This 10 acre vineyard is located on the banks of the Columbia River where the Gorge transitions to desert. A Basalt cliff rises from the river, there are dunes on the other side of the cliff and the vineyard is planted in black sand and basalt cobbles beyond the dunes. The site is complex and influenced by torrid heat from the desert, unimpeded flow of alpine air from the slopes of Mt. Adams and powerful, ocean inflected winds that are accelerated by the steep walls of the Gorge. The change in vegetation is also dramatic and the wild desert plants that grow under the canopy lend the wines compelling botanical perfumes.
Hypothetical wine crossings are always fun and in this case it’s as if Rayas had grown the grapes for their Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone in Cote Rotie. The flavors are of the South, but with the precision, rigor and purity of the cool, steep, slopes that lie further up the rhone river.
The wines are perfectly suited to warmer days and the kind of food that emerges from the verdant spring garden. As the glass fills with hazy pink liquid it tastes of strawberries, grapefruit skin, peppercorn and sage. The periphery of the wine glows with a subtle meatiness not unlike finocchiona and this wine would also be an amazing companion for pizza, especially one that included charcuterie.
