight hints of mixed flowers. The silky tannins intermingle nicely with smoked meat, truffle, earth, mineral, and white pepper on the palate. The long, silky finish resonates with notes of white pepper. This wine will hit maturity in 6-8 years and will hold for another 10 years after that. If consuming young please decant for a couple hours. This wine will pair beautifully with venison or lamb.

Technical details

The wine had a pre-fermentation maceration of 78 hours and a post-fermentation maceration of 67 hours. The wine was punched down by hand 3 times each day during macerations and fermentation.

All individual wine components, including free run and press fractions, were kept separate until final blending. The oak profile is 20% new French oak (predominantly from Troncais and Alliers) and 80% neutral French oak. The wine achieved its sparkly brilliance from 4 judicious rackings, no fining agents were employed. The wine was very lightly filtered to capture any remaining lees. The alcohol is 14.2%, pH is 3.71, and the titratable acidity is 5.8 g/L. Harvest dates: 10/9 and 10/27.