NIVAS MUSCAT 10YR SOLERA
WINEMAKER’S NOTES
This wine is our homage to Rutherglen Muscat from Australia. Made using traditional methods, the wine is impeccably balanced, highly aromatic, elegant, and unctuous. The high acidity and exquisite fruit concentration and high fruit intensity perfectly balances the 18% alcohol and the 237 g/L residual sugar. The complex aromatics and palate expression suggest a wide range of characteristics from young primary fruit to more evolved, aged, oxidative tertiary notes, making for a stunning wine.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
After destemming and crushing the Muscat, the must goes through a 100% native fermentation. The primary fermentation is arrested using 96% alcohol neutral spirit, leaving roughly 220 g/L residual sugar. The wine is aged in neutral French oak in a solera where the oldest barrels are topped with the wines from the youngest vintages. The alcohol is 18% and the residual sugar is 237 g/L.
CASES PRODUCED 97 (x12 375 mL bottles)
VARIETALS 100% Muscat
APPELLATION FireThorn Vineyard, Columbia Valley
REVIEWS
99 POINTS | OWEN BARGREEN
“This was stored outside and was a 10 year solera wine with a base wine being from 2014. Golden in the glass, this has 237G/L residual sugar. White raisin and cardamom alongside apricot jelly and shades of honey on the nose. This is a dense beast yet has incredible underlying acidity and a finish that just won’t quit. A stunning, one of a kind wine, enjoy for the next twenty years. Drink 2024-2044.”
98 POINTS | MICHAEL ALBERTY, WINE ENTHUSIAST
CELLAR SELECTION
“Nivas, a 10-year solera, is a worthy homage to the best of Rutherglen Muscat. A whiff of apricot fruit leather strikes first, then aromatic bursts of apple butter, honey, cinnamon and the salinity of a fantastic fino sherry. A thick texture is an ample pillow for the wine's dried mango, apricot and orange marmalade with ginger shreds flavors. A lightning bolt's worth of acidity maintains balance. Enjoy now until 2045.”
96 POINTS | ERIC GUIDO, VINOUS
“A deep golden yellow, NV Nivas evolves with a surprisingly savory bouquet, mixing fermented ginger with mint leaves, pine, white smoke and dried apricots. It washes across the palate with admirable weight and concentration yet is expertly balanced by fresh acidity as ripe orchard fruits and candied citrus tones are offset by a crunch of minerality toward the close. The finish, if you could call it a finish, lasts for well over a minute, resonating on nuances of Jordan almond and blood orange yet still leaves the palate craving another sip. The Nivas is a varietal Muscat, based on the 2014 vintage and made using a solera system. Hands down, this is one of the top domestic dessert wines I've ever tasted.”
LABEL STORY
Nivas (pronouned nee-vās)
Nivas means “home” in Hindi, referencing specifically our childhood home in our native India.
This wine is a blend of two different clones of Muscat. It is a sweet, oxidative style of wine from a 10 year old solera. The complex, deeply rich aromas are meditative and evocative, leading us to contemplate on our lives, hearkening us back home.