2024 Raen, Pinot Noir, Royal St. Robert Cuvée, Sonoma Coast.
I ran into a bottle of Raen’s 2024 Royal St. Robert Cuvée estate Pinot last night and I again was blown away with the beautiful aromatics and delicacy it displays, lighter in frame and fresh in the glass with a gorgeous ruby shimmering hue it gave off a whispering of black cherry, strawberry, plum, cranberry and pomegranate fruits, along with subtle baking spices, tea spices, sassafras and mineral notes. This wine really is seductive in its lightless and length, though I feel it will fill out over time and gain a firmer stance, though I love it now and would be hard pressed to keep from popping the cork, if I had a few bottles. Sourced from the cool west of the west Sonoma Coast, this estate grown Royal St. Robert Pinot, a fitting tribute to Carlo and Dante Mondavi’s legendary grandfather Robert Mondavi, from the close Pacific Ocean, which allows for full ripening of the grapes, but with heavenly detail, precision and low alcohol, which makes these Raen wines so desirable. When crafting these wines, the Pinot Noir grapes are carefully sorted in both the vineyard and the winery and then are allowed to go on their merry journey into wine without much intervention and don’t see much overt new wood, everything is about preserving clarity of place, which shows here in this vintage. The Raen wines have really impressed me and I highly recommend them to Pinot Noir enthusiasts, especially if you are fans of the cooler coastal style.
As noted before in my prior reviews, Carlo and Dante Mondavi, grandsons of the famous Robert Mondavi, have continued the family legacy with their Raen winery, which they say is a Pinot Noir focused domaine that make aromatic, lifted wines of finesse. Their vineyards, they consider to be three “Grand Cru” vineyards, in the far west Sonoma Coast, adding that these sites are capable of sitting among the worlds finest, especially for elegant Pinot Noir, which they specialize in, and as seen here. As mentioned before, Carlo and Dante explain that the farming is reverting back to what we might have seen when their family began farming and working with Pinot Noir close to a 100 years ago, and (maybe) perhaps closer to the way the monks in Burgundy farmed it before that. The goal at Raen, they explain, is not just to honor the fruit they grow but also the nature in which it is growing, by embracing it and highlighting its distinct character and influence. In the cellar the young Mondavi brothers strive to capture the delicate micro flora from the vineyard in their wines, this includes using whole cluster fermentations with indigenous yeasts, that they believe promotes a deeper connection to our vines. These Raen wines are gently handled and transparency is key to showing off the nuances of the terroir and this 2024, which reminds of their 2018, is brilliant in every way. After fermentation the Raen Pinots are pressed and aged in neutral French oak barrels allowing the wines to evolve in a gentle manner without the oak overpowering the delicate aromatic notes, perfectly displayed in this wine.
($65 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive