2018 RAEN Pinot Noir Royal St. Robert Cuvee Sonoma Coast 750 ml

When our Master Sommelier, Sur Lucero, called RAEN his “new favorite brand of Sonoma Pinot Noir in the last decade,” he presented this focused, 96-point Royal St. Robert as evidence. This is among the best yet from a top member-rated winery of 2020, showing the depth and elegance that have Sur—along with Eleven Madison Park and its three-Michelin-star company—counting themselves as RAEN fans. 

RAEN’s Carlo and Dante Mondavi bring their A-game with every release, leveraging what Vinous called an “incredible knack for making world-class Pinot Noir,” but they’ve taken the Royal St. Robert to another level with this 2018. Sporting the cuveé’s best-ever score, it’s a fine-tuned triumph. At once purposeful and light on its feet, it was praised by James Suckling for its “beautiful length and depth,” and Antonio Galloni lauded it as “Airy, gracious and beautifully perfumed.” 

Wine Access members wasted no time clearing out our stock of the 2017 Royal St. Robert and firing off their five-star reviews. The 2018 scored even higher, and we were able to secure 56 cases before RAEN sold out... but they’re bound to go fast. It’s best to take Vinous’ advice: “Don’t miss them.”

The label might be young, but 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.  

From the start, the wines were met with critical applause. In one of his early reviews, Antonio Galloni called them “superb,” and continued, “Frankly, I had a hard time moving on from these wines as they were so deeply impressive from the moment I first tasted them."

In the 2018, “superb” takes the form of red fruit and citrus on the nose, and a palate laden with hibiscus, damp rocks, and wildflowers. 100% whole-cluster fermentation adds complexity, while aging in neutral French oak maintains the wine’s enticing levity. Its fine-grained tannins will continue to evoke a gorgeous voluminous feel in the years to come. 

The Royal St. Robert comes from a selection of the finest barrels from a Sonoma Coast site near the village of Freestone, overlooking Bodega Bay. Deeply influenced by the maritime climate, fog rolls over the grapes in the early morning, preserving the berries’ crystalline acidity. By late morning, the sun breaks through the mists and continues to warm grapes throughout the day, leading to full concentration tempered by cold ocean breezes. 

The result is an evocative Pinot Noir that has captured the attention of Master Sommeliers and Wine Access members alike, a unique must-try for any Pinot lover.