RAEN, Royal St. Robert Cuvée Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, California, 2023

Overview of the Wine
As winemakers and farmers, Carlo and Dante attribute a great deal of what they have learned to their grandfather Robert and father Tim, both whom influenced them from a young age.

Carlo and Dante’s father Tim was a pioneer for California Pinot Noir in the early 1970s and has always had a tremendous regard for the great wines of Burgundy. To this day his Pinot Noirs from the 1970s are showing incredibly well. Carlo and Dante credit their father’s passion for Pinot Noir as the early inspiration that got them excited at a young age.

Dante studied abroad in Switzerland at the Webster University in Genève as well at UC Davis in California. Carlo studied in France at the University of Aix-en-Provence and in Italy at the University of Milan. After their formal studies were complete Carlo and Dante continued their educational work with the winemaking team lead by their father Tim Mondavi at Robert Mondavi Winery and Opus One.

When Robert Mondavi Winery was sold in 2004, the brothers joined their father Tim, Aunt-Marcia and grandfather Robert as they founded Continuum in 2005.

In 2013 Carlo and Dante founded RAEN winery with the goal to produce world class Pinot Noir on the western hills of the Sonoma Coast. RAEN currently focuses on making three Pinot Noirs, from three unique sites on the Sonoma Coast.

Winemakers
Carlo and Dante Mondavi

Grape / Blend
Pinot Noir

Origin
Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County, California

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
Our Royal St. Robert bottling is dedicated to our grandfather Robert, who has been our greatest philosophical teacher on our journey in wine. This special cuvée is a selection from our coastal vineyards, giving a window into the rugged hills of the westerly Sonoma Coast.

The 2023 vintage leads with captivating aromas of crushed wild berries, black cherries, rose petals, and coastal moss. Continued floral notes, black tea, and bergamot follow, giving way to coastal fern and forest floor. The powerful red and black fruit core is delicately interlaced with the notes of flowers and tea and coupled with exotic spice box, are all seamlessly woven together in a persistently long and seemingly everlasting finish.

93 Points - Vinous
The 2023 Pinot Noir Royal St. Robert is redolent of floral, savory, and citrus notes. I find it especially brilliant and crystalline. At the same time, the 2023 is pretty tightly wound. Rose petal, iron, tea leaves, incense, and dried herbs open nicely with some coaxing. The colder growing season brings out the slightly gamier, wilder side of Pinot Noir along with plenty of brightening acidity in this mid-weight, taut Pinot from Raen. I would give this a year or two in bottle at a minimum.

Product size: 750ml