2021 RAEN Pinot Noir Royal St. Robert Cuvee Sonoma Coast 750 ml

When our Master Sommelier, Sur Lucero, called RAEN his “new favorite Sonoma Pinot producer in the last decade,” it was the Mondavi brothers’ Royal St. Robert Cuvée that sealed the deal. This is among their best vintages yet, showing the depth and focus that have Sur—along with MICHELIN-three-star Eleven Madison Park—counting themselves as fans. 

RAEN brings their A-game with every release, leveraging what Vinous called an “incredible knack for making world-class Pinot Noir.” James Suckling called this 2021 bottling “refined and poised in an exemplary way,” awarding it 97-98 points.

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 of Vinous 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."

The Royal St. Robert is a selection of the finest barrels from multiple Sonoma Coast sites near the village of Freestone, overlooking Bodega Bay. In the 2021, whole-cluster fermentation (100%) adds complexity, while aging in neutral French oak maintains the wine’s enticing levity. The fine-grained tannins will continue to evoke a gorgeous voluminous feel in the years to come.