RAEN-inspired passion project from Carson Benham
- 93 pts James Suckling93 pts JS
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
2022 B.C.V Pinot Noir Les Cents Russian River Valley 750 ml
Retail: $50 | ||
| $29 | 42% off | per bottle |
- Curated by unrivaled experts
- Choose your delivery date
- Temperature controlled shipping options
- Get credited back if a wine fails to impress
100% Inspiring Pinot Noir Passion Project
A blue-chip winemaking pedigree. A family vineyard, packed with prized Goldridge soils, in the prime Russian River neighborhood that Kistler calls home. And a superstar vineyard manager with A-listers like Kosta Browne and DuMOL on his résumé.
Armed with those tangibles—plus an ironclad drive to break out and craft a Sonoma County classic in the mold of greats like RAEN and Hirsch—Carson Benham has turned in one of the best inaugural Pinot Noir releases we’ve tasted in years. His 2022 B.C.V. Pinot Noir Les Cents Russian River Valley is a single-clone, 100% whole cluster-fermented Pinot Noir from their gorgeous site on Laguna Road, the Park Place of Russian River Valley. Poised and energetic, with excellent verve and vitality, James Suckling said it “shows outstanding potential.”
The fog was just starting to lift over Martin Ray Estate Vineyard as we walked the vines with Carson, who gave us the rundown on the site—and didn’t hesitate when we asked him about his inspiration. “Carlo Mondavi’s RAEN, absolutely. Years ago I was tasting with James Suckling, and he mentioned how much he admired those wines—and that not many people were using whole cluster ferments. That was the genesis of this idea,” he said. “Making Pinot with whole clusters gives a complexity and structure that is really hard to achieve without them.”
We walked across Laguna Road into the cellar. As he poured this brilliant ruby red into our glass, Carson told us about choosing clone 667 for his debut wine: “It has a lot of complexity and structure on its own, and that gets amplified by whole clusters… in a way that other clones don’t.”