New, Limited-Edition Release from Washington State's Esteemed Rasa Vineyards Achieves Perfect Rating

WALLA WALLA, Wash. (May 15, 2025) – Rasa Vineyards, the premier producer of ultra-premium, terroir-specific wines from Eastern Washington and Northeastern Oregon, today announced the launch of its inaugural icon wine, the 2021 Naravane Cabernet Sauvignon. Crafted by Rasa Vineyards’ co-owners and co-winemakers Billo Naravane, Master of Wine, and Pinto Naravane, the limited-edition namesake release, 18 years in the making from the winery’s 2007 founding in Walla Walla, Wash., celebrates the power and elegance of Cabernet Sauvignon and is inspired by the grit and grace of generations of Naravane (pronounced nuh-row-né) matriarchs. The premium bottling recently achieved a perfect, 100-point score from wine reviewer, journalist and northwest wine expert Owen Bargreen and esteemed senior editor and wine reviewer Jeremy Young of the International Wine Report.

“When we founded Rasa Vineyards in Walla Walla in 2007, we felt we’d stumbled upon a hidden gem – an area with incredibly diverse terroir capable of high-quality winemaking and a still-nascent wine industry that would allow us the freedom to develop our own unique approach to Bordeaux- and Rhône-style wines,” said Pinto Naravane, co-owner and winemaker at Rasa Vineyards. “The release of our newest wine, the 2021 Naravane Cabernet, is the culmination of 18 years of honing our craft to produce our first namesake wine that honors the terroir of the Columbia Valley and interplay of power and finesse possible with Cabernet. This wine is also deeply personal to us and is an homage to our mother and grandmother, whose fortitude, strength and love shaped our own journey as people and entrepreneurs.”

Billo Naravane, co-owner and winemaker at Rasa Vineyards, continued, “We’re driven to create expressive wines that tell a story and to inspire meaningful connection among those who open and share a bottle of our wine. This wine showcases two sides of Cabernet – its incredible structure and depth and a soft elegance we’ve achieved through judicious extraction techniques, use of multiple clones of Cabernet Sauvignon, and a pitch-perfect match to the rarest of French oak barrels. The 2021 Naravane Cabernet exemplifies the unique character and exceptional quality of Columbia Valley, on par with its perhaps greater-known cousins, Napa and Sonoma Valleys, to the south.”

The 2021 Naravane Cabernet features a blend of the highest-quality Cabernet Sauvignon grapes hand-picked from four carefully selected vineyards in Columbia Valley, including Red Mountain’s Ciel du Cheval, planted to vines in 1975. In 2021, these vineyards yielded grapes with high fruit concentration, intensity and depth of phenolics. Aged for 36 months in 100% new French oak barrels, this old world-style cab delivers incredible fruit purity, elegance, and concentration in a complex, thought-provoking style.

To commemorate the first vintage of the 2021 Naravane Cabernet, the Naravane brothers partnered with esteemed designer and creative director Benny Yarnell to craft the custom label, an homage to feminine strength and two generations of strong Naravane women, including Pinto and Billo’s mother, Ajita, and grandmother, Laxmi. Featuring a hand-drawn classical female bust with abstract gold foil layering, the artwork is intended to evoke timelessness, grace and complexity – a balance of beauty and power that mirrors the intensity and elegance of the wine itself.

The 2021 Naravane Cabernet has a suggested retail price of $800 and is now available for purchase for Rasa Vineyards’ wine club members, online at rasavineyards.com and at select fine wine retailers nationally. For more information or to find a retailer near you, please visit Rasa Vineyards online.

About Rasa Vineyards

Founded in 2007 by brothers Pinto and Billo Naravane, Rasa Vineyards is a boutique winery based in the heart of Walla Walla, Wash. With roots in the tech world and a shared passion for fine wine, the Naravane brothers left their careers to pursue a calling sparked by a profound tasting experience. Billo later earned a Master’s in Viticulture and Enology from UC Davis and became a Master of Wine in 2017—the most prestigious designation in the wine world. Pinto is currently in the MW program. Together, Pinto and Billo built Rasa on a foundation of intellectual curiosity, precision winemaking, and a commitment to expressing the distinctive terroirs of Eastern Washington and Northeastern Oregon. From its inception, Rasa Vineyards has focused on small-lot, terroir-driven wines, with fruit sourced from exceptional sites, including their 25-acre estate in the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. Their first releases, including the 2007 QED and 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah, drew immediate critical acclaim and established Rasa as a rising star in American wine. With a minimalist, hands-off winemaking approach, the Rasa portfolio ranges from Rhône and Bordeaux-inspired reds to expressive whites. Each label reflects a passion for science, logic, philosophy, and poetry—think “QED,” “Occam’s Razor,” “Principia,” and “Dream Deferred.” These aren’t just names; they embody the intellectual spirit, passion, and soul that define the winery.