After graduating college, Billo moved to Silicon Valley. Pinto, who had already graduated and was learning about wine, would visit several times a year. We would invariably visit Napa Valley, developing our interest in wine. A fortuitous opportunity to purchase a bottle of the 1988 Mouton Rothschild, a First Growth from Bordeaux, at the deeply discounted price of $75 would change how we thought about wine.
The Mouton was a revelation. We had never tasted a wine with such complexity, evolving flavors, long finish, beautiful balance. And it was even better the next day. This wine turned our wine interest into a deep and abiding passion. It is our epiphany wine.
The experience of the Mouton propelled us to take a deep dive into the world of wine. We bought wine books, got subscriptions to various wine magazines, attended as many wine events as possible, and tasted, tasted, tasted. The more we learned the more we wanted to learn. And the more we wanted to be a part of the winemaking community. We wanted to be winemakers and we wanted our own winery.
Billo applied to the UC Davis Masters program for Viticulture and Winemaking. He was one of ten people to get accepted that year. He called Pinto and asked him how serious he was about starting a winery.
It was the same year Pinto was turning 40 and we both felt that if we didn’t do this now, we never would and we would regret it for the rest of our lives.
So, Billo quit Hewlett Packard and went to school full-time. Pinto spent the next year formulating a business plan, doing financial projections, and creating operational links to ensure we had a path to success.
In February or 2007, Pinto and Billo visited Walla Walla. We both, independently, walked away with the same impression: the 2007 wine industry in Walla Walla was where Napa was in the mid-80s and where Sonoma was in the early 90s. While we weren’t pioneers in Walla Walla, we were still early enough to create a winery that would be a market leader and have an impact on the local economic paradigm. Even though Billo had finished only the first year of his degree, we were ready.
We formed Rasa Vineyards. We purchased 28 acres in Milton-Freewater, OR in an area that would become the Rocks District AVA and made 700 cases of wine.
We released our first two wines: 2007 QED and 2007 Principia Reserve Syrah. The QED received 94 points from Wine Spectator and the Principia received a perfect rating from Rand Sealey of Review of Washington Wines — a great way to start.
Billo became a Master of Wine (MW). The MW is the highest recognition someone can attain in the world of wine. Since the inception of the Institute of Masters of Wine in 1953, only 498 people have become MWs.
We now 16 vintages behind us and we are as focused as ever producing ultra-premium terroir specific wines from Eastern Washington and Northeastern Oregon.
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