1/30/2024 0 Comments Rasa vineyardsSo we thought it was a great opportunity for us to come here and make great, world-class wines.†–Pinto Naravane, co-owner/managing partner, Rasa Vineyards €œWe saw a real parallel to where Walla Walla and eastern Washington are and where Sonoma and Napa were. When they visited Walla Walla, it reminded them of Napa and Sonoma in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. In addition to Walla Walla, they considered Paso Robles, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Oregon. When the brothers decided that the time was right to pursue their dream of starting a winery and Billo started school at UC Davis, they put a lot of time into developing a business plan and deciding where they wanted to locate their winery. €œOur conservative Indian parents love the fact that we are throwing that out to make wine.†–Pinto Naravane, co-owner/managing partner, Rasa Vineyards Pinto loves to write poetry and screenplays, and Billo loves music and plays classical piano. Having him on the east coast has also opened doors for them in the New York and New Jersey markets which has proved quite beneficial.Įven though Pinto and Billo come from very technical backgrounds, they both felt the pull to express their artistic side through the winery. Eventually, Pinto hopes to move to Walla Walla, but for the time being, he will continue to live in New Jersey in order to supplement their income until the winery becomes self-sustaining. He received his BE in Computer Science/Electrical Engineering and MS in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and runs his own computer networking company. Pinto, meanwhile, still lives in New Jersey where the brothers grew up. He graduated in June of 2008 and moved to Walla Walla full-time in September of that year. He soon realized that he did not want to do that for another 30 years and applied to the Viticulture and Enology program at UC Davis in 2006. He worked in the computer industry for about 15 years, much of that time travelling as a consultant. Billo received his BS in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from MIT and his MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. Bitten by the wine bug around 1990, they began tasting 500 to 600 wines a year and talking about starting a winery together someday. He said that it means “essence†and is often used figuratively in regards to soil and fruit and in slang, it also means “juice.†They felt that it was a nice way to encapsulate the story of what they are trying to create, was a good tie-back to India, and is a relatively simple word for people to say.īoth Pinto and Billo have engineering and mathematical backgrounds and worked in the computer industry. When they explained to him their idea of producing terroir-driven wines, he suggested Rasa, which basically means “terroir†in Sanskrit. Originally from India, the brothers turned to an uncle for help in naming their winery. Currently, they produce around 2,000 cases per year, a level they plan to maintain for a while. Founded in 2007 by brothers Pinto and Billo Naravane, Rasa Vineyards burst onto the Washington wine scene and received numerous accolades for their inaugural releases. Rasa Vineyards is a relatively new winery located in Walla Walla, Washington.
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