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Oest

Rachis 2020

Price: $26.95
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Tasting notes

Rachis pulls off a genuinely unusual trick: a Cabernet-based red that is light on its feet, with crunchy red fruit and a savory, herbaceous edge from the Cab Franc. The brief Semillon skin contact adds texture without weight, giving the wine a slight grip that makes it food-friendly despite its easy-drinking profile.

BodyFruitTanninAcidity
CranberryBell PepperWild StrawberryTomato Leaf
  • Style: Light-bodied red blend; racy acidity; crunchy red fruit; herbaceous edge; best served chilled
  • Grapes & Terroir: 48% Cabernet Franc, 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Semillon; CCOF-certified organic Ponderosa Vineyard; Nevada City, Sierra Foothills AVA; decomposed granite and volcanic soils
  • Winemaking: Foot-stomped; 2-hour Cabernet maceration; 3-day Semillon skin contact; bladder press; 2 months neutral oak; 6 months in bottle before release
  • Serving: Serve at 55-58F; no decant needed; enjoy within 1-2 years of release
  • Pairing: Roast chicken, charcuterie, tomato-based pasta, grilled vegetables, green lentil salad
  • Similar To: For fans of Schiava, Gamay, or light Loire reds who want a California take on low-intervention, high-acid red blends

Rachis is a red blend from Oest Wines, the project of Tahnee Shields, made from 48% Cabernet Franc, 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Semillon grown at Ponderosa Vineyard in Nevada City, California. The 2020 vintage sits in the Sierra Foothills AVA in Nevada County, where elevations between 1,000 and 4,000 feet and wide diurnal swings preserve the kind of natural acidity that defines this wine.

Both Cabernets were foot-stomped and given a two-hour maceration before pressing into fermentation bins. Semillon skins and juice were then added for three days of maceration and pressed off with a bladder press. The wine aged two months in a neutral oak barrel and spent six months in bottle before release. No new oak, no additives noted.

Shields learned to make wine under Gideon and Saron at Clos Saron in the northern Sierra Foothills before launching Oest as her own project. She works primarily with grapes from Ponderosa Vineyard and produces from a facility in Richmond, California. The name Rachis refers to the central stem of the grape cluster, nodding to the structural role of stem contact in the wine's making.

The result is a light-bodied red with bright, racy acidity and crunchy fruit. It drinks well with a slight chill, around 55-58F, and is built for the table rather than the cellar.

Serve with dishes that can match its acidity and herbaceous character: roast chicken with herbs, a charcuterie board with cured meats and cornichons, or a simple tomato-based pasta. It also works well alongside grilled vegetables or a green lentil salad with vinaigrette.

Wine details

Dry/Sweet:, Dry
Wine Type:, Red Wine
Wine Style:, Light Body
Grapes:, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon
Farming:, Organic
Vintage:, 2020
Alcohol:, N/A
Country:, USA
Region:, Sierra Foothills
Appellation:, Sierra Foothills AVA
Bottle Size:, 750ml
Sugar Level:, Zero Added Sugar

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.


Important Compliance Requirements

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If you'd like to receive a refund for a package that was returned to us after FedEx made three delivery attempts, we can do that but we must keep a $20 refund fee; FedEx charges us a lot of money for returns, unfortunately, I can't stress this enough.


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Placed an order. What next?

1. You will receive an order confirmation email with your order summary.*

2. As soon as your order ships from the warehouse, usually within 2-3 business days, this applies to all shipping rates, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with your tracking information. 2DAY shipping refers to shipping time; we still need 2-3 business days to prepare an order. We need to pick and pack, QA, add printed collateral, and palletize the orders.

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Returns Policy

If you are not satisfied with your purchase, please contact us at (424) 414-2040 or via e-mail at hello@primalwine.com between 9 am and 5 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Sunday, we would like to understand and try to solve your concerns. We can offer refunds only as store credit.

Producer profile

Oest

Oest Wines is the project of Tahnee Shields, who began making wine during the 2019 harvest in Nevada City under the guidance of Gideon Beinstock and Saron Rice at Clos Saron winery. Before winemaking, Shields worked on organic farms and helped launch the produce program at the online grocery service Good Eggs. She co-founded Oest with Brad Artziniega and is now the sole owner of the project.

Shields sources grapes primarily from Ponderosa Vineyard in Nevada City, a CCOF-certified organic vineyard in the Sierra Foothills. She produces Oest wines from a facility in Richmond, California, roughly eight minutes from her home. Her focus is on the Sierra Foothills as a source region, drawn both to the complexity of the fruit grown at elevation there and to a personal connection her family has to the Nevada City area.

Shields uses low-intervention techniques throughout the cellar: foot stomping, native yeast fermentation implied by the natural wine approach, neutral oak aging, and no noted additions. The Rachis blend is assembled from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a small portion of Semillon, with separate maceration protocols for each component before the final press and barrel rest.

Wine region

Sierra Foothills, USA

The Sierra Foothills AVA stretches along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains across eight California counties, with Nevada County sitting in its northern reaches. Elevations in the region range from roughly 1,000 to 4,000 feet above sea level, and vineyards in Nevada County typically experience warm days and significantly cooler nights, a diurnal swing that preserves natural acidity in the grapes. Ponderosa Vineyard, the source for Rachis, is located in Nevada City within this county.

Soils across the Sierra Foothills shift between decomposed granite, volcanic loam, and red clay, all of low fertility, which stresses vines and concentrates flavors. The region has a Mediterranean-continental climate with hot, dry summers and cold winters. While Zinfandel dominates plantings across the broader AVA, Nevada County producers also work with Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Semillon, the very varieties that make up Rachis. The AVA was established in 1987 and encompasses over 2.6 million acres, making it one of the largest viticultural areas in California.

Frequently asked question

We will process and ship your order in 2-3 business days, you will receive a shipping confirmation email with tracking as soon as the Carrier scans the shipping label.

Ground shipping time depends on location, here's a breakdown:

West Coast: 1-2 business days
Midwest: 3-4 business days
East Coast: 5 business days

Process time is not shipping time. Shipping time starts from the days successive to the day of shipping, after the order has been processed.

See here our shipping policy.

Signature on delivery is mandatory for wine deliveries. Please make sure someone is at the shipping address to sign for the package.

If applicable, please consider delivering the package to a business address to ensure someone is available to sign for the package.

We also have the option of delivering the package to a Carrier's store for pickup. Please reach out to us to coordinate.

Carrier will try to delivery a package up to three times before returning the package to us.

See here our shipping policy.

If you miss a delivery and a package gets returned to us we have two options:

1) Reship the package right away: due to the very high cost of shipping and returns, we must charge a re-shipping fee to be determined based on package size and shipping destination.

2) Consolidate the returned package with your next order: this option is free of charge and it's the most popular option.

See here our shipping policy.

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