Dear friends,
RAEN is run by American wine royalty: Carlo and Dante Mondavi, grandsons of Napa legend Robert Mondavi and sons of Continuum’s Tim Mondavi. With the same expertise and unrelenting passion that drove Robert to develop the world-famous Opus One and Tim to craft 100-point reds, Dante and Carlo are dedicated to Pinots of elegant, Burgundian finesse from the wild Sonoma coast.
Antonio Galloni of Vinous previously wrote: “Frankly, I had a hard time moving on from these wines as they were so deeply impressive from the moment I first tasted them."
After working with their father in building Continuum, Dante and Carlo decided to go off on their own and venture out to the West Sonoma Coast to make cool climate Pinot Noir that can stand on its own on the world stage. RAEN is a Pinot Noir domaine focused on yielding aromatic, lifted wines of finesse and elegance from three “grand cru” vineyards capable of sitting among the worlds finest.
In the cellar RAEN strives to capture the delicate micro flora from their vineyard in they wines. They achieve this by utilizing whole cluster fermentations relying only on the native yeasts that exist naturally on the grapes giving us a deeper connection to our sites. After fermentation the wines are pressed and aged in neutral French oak barrels allowing the wines to evolve in a gentle manner without overpowering the delicate aromatic notes. The wines will age between 10 to 20 months depending on the vintage and site. Once the Mondavis feel the wines are ready RAEN is then bottled without fining or filtration to further keep these pure delicate notes intact.
RSR stands for "Royal St. Robert" and the bottling is dedicated to their grandfather Robert, who taught and inspired them. A selection of our coastal vineyard sites, this special cuvée offers a window into the cool, rugged hills of the West Sonoma Coast. The RSR fruit is grown around the village of Freestone out on the true Sonoma Coast. Overlooking Bodega Bay and the Sonoma Coast line, weather is cool leaving the vines exposed at this site. On summer mornings Pacific fog engulfs the vineyard, covering the fruit with essential ocean mist. The fog recedes back in the late mornings, drenching the vines in afternoon sunlight and warmth. Planted to unique selections, including Calera, Pommard, 828, rVR1 and 667, they all offer layers to the final wine and all express a unique interpretation of this cool site.
Please note the 2020 vintage is already sold out at the winery, so these are the last available bottles in the market.
Cheers,
—James Tran
